THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): A national poll of likely voters by The New York Times and Siena College found Mr. Trump leading Ms. Harris, 48% to 47%, within the poll’s three-percentage-point margin of error and largely unchanged from a Times/Siena poll taken in late July just after President Biden dropped his re-election bid. Mr. Trump may have had a rough month following the president’s departure and amid the burst of excitement that Ms. Harris brought Democrats, but the poll suggests his support remains remarkably resilient. The national results are in line with polls in the seven battleground states that will decide the presidential election, where Ms. Harris is tied with Mr. Trump or holds slim leads, according to New York Times polling averages. Taken together, they show a tight race that remains either candidate’s to win or lose. Only a little over eight weeks remain in the shortest presidential election in modern American history. Both candidates have scant opportunity to shift the electorate, but for Mr. Trump, opinions are largely fixed. Ms. Harris is still unknown to many.

AL-AHRAM (EGYPT): Trump, Harris tied on eve of televised presidential debate. Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate. Harris gears up for debate as Trump talks economy. The latest polling confirms that Trump retains locked-in support from about half of voters, despite the Republican’s historic status as a convicted felon and his role in instigating the unprecedented attempt to overturn his 2020 loss to Joe Biden. Harris, who only jumped into the race after President Biden abruptly quit in July, has rapidly transformed herself from a little-noticed vice president into a serious contender. However, the polls show she has not made a major breakthrough, leaving the race a toss-up.

KOMMERSANT (RUSSIA): Команды Камалы Харрис и Дональда Трампа проводят последние приготовления к дебатам 10 сентября на телеканале ABC News. В обоих штабах, вместо того чтобы предвкушать победу своего кандидата, заняты скорее оценкой рисков в случае его (ее) поражения. Демократы опасаются, что госпожа Харрис, не имеющая особого опыта участия в общенациональных дебатах, может быть слишком скованной и из-за этого проиграет поединок. Республиканцы же переживают, что господин Трамп не станет придерживаться разработанного для него плана, не сможет сдержать эмоций, перейдет на личности и это приведет к его поражению. Аналитики считают предстоящую дискуссию ключевым элементом гонки, в которой, согласно опросам, по-прежнему нет явного фаворита. Примечательно, что дебаты состоятся в Филадельфии — крупнейшем городе колеблющегося штата Пенсильвания, за которую разворачивается чуть ли не основная битва между кандидатами.

LA NACION (ARGENTINA): A pocos días de su primer -y probablemente único- debate frente a la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris, el expresidente Donald Trump amenazó en su red social con encarcelar a los “involucrados en comportamientos inescrupulosos” en estas elecciones de Estados Unidos, las cuales aseguró que estarán bajo intenso escrutinio. La tensión aumenta ante el enfrentamiento televisivo directo entre Harris y Donald Trump: las últimas encuestas los muestran prácticamente empatados y los gurús de la previsión electoral se dividen a partes iguales entre los dos candidatos. “Cuando gane, esas personas que hicieron trampa serán procesadas con todo el peso de la ley, lo que implicará largas sentencias de cárcel para que esta perversión de la ley no vuelva a ocurrir”, escribió Trump, sembrando de nuevo la duda sobre la integridad de los comicios, a pesar de que los casos de fraude electoral en Estados Unidos son sumamente raros.

HINDUSTAN TIMES (INDIA): Trump strategy for debate against Kamala Harris revealed, he’s consulting Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz. Contrary to public claim that he doesn’t need any debate prep Donald Trump is holding informal sessions with his team of advisors including GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, according to ABC News report. Tulsi had once challenged Vice President Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2019, the report states. Gaetz is helping Trump prepare tough questions around his legal troubles, federal indictments on election interference and retaining classified documents, criminal conviction in the New York hush-money case and stance on abortion. With concerns mounting over his recent comments on childcare GOP members want to tread cautiously.

USA TODAY: Former President Donald Trump’s bid to regain power is generating all kinds of odd situations, including stalwart opposition from party leaders and members of the Republican political establishment such as Cheney, former Rep. Liz Cheney and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. The Cheneys have gone so far as to say they will vote for Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Speaking of dynasties, former President George W. Bush does not plan to endorse his party’s standard bearer this year, and he won’t say how he or former first lady Laura Bush will vote in November, a spokesperson confirmed over the weekend. It’s a dynamic that would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago: The GOP’s most recent president and presidential nominee who came before the party’s current pick won’t publicly back him.

