Harris overtakes Trump in new poll, set to name VP pick ahead of swing state tour

Harris overtakes Trump in new poll, set to name VP pick ahead of swing state tour
This combination of photos taken at campaign rallies in Atlanta shows Vice President Kamala Harris on July 30, 2024, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3. (AP)
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Updated 05 August 2024
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Harris overtakes Trump in new poll, set to name VP pick ahead of swing state tour

Harris overtakes Trump in new poll, set to name VP pick ahead of swing state tour
  • CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday showed Harris has a one percent advantage on Trump nationwide — compared to Trump’s previous five point edge on President Joe Biden
  • Poll shows Trump is still favored by voters on the economy issue, but when it comes to trust in temperament, voters prefer the former California prosecutor to Trump, a convicted felon

WASHINGTON: A new poll confirmed Sunday that Kamala Harris — set to name her vice presidential pick imminently — has drawn level with Donald Trump, transforming a White House race that the Republican had been increasingly confident he was going to win.
As the November 5 election rapidly approaches, Harris has erased the growing lead that Trump was building before President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.
According to the CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday, Harris has a one percent advantage on Trump nationwide — compared to Trump’s previous five point edge on Biden.
In the swing states that decide the Electoral College contest in US elections, Harris and Trump — who shocked the world with his 2016 presidential victory but was beaten by Biden in 2020 — are equal.

These are considered good numbers for a Democratic candidate who parachuted into the race only last month, when Biden bowed to mounting concerns over his mental acuity and ability at 81 years old to serve a second term.
But Harris, who is Biden’s vice president and the first Black and South Asian woman ever in the role, is in a sprint to define herself to voters before Trump does.
A big moment in that process will be when Harris announces her choice for running mate in a historic bid to become America’s first female president.
“It’s her first major decision that she’s making as an executive, so it tells you about her thought process,” Amy Walter, a polling expert from Cook Political Report newsletter, told CBS News.



The CBS poll, which echoes numerous other surveys indicating rapid gains by Harris, shows that Trump is still favored by voters on the key issue of the economy.
Only 25 percent said they expected to be better off financially if Harris wins, compared to 45 percent who said so about Trump.
However, when it comes to trust in the candidates’ temperament, the poll shows voters prefer the former California prosecutor to Trump, a convicted felon who has made a career out of publicly insulting those who oppose him — including while president.
The issue of cognitive health, which used to bedevil Biden, is now a liability for 78-year-old Trump, the poll found. Only 51 percent of respondents thought Trump is mentally capable for the presidency, compared to 64 percent for Harris.
The Democrats believe that if you “make this referendum on Trump rather than a referendum on the current state of the economy, then we have a real opportunity to win,” Cook said.
Trump was riding high politically last month after surviving an assassination attempt at a rally, then using the Republican convention to highlight his image of vigor against the physically frail Biden.
But with Biden’s dramatic exit and Harris’s fast start, he’s scrambling to recalibrate.
At a rally on Saturday in the swing state of Georgia, Trump called Harris a “Marxist” and a “radical left freak,” claiming she would cause an “economic crash.” On Wednesday, he shocked many when he told an audience of Black journalists that Harris had “turned Black” out of political expediency.




Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally on July 30, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (AP)

Where Biden often attacked Trump as a threat to democracy, given his unprecedented refusal to accept his loss in 2020, Harris’s team has honed a sharper — more meme-friendly — line built around branding Trump and his vice presidential pick J.D. Vance “weird.”
On Saturday, the Harris campaign said Trump was “scared” to debate her after he turned down a previously scheduled televised debate on ABC, while saying he’d be ready to debate her on Fox News — a network that has for years given him support.
Who will she choose as runningmate?

All paths to the White House run through a handful of swing states, and Harris will kick off her five-day run Tuesday in the largest — Pennsylvania — as she builds momentum for her showdown with Republican Donald Trump on November 5.
Expectations are that Harris will pick a white man to balance the ticket — and likely a moderate Democrat who would help counterweigh attacks on Harris from Republicans that she is too far to the left.

