Governor Ron DeSantis was in Iowa on Tuesday for his first rally of the 2024 Republican primary cycle — but his remarks were clearly aimed at a general election audience. The conservative governor punched at a whole host of familiar GOP foes during the evening event in west Des Moines, where voters will have the first crack at the Republican field of 2024 candidates. But Mr DeSantis himself did not swipe at any of those rivals. Instead, he focused his fire on the news media, the federal government and its related bureaucracy, and even the Disney corporation which has become embroiled in a feud with him in his home state. His list of targets was a choice selection of Republican red meat. Dr Anthony Fauci, Hunter Biden, critical race theory, “gender ideology” and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives were all up for skewering. So too was George Soros, the Jewish billionaire whose involvement in Democratic-leaning politics has spawned a host of antisemitic conspiracy theories on the right; Mr DeSantis attacked “Soros-backed prosecutors” who he blamed for supposedly refusing to enforce laws of which they disapprove. It was a campaign speech that had all the signs of both the strengths that propelled Mr DeSantis to victory twice in Florida as well as the weaknesses which may very well doom his 2024 bid for the presidency unless a major change in the status quo takes place. The main weakness it highlighted: Mr DeSantis’s unwillingness to engage in a direct fight with Donald Trump, his presumed rival for the GOP nomination. Mr Trump remains the steady favourite in all available polling of the upcoming contest, and it is difficult to see how the Florida governor reverses his recent polling slide without confronting the former president by name. That was one thing Mr DeSantis avoided completely on Tuesday, a fact that drew into question his claim to be willing to stand up to any rival or political foe who came forth. Worse, the governor took a few veiled shots at the leading candidate — references to a single term in the White House being insufficient to clear out the “swamp” in Washington, blame for “empower[ing]” Republican foes like Dr Fauci — but those attacks failed to draw serious blood and left watchers of the address wondering why Mr DeSantis is so hesitant to call out the man who has been personally and politcally degrading him in statements for weeks. “If you are faced with a destructive bureaucrat in your midst like a Fauci, you do not empower somebody like Fauci, you bring him into the office and you tell him to pack his bags, you are fired,” said the governor in one half-hearted attempt at landing a blow on his rival. In another: “At the end of the day leadership is not about entertainment. It's not about building a brand. It's not about virtue signaling. It is about results. And in Florida, we didn't lead with merely words. We followed up our words with deeds, and we have produced a record of accomplishment that we would put up against anybody in this country.“ Those references were about as direct as Mr DeSantis came during his address, which was broken up by remarks from the potential future first lady, Casey DeSantis. The governor’s wife proved to be a charismatic presence on the stage in her own right, and came close to overshadowing her slower-paced husband with her political screed and quick joking references to the couple’s children. It’s unlikely that tonight’s rally will move the needle in any meaningful way; the remarks themselves were not covered by Fox or MSNBC, and CNN opted to cover the rally with commentators talking over a silent, still-speaking DeSantis. Mr Trump, meanwhile, had no problem going after his opponent — not to mention any Republican who dared back him. On Truth Social, he griped during the rally about his old press secretary’s comments on Fox News, where she quoted a poll of the GOP primary that had apparently been corrected to show Mr Trump with an even greater margin over Mr DeSantis, which her old boss took as a slight. “Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews. I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34. She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!” he wrote. The Trump campaign also blasted out press releases touting the former president’s polling strength against Joe Biden, as compared to Mr DeSantis’s, as well as a separate statement accusing the Florida governor of “plagiarizing” the phrase “great American comeback” from Mr Trump’s own State of the Union address. That unequal tone has persisted for weeks as Mr Trump has turned his fire fully against Mr DeSantis who has all but completely refused to fight back — a handful of statements from his PAC have attacked the ex-president directly, without effect. If Tuesday night was any indication, Ron DeSantis believes that he can overcome a massive gap between himself and his most challenging political foe yet without ever landing a punch and with the same strategy that failed his predecessors in 2016. Read More Fair-weather DeSantis’ climate change rejection is ‘politicization’ at its finest LGBTQ people are fleeing Florida in ‘mass migration’ with some fundraising via GoFundMe Ron DeSantis called out for ‘ignoring’ Hollywood beach shooting: ‘He doesn’t care’ Trump White House official Peter Navarro to go on trial in September in Jan 6 contempt case Trump still dominates in first 2024 GOP poll since DeSantis announcement Nevada becomes latest to enhance penalties for election worker intimidation after statewide exodus

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Police in Paris fired eight shots at a woman threating to blow up a train into the capital this morning, local authorities have said, sparking chaos in the city as metro stations were evacuated. This latest security incident in France come as they face a heightened anti-terror alert following a fatal stabbing at a school blamed on an Islamic extremist. Police said officers opened fire on Tuesday after the woman didn’t respond to their warnings. The Paris prosecutors later confirmed that two police officers together fired eight shots, seriously injuring the woman. It said she was hospitalised for emergency treatment. It wasn’t clear what threats the woman was allegedly making but government spokesman Olivier Veran said the woman “made remarks of a rather Islamist nature” that worried other passengers. Phrases she reportedly used included “You're all going to get it”, “Allahu akbar” and “Boom”, said Paris police chief Laurent Nunez. Allahu akbar is “God is great” in Arabic. A police investigation has been opened into the exact nature of threats the woman allegedly made while riding the RER C suburban train into Paris, and witness testimony will be gathered, the prosecutor's office said. It said she is facing potential charges of making death threats, of defending terrorism and of intimidating behaviour directed at police. The woman was dressed in a long robe, known as an abaya, the prosecutor's office said. Abayas are mainly worn by Muslims. A search of the woman found that she wasn't carrying explosives, the police chief said. Police were verifying the identity of the woman, who was not carrying ID papers, but she is thought to have been arrested previously for threatening behaviour in 2021 and then hospitalised for apparent mental health problems, he said. A Metro and suburban train station that serves the Francois-Mitterrand national library in eastern Paris were evacuated after the incident. Earlier this month, a knifeman shouting “Allahu Akbar” at Gambetta High School in the city of Arras left one teacher dead and several other people injured as former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a Day of Jihad. In the 13 October school attack, French-language teacher Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death and three other people were wounded. The alleged attacker had been under police surveillance on suspicion of Islamic radicalization. French anti-terror investigators said the suspect declared allegiance to the Islamic State group before the assault in the northern French town of Arras. Local police spokesperson Axel Ronde said the officers who shot the woman this morning had “made the right decision”. He said: “The person was extremely determined to take action and given the determination, my colleagues had no other choice, to avoid being hit by an explosion, than to neutralise her by shooting her with a firearm. “The police officers made the right decision.” Read More UN chief visits tallest mountains in Nepal and expresses alarm over their melting glaciers India-led alliance set to fund solar projects in Africa in a boost to the energy transition Paris police open fire on a woman who allegedly made threats in the latest security incident In early 2029, Earth will likely lock into breaching key warming threshold, scientists calculate Londoner says dressing up as bedbug for Halloween was ‘very obvious’ thing to do French government says 9 people detained after violent attack on Lyon soccer team buses

The top Air Force commander for Europe and Africa says the U.S. military has resumed counterterrorism missions in Niger, flying drones and other aircraft out of Niger air bases more than a month after a coup temporarily halted all those activities there

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 29, 2023--