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Trump Hands Out French Fries in Pennsylvania, Harris Visits Georgia Churches in Swing-State Appeals

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump hands an order to a customer at a drive-thru window during a campaign stop at a McDonald's, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa. (AP)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump hands an order to a customer at a drive-thru window during a campaign stop at a McDonald's, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa. (AP)
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Trump Hands Out French Fries in Pennsylvania, Harris Visits Georgia Churches in Swing-State Appeals

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump hands an order to a customer at a drive-thru window during a campaign stop at a McDonald's, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa. (AP)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump hands an order to a customer at a drive-thru window during a campaign stop at a McDonald's, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa. (AP)

With the US presidential election just over two weeks away, Democrat Kamala Harris visited two churches on Sunday while her Republican rival, Donald Trump, visited another kind of American temple: a McDonald's, where he again accused Harris of lying about having previously worked at the fast-food chain.

Both candidates were scrambling for votes in the most competitive states, with Harris, the US vice president, appealing to early voters in Georgia and Trump, the former president, campaigning in Pennsylvania ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Harris highlighted the heroism of those who responded to Hurricane Helene, which caused deaths and destruction in Florida earlier this month. She drew a contrast between her vision for America and the harsh rhetoric of the current political climate, although she did not mention Trump by name.

"At this point across our nation, what we do see are some trying to deepen division among us, spread hate, sow fear and cause chaos," she told thousands of congregants at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in Stonecrest, Georgia.

Some measured the strength of a leader as "who you beat down" instead of being guided by "kindness and love," she said, urging congregants to vote for a more compassionate future.

Harris was more direct in an interview with MSNBC when asked about Trump's comments at an earlier rally in Pennsylvania in which he used an expletive to describe her performance as vice president, telling civil rights leader Al Sharpton: "The American people deserve so much better."

At a McDonald's in suburban Philadelphia, Trump removed his suit jacket, put on a black and yellow apron and cooked batches of french fries, something he said he had wanted to do "all my life."

The former president dipped wire baskets of potatoes in sizzling oil before salting them and handing them out to some of his supporters through the drive-through window of the restaurant, which had been closed to the general public. Thousands of people lined the street opposite the restaurant to watch.

"I like this job," said Trump, whose adoration for fast food has been well chronicled. "I'm having a lot of fun here."

Trump has said the McDonald's visit was intended in part as a jab at Harris, who says she worked at the fast-food chain during her college years in California. Trump claims Harris never worked there but has provided no evidence to back that up.

Harris spokesperson Ian Sams said the stunt was a sign of the real-estate mogul's desperation.

"All he knows how to do is lie," he said. "He can't understand what it's like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter, only to blow it."

The Harris campaign said Trump's visit also belied his opposition to an increase in the federal minimum wage and his support for a rule that could make it more difficult for workers to win legal claims against the parent company if a franchise owner violated minimum-wage and overtime laws.

‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’

Harris, who was raised in the teachings of the Black church and sang in a church choir, marked her 60th birthday on Sunday while campaigning outside of Atlanta.

At Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, Georgia, music icon Stevie Wonder performed, singing his hit "Higher Ground" and a version of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

Asked about polls showing a lack of enthusiasm for her candidacy among Black men who have been a reliable voting bloc for Democrats, Harris told Sharpton she was working to earn their votes as well.

"There's this narrative about what kind of support we are receiving from Black men that is just not panning out in reality," Harris said. "Because why would Black men be any different than any other demographic of voter? They expect that you earn their vote."

Harris will need strong results in the majority non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and their surrounding suburbs to repeat President Joe Biden's 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia.

At a campaign event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Trump extended birthday wishes to Harris, drawing boos from his crowd.

"Happy birthday, and many more, and I mean it," Trump said, although he continued to criticize Harris's policies and speculating that his opponent may have "a cognitive problem."

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World

Tram Derails in Central Milan, Leaving One Dead, 40 Injured

Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
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Tram Derails in Central Milan, Leaving One Dead, 40 Injured

Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)

One person was killed and around 40 injured, including one in a critical condition, when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday, a spokesperson for local ‌firefighters said.

The ‌tram, one of ‌the ⁠newest models in ⁠operation in Milan, came off the tracks in Vittorio Veneto street, one of the city's key downtown corridors, crashing into the ⁠window of a shop, the ‌spokesperson ‌Vittorio Di Giacomo told Reuters.

Local ‌emergency services said 13 ‌ambulances were on the scene.

Civil protection teams set up a tent to assist the injured, according ‌to a Reuters eyewitness.

The Milan transport company, ATM, ⁠said ⁠in a statement it was "deeply shocked" by the accident, expressed its sympathy to all those affected and said it was working with judicial authorities to try to understand what caused it.