The three figures seen as heading the short list — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona — were all visiting Harris in Washington on Sunday, The Washington Post reported.

“At this moment, we face a choice between two visions for our nation: one focused on the future and the other on the past... This campaign is about people coming together, fueled by love of country, to fight for the best of who we are,” she posted on X.
Fresh from winning enough delegate votes to secure the Democratic nomination, the country’s first female, Black and South Asian vice president heads into the national convention in Chicago in two weeks in total control of her party.
In a campaign that is barely two weeks old, the 59-year-old former prosecutor has obliterated fundraising records, attracted huge crowds and dominated social media on her way to erasing the polling leads Trump had built before President Joe Biden quit the race.
Next on the agenda is a vice presidential pick, with an announcement expected any time before her rally Tuesday evening alongside the mystery nominee in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city.
The Keystone State is the most prized real estate among the closely fought battlegrounds that decide the Electoral College system.
It is part of the “blue wall” that carried Biden to the White House in 2020, alongside Michigan and Wisconsin — two states where Harris is due to woo crowds on Wednesday.
Pennsylvania is governed by 51-year-old Democrat Shapiro, a frontrunner in the so-called “veepstakes” shortlist.

Later in the week, Harris will tour the more racially diverse Sun Belt and southern states of Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina, as she seeks to shore up the Black and Hispanic vote that had been peeling away from the Democrats.
Just a month ago, Trump was in cruise control, having opened a significant lead in swing state polling after a dismal debate performance by Biden, with the Republican tycoon keeping the country in suspense over his own vice presidential pick.
Trump’s White House bid was upended on July 21 when 81-year-old Biden, facing growing concerns about his age and lagging polling numbers, exited the race and backed Harris.
Energetic and two decades younger than 78-year-old Trump, the vice president has made a fast start, raising $310 million in July, according to her campaign — more than double Trump’s haul.
While Biden made high-minded appeals for a return to civility and the preservation of democracy, Harris has focused on the future, making voters’ hard-fought “freedom” the touchstone of her campaign.
She and her allies have also been more aggressive than the Biden camp — mocking Trump for reneging on his commitment to a September 10 debate and characterizing the convicted felon as an elderly crook and “weird.”
While she has disavowed some of the leftist positions she took during her ill-fated 2020 primary campaign, Harris hasn’t given a wide-ranging interview since jumping into the race, and rally-goers will look for more detail on her plans for the country.
Meanwhile Trump and his Republicans have struggled to adapt to their new adversary or hone their attacks against Harris — at first messaging that she was dangerously liberal on immigration and crime, before suggesting she was lying about being Black.
 


What Donald Trump’s return to the White House means for the Middle East

What Donald Trump’s return to the White House means for the Middle East
Updated 19 sec ago
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What Donald Trump’s return to the White House means for the Middle East

What Donald Trump’s return to the White House means for the Middle East
  • Trump’s inauguration is expected to usher in a new era of US engagement with the region, with major implications for Palestine and Iran
  • New administration has signaled a desire to expand the Abraham Accords, pursue normalization, and resume maximum pressure on Tehran

LONDON: On Monday, the 47th president of the US will be sworn in at a ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington D.C., marking perhaps the greatest political comeback in American history.

For the Middle East, the second inauguration of Donald Trump is expected to usher in a new era of US engagement, overseen by an instinctively disruptive president who is as hard to read as he is transactional.

If any evidence was needed that the incoming administration is eager to wield its influence in the region, it came on January 15, when the outgoing president announced the long-awaited Israel-Hamas ceasefire-for-hostages deal had finally been agreed.

For the now former president, Joe Biden, announcing the breakthrough “after eight months of nonstop negotiation by my administration,” it should have been a triumphant, legacy-defining moment. Instead, he was blindsided by the first question hurled at him by the media.

“Who will the history books credit for this, Mr. President?” a reporter called out. “You or Trump?”

Biden, clearly shocked, paused before replying: “Is that a joke?”

But it wasn’t a joke. The only thing that had changed about the ceasefire deal that his administration had been pushing for since May last year was that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had finally agreed to it.