LA LIBRE (BELGIUM): “Nous n’hésiterons pas à censurer le gouvernement”: le RN souffle le chaud et le froid sur le gouvernement Barnier. Le Rassemblement national de Marine Le Pen, qui se targue d’un rôle d’arbitre, a soufflé ce week-end le chaud et le froid sur le gouvernement du nouveau Premier ministre Michel Barnier, entre promesses de ne pas participer “au désordre” et menaces de censure. Est-ce une manière de revisiter le jeu du chat et de la souris ? Alors que Michel Barnier poursuit dimanche ses consultations pour former son équipe ministérielle et définir sa feuille de route, le Rassemblement national, dont les dirigeants ont saturé l’espace médiatique ce week-end, a fait savoir qu’il entend plus que jamais se poser au centre du jeu. Son bras armé: le contingent de 126 députés à l’Assemblée - et même 142 avec l’appoint des alliés d’Eric Ciotti - qui pourrait tenir dans ses mains l’avenir du futur gouvernement. Mme Le Pen a salué la recherche du “compromis” entreprise par M. Barnier, conformément à ce qu’elle attendait d’un Premier ministre “respectueux des 11 millions d’électeurs du Rassemblement National”.

VEDOMOSTI (RUSSIA): Французы протестуют против назначения премьером правого, но изменить политику президента Эмманюэля Макрона протесты не смогут. Во Франции прошли акции протеста против выдвижения президентом страны Эмманюэлем Макроном в премьеры Мишеля Барнье, представляющего правоцентристскую партию “Республиканцы”. Теперь Барнье ожидает утверждения парламентом. Подобным решением президента возмутились левые из избирательного блока “Новый народный фронт”, набравшего относительное большинство на парламентских выборах в июле. По их мнению, Макрон должен был назначить представителя левых Люси Касте на пост премьера. В стране прошло от 130 до 150 акций, в том числе в Париже. Решение Макрона не встретило понимания не только у левых, но и у населения Франции. Как показывают результаты опроса социологической службы Elabe, 74% респондентов считают, что назначением Барнье премьером Макрон проигнорировал результаты парламентских выборов. При этом 50% респондентов уверены, что парламент не будет сразу же отправлять новое правительство в отставку через голосование о доверии, в то время как 48% считают, что это вполне может произойти.

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT (GB): Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian will visit Iraq on Wednesday, state media reported, in what will be his first trip abroad since he took office in July. Pezeshkian will head a high-ranking Iranians delegation to Baghdad to meet senior Iraqi officials. The visit comes at the invitation of Iraq’s premier, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the official IRNA news agency quoted Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadegh as saying. The two countries will sign memoranda of understanding on cooperation and security, Sadegh said, without elaborating. Since taking office, Pezeshkian has vowed to “prioritize” strengthening ties with the Iran’s neighbours.

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: The chances of a phased hostage-ceasefire agreement being achieved on the basis of Israel’s May proposal are “close to zero” and there is “very broad pessimism” among the Israeli negotiators, Channel 12 reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources in the Israeli security establishment. The US, which had indicated it was planning to present a new bridging proposal in the next two or three days, is now regarded as unlikely to do so, it added. The report cited immense frustration among Israel’s negotiators who, it said, had believed until recently it was possible to at least reach an agreement between Israel and the mediators that would then be conveyed to Hamas. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Hebrew press conference last Monday, at which he repeatedly insisted on maintaining IDF control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border — a stance that was not specified in the Netanyahu-approved May proposal — “buried” the chances of such an agreement. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar then hardened his positions, the report said.

ARAB NEWS (SAUDI ARABIA): West Bank escalation signals potential for a multifront regional conflict. West Bank escalation signals potential for a multifront regional conflict. Israeli military raids, settler attacks and a vicious cycle of violence have claimed the lives of more than 662 Palestinians and 24 Israelis in the West Bank since Oct. 7, raising the specter of a new active front in a regional conflict. The West Bank has long been a center of unrest, but recent events have led to unprecedented volatility, with the Israeli government stepping up military operations in the area, including large-scale raids by soldiers backed by armored vehicles and bulldozers in Jenin, Tulkarm and other areas.

