DONALD TRUMP : 'TEMPERATURE HAS TO BE BROUGHT DOWN'

Former US President Donald Trump, outraged by the FBI raids on his Florida residence and claims of 11 classified documents seizure, said "the temperature has to be brought down" and his representatives have reached out to the DOJ to offer whatever help needed following the raid.

He called it a witch hunt in which the FBI could take out and put in what they wanted. He warned " terrible things could happen, even as the FBI and the DoJ viewed it as a veiled threat similar to ones before January 6 Capitol Hill insurrection and began tightening security measures.

Trump said he "will do whatever" he can "to help the country", after the FBI's raid of his Mar-a-Lago home last week, telling Fox News Digital that the "temperature has to be brought down", while stressing that the American people are "not going to stand for another scam."

Representatives will reach out to the Justice Department to offer to help amid outrage over the FBI's unprecedented raid on his private residence last week, in which agents claimed that they seized classified records, including some marked as top secret, Trump said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital Monday morning.

Trump disputed the classification of those records, saying the records have been declassified."The country is in a very dangerous position. There is tremendous anger, like I've never seen before, over all of the scams, and this new one years of scams and witch hunts, and now this," Trump said.

If there is anything we can do to help, I, and my people, would certainly be willing to do that," Trump said. "There has never been a time like this where law enforcement has been used to break into the house of a former president of the US, and there is tremendous anger in the country at a level that has never been seen before, other than during very perilous times," Trump said.

Trump said his team "has not heard yet" from the Justice Department on whether they will accept his offer for help. "I think they would want the same thing I've never seen anything like this," Trump said."It is a very dangerous time for our country.

"My people were asked to stand outside."Trump went on to suggest that the FBI "could have planted anything they wanted" during the raid."People are so angry at what is taking place," Trump said. "Whatever we can do to help because the temperature has to be brought down in the country.

If it is not, terrible things are going to happen. Following the FBI's execution of the search warrant at Trump's home, the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation sent a bulletin to law enforcement agencies warning of increased threats.

CHINA SETS SANCTIONS ON TAIWAN FIGURES

China imposed visa bans and other sanctions on Tuesday on Taiwanese political figures as it raises pressure on the self-governing island and the U.S. in response to successive congressional visits.

The sanctions come a day after China announced more military exercises in the seas and skies surrounding Taiwan because of what it called “collusion and provocation between the U.S. and Taiwan.” There’s been no word on the timing and scale of the Chinese exercises.

They were announced the same day a U.S. congressional delegation met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, and after a similar visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that China had overreacted with its “provocative and totally unnecessary response to the congressional delegation that visited Taiwan earlier this month”.

The targets of China’s latest sanctions include Taiwan’s de facto Ambassador to the U.S., Bi-khim Hsiao, and legislators Ker Chien-ming, Koo Li-hsiung, Tsai Chi-chang, Chen Jiau-hua and Wang Ting-yu, along with activist Lin Fei-fan.

They will be barred from travelling to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, and from having any financial or personal connections with people and entities on the mainland, according to the ruling Communist Party’s Taiwan Work Office.

CHINA UNVEILS PLANS TO BOOST BIRTH RATE

China on Tuesday announced a slew of perks aimed at encouraging families to have more babies, as birth rates hit a record low and officials warned that the population will start to shrink by 2025.

The policy guidelines issued by the National Health Commission Tuesday urge both the central and provincial governments to increase spending on reproductive health and improve childcare services nationwide.

They require local governments to “implement active fertility support measures”, including offering subsidies, tax rebates, and better health insurance, as well as education, housing and employment support for young families.

All provinces must also ensure they provide enough nurseries for children aged two to three by the end of the year.

BIDEN SIGNS CLIMATE, TAX AND HEALTH BILL INTO LAW

US President Joe Biden has signed a $700bn (£579bn) bill that aims to fight climate change and healthcare costs while raising taxes mainly on the rich.

The act includes measures to make good on decades of congressional promises to curb the price of prescription drugs.

The final version is more modest in scope than the $3.5tn package first envisaged by Democrats.

A flagship of Mr Biden's agenda, the bill could provide a boost ahead of the mid-term elections.

Voters casting their ballots in November will decide whether Mr Biden's Democrats retain control of Congress for two more years.

The president hailed the bill as he signed it on Tuesday as the "final piece" of his domestic agenda.

The package invests $375bn to fight climate change - the most significant federal investment in history in the issue.