And the only thing that had changed for Netanyahu was that the man he sees as his friend and most important ally was about to return to office.

For Netanyahu, this seemed the right moment to present Trump with a gift — vindication of the new president’s boast that he would end the war as soon as he took office.

Trump even dispatched Steve Witkoff, his newly appointed envoy to the Middle East, to join Biden’s man, Brett McGurk, for the last 96 hours of talks in Doha, to ensure that the incoming US administration had its mark on the deal.

The appointment of Witkoff came as a surprise to many, as he does not have a diplomatic background. Witkoff does, however, have a reputation as a formidable dealmaker, which fits with Trump’s fondness for transactional foreign policy.

But quite what deal Witkoff might have offered Netanyahu on Trump’s behalf remains to be seen.

“The ceasefire in Gaza is something Trump has claimed credit for, which is unclear. But we shouldn’t think his arrival is good news,” said Kelly Petillo, MENA program manager for the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“We have no idea what Trump has in mind for day-after plans in Gaza. And we don’t know what Trump and his Middle East envoy have promised to Netanyahu in return for him accepting to move forward with the ceasefire.

“We don’t even know if the ceasefire will hold until the next, second phase. The ceasefire does not involve the release of all the hostages and Trump has declared he will ‘unleash hell’ if not all of them are released.”

Unlike Biden, said Ahron Bregman, a former Israeli soldier and senior teaching fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, “Trump is not someone Netanyahu can easily ignore.

“Even before Trump assumed office, he pressed Netanyahu to strike a deal with Hamas. As a result, Netanyahu surprisingly showed a willingness to concede assets — such as the Philadelphi route — which he had previously deemed critical to Israeli security.”

When the ceasefire deal was announced, Trump wasted no time taking to Truth Social to tell his 8.5 million followers: “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies.”

Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to the US, anticipates a gear change in US relations with the region.

“I expect greater involvement in the Middle East by the Trump administration,” said Rabinovich, professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University.

“In the Arab-Israeli context (there will be a) continuation of the effort to end the war in Gaza and possibly to move on to a more ambitious effort to resolve the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

However, Trump’s natural affinity with Israel, expressed most keenly through the Abraham Accords, to which he is expected to return with renewed energy, does not bode well for the Palestinian cause. Neither do some of the appointments to Trump’s top team.

His appointment of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel indicates that any “resolution” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict favored by the incoming US administration will favor Israel, at Palestine’s expense.

Huckabee, an evangelical Christian with deep, biblically inspired connections to Israel, a country he has visited more than 100 times since 1973, is an open opponent of Palestinian sovereignty.

He is an ardent supporter of settlements, stating during a 2017 visit to Israel that “there’s no such thing as a settlement — they’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.” He has also said “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”

Trump’s new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is another staunch ally of Israel who has called for a clampdown on pro-Palestinian protesters in the US and condemned “the poison” of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. He has also said there should be no ceasefire in Gaza until Israel has destroyed “every element” of Hamas.

The nomination of pro-Israel Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the UN bodes ill for attempts to pursue Palestinian sovereignty through the UN General Assembly.

Last May, on one of many trips she has made to Israel, she addressed members of the Knesset, “in your eternal capital, the holy city of Jerusalem,” declaring herself “a lifelong admirer, supporter, and true friend of Israel and the Jewish people.”

In the wake of Trump’s scene-stealing intervention in the Gaza ceasefire deal, all eyes in the region will be on his wider agenda for the Middle East. At the top of that agenda is Iran. How that plays out could have serious repercussions for Tehran’s neighbors.

Around that, said Petillo, “there is huge unpredictability. Trump is highly unpredictable and likes to remain that way. But we also know that much of what he will do depends on who whispers in his ear at the right time before he is making a decision.

“There are different people in his administration that might push him to go either in the most destructive direction — for instance seeking other maximum pressure style policies to support Israel and address their security concerns vis-a-vis Iran — and others who want to end US involvement in the region and are in favor of deals.”

But any chance that the Iran nuclear deal will be reinstated surely evaporated with Trump’s re-election. It was, after all, Trump who unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, instituting new sanctions. He has signalled his intention to return to a policy of “maximum pressure.”