THE JERUSALEM POST (ISRAEL): “From the moment the political leadership gives the green light, it will take the IDF just minutes to execute an operation in Lebanon”, an IDF official told Maariv. The Northern Command is waiting for the political echelon’s green light to act in Lebanon. In the meantime, the IDF continues to update its attack plans. The military has also taken several steps to ensure that once the order is given, the transition to high-intensity combat will be particularly swift. On October 7, the Northern Command was pleasantly surprised when reserve forces immediately arrived at the emergency warehouses, departed within hours, and deployed to the operational combat zones.

LE FIGARO (FRANCE): Bagdad et Washington sont parvenus à une entente concernant un calendrier de “retrait” des troupes de la coalition internationale antijihadiste stationnées en Irak, a indiqué dimanche le ministre de la Défense irakien, précisant que l’accord devait encore être signé. Les États-Unis déploient environ 2.500 militaires en Irak et près de 900 en Syrie, au sein de la coalition internationale créée en 2014 pour combattre le groupe terroriste État islamique (EI). L’alliance comprend des effectifs de plusieurs autres pays, notamment la France ou la Grande-Bretagne. Bagdad réclame une “fin de mission” de la coalition et le “retrait” des conseillers étrangers, et compte remplacer ce dispositif en consolidant les partenariats bilatéraux dans le domaine militaire, notamment avec les États-Unis. “L’accord” trouvé avec les États-Unis prévoit un “retrait” des effectifs de la coalition “en deux étapes”, a assuré le ministre de la Défense Thabet al-Abbassi, dans un entretien diffusé dimanche par la télévision panarabe Al-Hadath. La “première phase”, qui aurait dû débuter ce septembre, devrait se poursuivre jusqu'à septembre 2025 et concernerait le personnel de la coalition stationné sur des bases militaires irakiennes à Bagdad et ailleurs en Irak fédéral, notamment la base d’Aïn al-Assad. “La deuxième phase, entre septembre 2025 et septembre 2026, concerne le Kurdistan” autonome, dans le nord de l’Irak, a-t-il ajouté. Le ministre irakien a aussi reconnu que le secrétaire américain à la Défense avait lors d’une réunion estimé que “deux ans ce n’était pas suffisant”. “Nous avons refusé la proposition d'une troisième année”, a-t-il précisé.

INDEPENDENT (GB): Ukraine’s attack on Russia started as a triumph – but could turn into a catastrophic strategic mistake. The daring attack on Russia’s Kursk region may have renewed hopes that the tide could finally be turning, but there’s a huge difference between besting poorly trained forces and being able to keep a firm grip on occupied land. So far, Vladimir Putin has not taken the bait and transferred seasoned troops from the Donbas front. The pace of Russia’s advance has actually accelerated, as exhausted Ukrainians, their reserves committed instead to Kursk, fall back towards crucial objectives such as the strategic railway junction of Pokrovsk, now just six miles from the front line.

TEHRAN TIMES (IRAN): Western media claims hundreds of Iranian missiles transferred to Russia after failing to prove similar drone allegations. After multiple failed counteroffensives, Ukrainian forces managed to embarrass Russia with their August incursion of Kursk which remains ongoing. However, it seems that the move is unlikely to bleed Moscow or deal a serious blow to it. With that, the West is left to find a culprit for its lost war in Ukraine, and its eyes have once again landed on Iran.

GLOBAL TIMES (CHINA): Chinese and US officials on Saturday held “professional, rational and pragmatic” talks about policy issues of mutual concern and specific issues raised by the business communities of the two countries, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said, adding to increasing exchanges between officials of the two countries aimed at stabilizing bilateral ties. The growing interactions between Chinese and US officials send a positive signal that the world’s two biggest economies remain committed to maintaining communication, despite growing tension. However, to remove major hurdles for bilateral cooperation, Washington must stop its crackdown campaign against China’s development, Chinese experts said on Sunday.

THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE): PM Modi calls on Indian youth to join politics as parties look for fresh faces. Politics is not seen as an obvious choice for young Indians – unless they hail from a family with members involved in political affairs – as it does not guarantee a fixed salary and is seen as a tough profession. But parties are increasingly waking up to the importance of having young members in a country where 60 per cent of the population is under the age of 35. After all, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his speech on Aug 15 – India’s Independence Day – that he wanted to see “young people without any family connections in politics step forward, lead and represent the people”. In India, where the median age is 28.6, the average age of parliamentarians is 56. The oldest MP is 82 years old, and the youngest is 25. According to PRS Legislative Research, only 11% of MPs are below 40, 38% are between 41 and 55, and 52% are above 55 years of age.