An analysis by scientists with the Climate Action Tracker says the bill will reduce future global warming by "not a lot, but not insignificantly either".

It is projected to lower US emissions by up to 44% by 2030, compared with the current US trajectory, which would lower emissions by up to 35%, according to an analysis by the Rhodium Group, a consultancy.

The bill does not require companies to reduce their emissions, but includes tax incentives for firms to invest in renewable energy and rebates for people who buy electric cars or invest in energy-efficient home improvements.

U.S. NEEDS CONFLICTS TO RETAIN GLOBAL HEGEMONY, SAYS PUTIN

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of trying to encourage extended hostilities in Ukraine as part of what he described on Tuesday as Washington’s alleged efforts to maintain its global hegemony.

Addressing a security conference attended by military officials from Africa, Asia and Latin America, Mr. Putin reaffirmed his long-held claim that he sent troops into Ukraine in response to Washington turning the country into an “anti-Russia” bulwark.

“They need conflicts to retain their hegemony,” Mr. Putin charged.

“That’s why they have turned the Ukrainian people into cannon fodder. The situation in Ukraine shows that the United States is trying to drag the conflict out,” he added.

Mr. Putin also drew parallels between the U.S. backing Ukraine and a recent visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, charging that both were part of an alleged American attempt to foment global instability.

SABOTAGE BLAMED FOR CRIMEA BLAST

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that a fire that set off explosions at a munitions depot in Moscow-annexed Crimea was caused by an act of “sabotage”.

“On the morning of August 16, as a result of an act of sabotage, a military storage facility near the village of Dzhankoi was damaged,” the Ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

“Damage was caused to a number of civilian facilities, including power lines, a power plant, a railway track as well as a number of residential buildings. There were no serious injuries,” it added. In an earlier statement, the Ministry said a fire erupted around 6:15 a.m. local time at a temporary military storage site near the village of Mayskoye in the Dzhankoi district, causing ammunition to detonate. Images posted on social media showed huge fireballs erupting at the site and clouds of black smoke billowing into the air.

On August 9, Moscow said ammunition had detonated at a military airfield in Crimea, killing one person and wounding several more. It indicated that the airfield was not targeted by Ukrainian forces but experts said satellite imagery pointed to a likely attack.

SRI LANKA TO END STATE OF EMERGENCY, SAYS PRESIDENT

Sri Lanka will not extend a state of emergency imposed to control anti-government protests as the situation in the impoverished nation has “stabilised”, the President’s office said Tuesday.

Ranil Wickremesinghe invoked the tough laws four days after his predecessor fled the country and resigned on July 14 after months of protests over acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

The emergency imposed by Mr. Wickremesinghe is due to lapse on Thursday and he has the power to renew it every month thereafter.

“The situation has stabilised, there is no need to reimpose the state of emergency,” Mr. Wickremesinghe’s office said. The emergency allows troops to arrest and detain suspects for long periods.

TALIBAN ADD MORE COMPULSORY RELIGION CLASSES TO UNIVERSITIES

Afghan university students will have to attend more compulsory Islamic studies classes, education officials said on Tuesday while giving little sign that secondary schools for girls would reopen.

Many conservative Afghan clerics in the hardline Islamist Taliban, which swept back into power a year ago, are sceptical of modern education.

“We are adding five more religious subjects to the existing eight,” said Abdul Baqi Haqqani, Minister for Higher Education, including Islamic history, politics and governance. The number of compulsory religious classes will increase from one to three a week in government universities.

He told a news conference that the Taliban would not order any subjects to be dropped from the current curriculum. However, some universities have altered studies on music and sculpture while an exodus of Afghanistan’s educated elite, including professors, has seen many subjects discontinued.

‘PAK MAY GET NEW ARMY CHIEF IN SEPT’

PakistanPM Shehbaz Sharif could initiate discussions on the appointment of the next army chief to replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa by the end of August, and take a decision by mid-September, according to a media report on Tuesday. Appointed in 2016, the current chief of army staff General Bajwa, 61, is set to retire in November.The army chief’s appointment is meant to be for three years, but General Bajwa was given an additional three-year term in 2019. Then-PM Imran Khan had given him an extension in August, but the SC later demanded a legislation on the re-appointment of the services chiefs. Pakistan’s parliament complied in January 2020, allowing the PM to extend the tenure of services chiefs at his discretion. The legislation had fixed 64 as the retirement age. General Bajwa can therefore be eligible for another term.