“More widely on Israel-Palestine, Trump will likely pick up where he left off — the Abraham Accords, which he deems a success and which have largely held so far despite rifts caused by the war in Gaza,” said Petillo.

“The big prize of course is a Saudi deal — and I think this will impact whether he will do another round of maximum pressure on Iran as he said he would.”

Saudi Arabia has made clear that any move toward normalization of relations with Israel would be dependent on clear steps towards Palestinian sovereignty.

In September, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the Kingdom “will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the Kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that.”

Shortly after, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud announced the formation of a global alliance to push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Implementing the two-state solution, he said, was “the best solution to break the cycle of conflict and suffering, and enforce a new reality in which the entire region, including Israel, enjoys security and coexistence.”

But, said Petillo: “Trump’s arrival is not good news for the chances of a two-state solution. Trump and his new administration simply don’t care about Palestinian rights, annexation is likely to be used as a threat and settlements are likely to expand, and the whole issue risks becoming a big real-estate project, with huge consequences for Palestinian security, but I think also for that of ordinary Israelis.”

In November, Bader Mousa Al-Saif, an associate fellow on the MENA program at Chatham House and a historian at Georgetown University, wrote that Trump would find the Gulf region much changed since he last engaged with it.

Trump’s “aloof response” to the September 2019 attack on Saudi oil fields and facilities “shattered a security doctrine predicated on US protection of energy sources and the interests of long-time partners” and the lack of US reaction “boosted an ongoing self-reliance drive in the Gulf,” he wrote in a paper for Chatham House.

Since then, “the Arab Gulf states have made strides in the intervening years by taking matters into their own hands — reconciling intra-Gulf discord, freezing the Yemen conflict, and making overtures to regional neighbours like Iran, Syria, and Turkiye.”

If the incoming administration returns to the Abraham Accords, “this will put Saudi Arabia in a bind. The Saudis have banked on a clear precondition for normalization — the end of Israeli occupation and establishment of a Palestinian state.”

But, said Ibrahim Al-Marashi, associate professor in the Department of History at California State University San Marcos, a different kind of deal could break the deadlock.

“Trump’s repudiation of the Iran nuclear deal served as the primary causal factor in intensifying tensions, escalating into direct violence,” he said. “This violence played out primarily on Iraqi soil, albeit with a brief period of clashes in Syria.

“Trump wants a nuclear deal on his terms that he can claim credit for. If he gets that and sanctions are lifted on Iran, then tensions might finally subside.”

Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow on Middle East security at the Royal United Services Institute, believes “the Trump administration will be unlikely to backtrack or jeopardize the progress that has been made to weaken Iran’s status in the Middle East.

“The region is transforming in ways unimaginable 15 months ago, with new political futures possible in Lebanon and Syria,” he said. “The weakening of both Iran and Russia in the Middle East represents a success story, and Trump will want this dynamic to continue — and to take credit for it.”

And to be recognized for it, as a main plank of his legacy.

“Trump’s desire for a Nobel Prize might push him toward pursuing a peace deal or normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” said Bregman.

“Achieving this would require Netanyahu to make some progress toward a Palestinian state, a prerequisite for advancing Israeli-Saudi relations. This won’t be easy. But Netanyahu’s wariness of Trump might compel him to act.”


Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony as 47th US president

Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony as 47th US president
Updated 8 min 22 sec ago
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Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony as 47th US president

Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony as 47th US president
  • Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony moved indoors due to intense cold in Washington D.C.
  • The US flag over the Capitol will be flying at full-staff for Trump’s