World

Bill Clinton to Lawmakers Investigating Epstein: ‘I Saw Nothing’

Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Bill Clinton to Lawmakers Investigating Epstein: ‘I Saw Nothing’

Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)

Bill Clinton told lawmakers on Friday that he "saw nothing that gave me pause" when he spent time with Jeffrey Epstein, as the former president gave closed-door testimony about his relationship with the late sex offender.

In a prepared statement, Clinton told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee that he would not have flown on the late financier's plane if he had known about his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls, and would have reported him if he did.

"We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long," Clinton said.

Clinton flew on Epstein's plane several ‌times in the ‌early 2000s after he left office and before Epstein's 2008 conviction of ‌soliciting ⁠prostitution from a ⁠minor. A tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photos of Clinton with women whose faces are redacted.

"I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong," Clinton said.

His testimony follows that of his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the panel on Thursday that she did not remember ever meeting Epstein and had nothing to share about his sex crimes.

She said she was also asked about UFOs and a 2016-era conspiracy theory during the ⁠seven-hour session.

The panel's Republican chairman, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, said he ‌would ask the former president about the photos released ‌by the Justice Department. The committee is also expected to quiz Clinton about Epstein's involvement with the couple's ‌charitable foundation.

Comer said video of Hillary Clinton's testimony could be released as soon as ‌Friday. Comer repeatedly has said the Clintons are not accused of wrongdoing.

They agreed to testify near their main residence of Chappaqua, New York, after the House threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate. Some Democrats supported the move.

Epstein died in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking crimes. His death was ruled a suicide.

World

Macron to Set Out How France’s Nuclear Arms Could Protect Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
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Macron to Set Out How France’s Nuclear Arms Could Protect Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)

French President Emmanual Macron is Monday to reveal his vision for how France's nuclear arsenal could bolster defense in Europe, with the continent scrambling to re-arm against an aggressive Russia and as Washington turns away.

The speech by Macron, at France's Ile Longue nuclear submarine base, will be closely watched across Europe, which for decades has relied on the United States' nuclear deterrent but is now increasingly debating whether to bolster its own arsenals.

He is expected to update France's nuclear doctrine, with a member of his team telling AFP to expect "fairly significant shifts and developments" but declining to give any further details.

Macron has previously proposed to consider how France -- the European Union's only nuclear power -- could contribute to protecting Europe.

He said this month he is considering a doctrine that could include "special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries".

Last year, Macron said he was ready to discuss possible deployment of French aircraft armed with nuclear weapons in other European countries.

France maintains the world's fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads. Britain, which exited the EU in 2106, is the only other European nuclear power.

By contrast, the United States and Russia, the world's two main atomic powers, have thousands of nuclear warheads each.

Reassurances from US officials that Washington's deterrent would continue to cover Europe under the NATO alliance have done little to quell European fears of fickleness under US President Donald Trump.

"It is clear that we will need to reflect together on how French and British deterrence can fit into a more assertive European defense," Bernard Rogel, who served as top military adviser to Macron, told AFP.

- '27 buttons' -

This month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he was holding "confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence".

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the UK's nuclear deterrent already protects fellow NATO members, but stressed that he was "enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France".

But how exactly nuclear cooperation would work between the EU's 27 states is another story.

Rogel insisted that control over the launch decision will remain in French hands.

"I can't see us having 27 buttons. From a credibility standpoint, that just doesn't work," he said.

On top of that, France's austerity drive and strains in the relationship between it and fellow EU powerhouse Germany, have exposed fault lines in any potential security agreement.

This month, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticized French defense spending, calling for Paris to do more to turn calls for European security sovereignty into concrete action.

"We are looking forward to and eagerly await another speech by the French president," Wadephul added.

But Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said leaders should find confidence in European support for strengthening nuclear deterrence.

He said people in Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland now tend to support rather than oppose the idea of developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent.

"French and British nuclear forces -- as the core of a future European strategic deterrent -- likely need to grow in size and change composition (or both)," he wrote.

While a NATO member, France does not make its atomic weapons available to the alliance.

But in his last nuclear doctrine update in 2020, Macron called for dialogue among EU countries about what role the French nuclear deterrent could play.

- 'Expectations' -

NATO's secretary-general at the time, Jens Stoltenberg, dismissed Macron's call for strategic dialogue in Europe, arguing that a "tried and tested" deterrent was already in place.

But the picture changed after Russian leader Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, repeatedly brandishing the threat of Moscow's nuclear arsenal, while Trump has pushed Europe down his list of priorities.

Florian Galleri, a historian specializing in contemporary military studies and nuclear doctrines, also warned that Macron would have to tread carefully, pointing to his low approval ratings one year before the end of his presidency.

"This speech creates expectations," he said. "If it is weak, people will wonder why it was made in the first place. If it is strong, with real changes, the consequences could be significant."

But Macron's address could also spark a domestic political backlash ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which Marine Le Pen's Euroskeptic far right is seen as having its best chance yet at winning the top job.

"The fear is that it could discredit any form of European dimension," said Galleri.