O GLOBO (BRASIL): O ex-candidato da oposição Edmundo González Urrutia, principal rival do ditador Nicolás Maduro nas eleições presidenciais de 28 de julho, disse em mensagem de áudio que vai “continuar na luta” após deixar a Venezuela no sábado e chegar à Espanha neste domingo, onde receberá asilo. O ex-diplomata de 75 anos é acusado de cinco crimes pelo Ministério Público venezuelano e tornou-se alvo de um mandado de prisão na semana passada, após ter ignorado três intimações para depor. Sua partida vinha sendo organizada há duas semanas e as negociações contaram com a participação do ex-presidente espanhol José Luiz Rodríguez Zapatero e importantes autoridades venezuelanas, como o presidente da Assembleia Nacional do país, Jorge Rodríguez, e a vice-presidente Delcy Rodríguez — quem tornou pública a saída do ex-diplomata.

THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): Videos from Sudan’s killing fields reveal ethnic hatred behind massacres. Sudan’s Darfur region was the scene of a genocide two decades ago. Exclusive videos shared with The Post show the inflamed bigotry behind a new wave of killings. The immediate aftermath of the execution-style killings last year in Kassab, and others in neighboring Kutum town in Sudan’s western Darfur region, was captured in videos that have remained unpublished until now — rare visual evidence of the slaughter routinely occurring in Sudan as its armed forces battle a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, in a conflict the United States estimates has cost about 500,000 lives.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): Japanese economy is growing, but political uncertainty is among the risks. Japan’s economy grew at an annual rate of 2.9%, slower than the earlier report for 3.1% growth, in the April-June period, boosted by better wages and spending, revised government data showed Monday. That shows clear risks remain, including U.S. economic growth, which greatly affects export-reliant Japan. Political uncertainty in Japan is another risk as the ruling party picks a new leader. About a dozen candidates are seeking to succeed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as head of the Liberal Democratic Party. The winner of its Sept. 27 vote is a near-certainty to be the next prime minister since the party controls parliament. The world’s fourth-largest economy grew 0.7% in the fiscal first quarter, according to the Cabinet Office, rebounding from the contraction in the previous quarter.

THE ECONOMIC TIMS (INDIA): US, India partners to explore semiconductor supply chain opportunities. The US Department of State is collaborating with India’s Semiconductor Mission to enhance the global semiconductor ecosystem under the ITSI Fund, established by the CHIPS Act of 2022. This partnership aims to create a resilient and secure supply chain, benefiting both nations and contributing to global digital transformation. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations, J Robert Garverick, from the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, said, “The Department of State is partnering with the Government of India to explore opportunities to grow and diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem under the International Technology Security and Innovation Fund. President Biden signed the CHIPS Act in the US two years ago, establishing the ITSI Fund to promote the development of a secure global semiconductor supply chain and telecommunications networks”.

NIKKEI (JAPAN): Pakistan is struggling to finalize a $7 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund as it falls short in key specifics, observers said. Islamabad signed a loan agreement with the Washington-based fund at the staff level in the second week of July. Deals must get an official nod from the IMF’s executive board, but the agreement is not on the agenda of the board’s next meeting on Friday. Subsidies and shortfall in external financing lie at heart of delay, sources say.

THE GUARDIAN (GB): “Going back in time”: the schools across Europe banning mobile phones. Calvijn College was one of the first schools in the Netherlands to ban mobile phones. Four years on, officials report its culture has been transformed.
Four years after Calvijn College became one of the first schools in the Netherlands to go smartphone-free, it’s no longer an outlier. As students head back into classrooms across mainland Europe, a growing number of them will be forced to leave their mobile phones behind; In France, 200 secondary schools are testing a ban while French-speaking primary schools in Wallonia and Brussels, in Belgium, have moved forward with their own prohibitions. In Hungary, a new decree requires schools to collect students’ phones and smart devices at the start of the day. Italy and Greece have adopted milder approaches, allowing students to carry their phones with them through the day but barring their use in classrooms. Other schools across the country began getting in touch, curious about the impact of the ban. In January 2024, the Dutch government entered the debate, urging schools to ban mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches from most secondary school classrooms across the country, The recommendation was recently extended to primary schools.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): Nation with lowest birthrate is rocked by soaring sales of dog strollers. Pooches in prams outpace actual baby carriages in South Korea, leaving officials barking mad. South Korea’s now labor minister has scolded young people, saying they choose dogs over kids.