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, will be sworn in Monday as the 47th US president taking charge as Republicans claim unified control of Washington and set out to reshape the country’s institutions.
Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, moved indoors due to intense cold, will begin at noon ET. But festivities started earlier when the incoming president arrived for service at St. John’s Episcopal Church.
The US flag over the Capitol will be flying at full-staff for Donald Trump’s swearing-in.
That’s despite an order from President Joe Biden that flags be lowered for 30 days following the Dec. 29 death of former President Jimmy Carter.
Addressing a packed crowd at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Trump stayed consistent with the framing he often used in his campaign.
He criticized Biden’s term as a “failed administration” and promised to “end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment.”
“Tomorrow, at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline and we begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride,” he told supporters.
Trump’s inauguration on Monday is a sign of the changing tides, where mainstream entertainers, from Nelly to The Village People are more publicly, more enthusiastically associating with the new US administration.
Eight years ago, Trump reportedly struggled to enlist stars to be part of the swearing-in and the various glitzy balls that follow. The concurrent protest marches around the nation had more famous entertainers than the swearing-in.
There were always some celebrity Trump supporters, like Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Jon Voight, Rosanne Barr, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone and Dennis Rodman, to name a few. But Trump’s victory this time around was decisive and while Hollywood may always skew largely liberal, the slate of names participating in his inauguration weekend events has improved.
Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Village People, Lee Greenwood all performed at a MAGA style rally Sunday. Those performing at inaugural balls include the rapper Nelly, country music band Rascal Flatts, country singer Jason Aldean and singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw.
Trump may be breaking a tradition on Inauguration Day. No heads of state have previously made an official visit to the US for the inauguration.
It’s not clear whether foreign leaders will attend the swearing-in ceremony or other events related such as inaugural balls.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni have spoken about being invited. The offices of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña have also said they were invited and were planning to attend. The Salvadoran ambassador to the US said there had been an invitation to the country’s President Nayib Bukele, but he is not likely to attend.
Last month, Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, had been invited. Jinping is unlikely to attend and it’s not clear whether he would send another official.


UAE partnership gives boost to Philippines’ energy transition

UAE partnership gives boost to Philippines’ energy transition
Updated 20 January 2025
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UAE partnership gives boost to Philippines’ energy transition

UAE partnership gives boost to Philippines’ energy transition
  • Coal still accounts for over half of Philippines’ power generation
  • Cooperation with Masdar will provide up to 1 GW of clean power by 2030

MANILA: The Philippines is on track to achieve its energy transition goals following a $15 billion renewable energy deal with UAE’s state-owned energy firm Masdar to develop solar, wind and battery energy storage systems.

Manila has been working to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and aims to increase the share of renewable sources in the energy mix from around 22 percent currently to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

The deal with Masdar, which was signed last week in Abu Dhabi, will provide up to 1 gigawatt of clean power by 2030, with plans to scale up to 10 GW by 2035, according to the Philippines’ Department of Energy.

“This collaboration will significantly advance our goal of achieving 35 percent renewable energy in power generation by 2030,” Philippine Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said in a statement.

The new partnership followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inaugural visit to the UAE last November, which saw the two countries signing various new agreements, including in investment, artificial intelligence and energy transition.

The deal with Masdar will not only increase energy security in the Philippines but also deliver “significant economic benefits” for the country as it creates new jobs and drives technology transfer, Lotilla said.

“Together, we are positioning the Philippines as a regional leader in sustainable energy.”

The project also marks Masdar’s entry into the Philippines’ renewables market.

The Southeast Asian nation has been exploring clean and sustainable options to generate power as the country regularly suffers outages and faces high tariffs. Coal is the main source of electricity in the Southeast Asian state, accounting for more than half of its power generation.


Indonesia opens carbon credit market to foreign buyers to help finance climate action

Indonesia opens carbon credit market to foreign buyers to help finance climate action
Updated 20 January 2025
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Indonesia opens carbon credit market to foreign buyers to help finance climate action

Indonesia opens carbon credit market to foreign buyers to help finance climate action
  • Initial carbon credit certificates up for trade are worth 1.78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent
  • Jakarta has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, plans to build 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity

JAKARTA: Indonesia began offering carbon credit certificates for international buyers on Monday, as one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters seeks to raise funds to achieve its climate goals.

The move comes after countries agreed on the rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits at the COP29 climate conference last November, which its proponents say will mobilize billions of dollars into projects to help fight climate change.

Indonesia is ready to issue carbon credit certificates from emission reductions from a number of power projects on Java island worth about 1.78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.

“The implementation of international carbon trading is a reflection of Indonesia’s commitment following COP29,” he said at a launching ceremony in Jakarta.

“It can be ensured that the emission reduction certificates issued by Indonesia are of high integrity … It is hoped that this will serve as (a) foundation for global climate action that (turns) ambition into action, aligning economic growth with environmental responsibility.”

Carbon credits are generated by activities that avoid or reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. They can be purchased by companies or countries seeking to “offset” or cancel out some of their own emissions to help reach their climate goals.

Indonesia, an archipelago with the world’s third-largest rainforest area, is one of the world’s biggest polluters. It has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, including by phasing out hundreds of coal-fired power plants and replacing them with renewables.

With goals to build around 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2040, the government plans to raise some of the required funds through carbon offset projects.

Monday’s launch was an “important milestone in our collective journey towards a sustainable future,” Nurofiq said.

Indonesia’s carbon credit market has attracted little interest after it was first launched for domestic players in September 2023.

Trading value as of December 2024 was 50.64 billion rupiah ($3.10 million), while trading volume reached 908,018 tons of CO2e, according to Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority.


Trial opens into UK stabbing spree that sparked riots over misinformation attacker was Muslim

Trial opens into UK stabbing spree that sparked riots over misinformation attacker was Muslim
Updated 20 January 2025
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Trial opens into UK stabbing spree that sparked riots over misinformation attacker was Muslim

Trial opens into UK stabbing spree that sparked riots over misinformation attacker was Muslim
  • Authorities blame far-right agitators for violence, including by sharing misinformation alleged attacker was Muslim asylum seeker
  • Unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques

LONDON: The trial of a teenager accused of killing three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the UK’s most violent riots in a decade is set to begin Monday.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, is due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court, accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year in Southport, northwest England.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the attack in the seaside resort near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.

Ten others were injured, including eight children, in one of the country’s worst mass stabbings in years.

Rudakubana faces a total of 16 charges, including three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing a blade days after the attack.

The trial is expected to last four weeks after pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf.

The stabbings sent shock waves across the UK, triggering unrest and riots in more than a dozen English and Northern Irish towns and cities, including in Southport and Liverpool.

Authorities blamed far-right agitators for fueling violence, including by sharing misinformation claiming the alleged attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.

The unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques, with hundreds of participants subsequently arrested and charged.

Rudakubana was born in Wales to parents of Rwandan origin and lived in Banks, a village northeast of Southport.

Despite being 17 years old at the time, restrictions on reporting Rudakubana’s name were lifted in August due to concerns over the spread of misinformation.

“Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum,” judge Andrew Menary said as he lifted the restrictions.

Taylor Swift, then in the middle of her Eras tour, wrote on Instagram that she “was completely in shock” the day after the attack on the dance class at the start of the school holidays.

The pop star reportedly met two of the survivors of the attack during her August shows in London.

The UK’s head of state King Charles III also traveled to Southport in August to meet with survivors, inspecting a sea of floral tributes laid outside the city’s town hall.

And Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Prince William visited Southport in October “to show support to the local community,” Kensington Palace said. It was their first joint public engagement since Kate ended a course of chemotherapy for cancer.

In October, the suspect was charged with two additional offenses in relation to evidence obtained “during searches of Axel Rudakubana’s home address” following the attack, the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS), which brings public prosecutions, said.

The charges were for the “production of a biological toxin, namely ricin,” and “possessing information ... likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”

The terrorism offense related to suspicion of possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual, although the attack was not treated as a terrorist incident.

Following speculation on social media related to policing decisions in the case, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said she realized the added charges could trigger fresh rumors.

“We would strongly advise caution against anyone speculating as to motivation in this case,” Kennedy was quoted as saying.

She urged people to be patient and “don’t believe everything you read on social media.”

Rudakubana has appeared in several hearings since the attack, often wearing a grey sweatshirt, and refusing to speak in all of them.

In the last hearing in December, he appeared via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court from high-security Belmarsh prison, in southeast London.

The Attorney General and Merseyside police have warned the press and public against publishing any material that risks prejudicing the trial.