NOVI/KALAMAZOO, Michigan — Republican Donald Trump appealed to Muslim voters in Michigan on Saturday as Michelle Obama made an impassioned plea on behalf of Kamala Harris at the Democrat’s own rally in the battleground state.

In Michigan, Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump are battling for voters that include an Arab American and Muslim population concerned about Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and union workers worried about how electric vehicles could reshape the US auto industry, which is headquartered in Detroit, the state’s largest city.

Election Day is Nov. 5 but early voting was under way in Michigan, as it is many states.

Speaking at a rally outside Detroit, Mr. Trump said he had just met with group of local imams, arguing that he deserved the support of Muslim voters because he would end conflicts and bring peace to the Middle East.

“That’s all they want,” Mr. Trump said in the Detroit suburb of Novi, also pledging to auto workers at the rally that he would reverse economic decline in the Detroit area and nationwide.

Mr. Trump fully backs Israel but has not said how he would end the conflict there.

Even so, Mr. Trump appears to be gaining support from some Muslim Americans upset with President Joseph R Biden’s and Ms. Harris’ support of Israel, and despite Mr. Trump banning immigration from some Muslim majority countries in his first term as president.

Imam Belal Alzuhairi of the Islamic Center of Detroit joined Mr. Trump on stage, saying, “We ask Muslims to stand with President Trump because he promises peace.”

With some 8.4 million registered voters and 15 electoral college votes of the 270 needed to win, Michigan is one of seven competitive US states that will decide the election. It is part of the “Blue Wall” that is considered Democrats’ best chance of electing Ms. Harris, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

OBAMA TAKES THE STAGE
In the southern Michigan city of Kalamazoo, about 130 miles (210 km) away, Ms. Harris drew contrasts between her and Mr. Trump on issues such as abortion rights, taxes and healthcare.

But first Ms. Obama, the popular wife of former President Barack Obama, fired up the crowd by drawing distinctions between the two candidates on personal character and qualifications, saying there was a double standard in how Mr. Trump and Harris were being treated.

“I hope you’ll forgive me that I’m a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn,” the former first lady said, urging any undecided voters to “snap out of whatever fog they’re in.”

Ms. Obama also addressed women’s health at length, saying Mr. Trump has failed to demonstrate understanding of its complexity and that his vows to rescind the Affordable Care Act passed during her husband’s presidency would affect the “entirety of women’s health, all of it.”

“We as women will become collateral damage to your rage,” she said, later introducing Ms. Harris to an animated crowd.

Ms. Harris was several minutes into an upbeat address when she was interrupted by a demonstrator who repeatedly yelled, “No more Gaza war.”

After Harris supporters shouted down the interruption, Ms. Harris responded, “On the topic of Gaza, we must end that war,” then picked up where she left off, asking voters to “turn the page on the fear and the divisiveness.”

“Over the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable and more angry, and it is clear he has become increasingly unhinged. But the last time, at least there were people who could control him, but notice they’re not with him this time,” Ms. Harris said.

Ahead of the rally, Ms. Harris met with women medical providers in Portage, Michigan, where she said the country was in a healthcare crisis following the 2022 ruling by the US Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed a women’s right to abortion nationwide.

Ms. Harris heard from six women medical providers who described being inundated by patients from other regions due to a lack of reproductive healthcare in their areas since Roe was overturned.

After leaving Michigan, Mr. Trump traveled to Pennsylvania, where he tried to reel in young voters with a rally on the campus of Penn State University, at one point bringing the school’s wrestling team on stage with him.

“We have to finish it off with a big victory on Nov. 5,” he said.

POLLS SHOW TIGHT RACE
Ms. Harris is leading Mr. Trump nationally by a marginal 46% to 43%, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. In Michigan, Harris leads by even less – 47.6% to 47.1%, according to opinion poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

Since the 2020 election, Michigan has instituted early in-person voting for the first time and begun permitting jurisdictions with more than 5,000 people to begin processing and tabulating mail ballots eight days before the Nov. 5 Election Day.

So far, 19.5% of registered voters in Michigan, or nearly 1.42 million people, have voted, Michigan’s State department said on Friday. Only 10,900 were in-person early votes, while the rest were returned absentee ballots. — Reuters

BEIJING — China will take “countermeasures” to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the government said, lambasting a $2-billion arms sale package by the United States to Taiwan.

The United States is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, to the constant anger of Beijing.

On Friday, the Pentagon said the United States had approved a potential $2-billion arms sale package to Taiwan, including the delivery for the first time to the island of an advanced air defense missile system battle-tested in Ukraine.

In a statement late Saturday, China’s foreign ministry said it strongly condemns and firmly opposes the sales and has lodged “solemn representations” with the United States.

China urges the United States to immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop its dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it added.

“China will take resolute countermeasures and take all measures necessary to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” the ministry said, without elaborating.

China has over the past five years stepped up its military activities around democratically governed Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, including staging a new round of war games earlier this month.

Taiwan’s government has welcomed the new arms sale, the 17^th of the Biden administration to the island.

“In the face of China’s threats, Taiwan is duty-bound to protect its homeland, and will continue to demonstrate its determination to defend itself,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said, responding to the arms sale. — Reuters

TOKYO — Japan’s voters decide the fate of Prime Minister (PM) Shigeru Ishiba’s government on Sunday in an election expected to punish his coalition over a funding scandal and inflation, potentially ending a decade of dominance for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The LDP and its longtime partner Komeito will suffer a drubbing from voters, with the coalition possibly losing its parliamentary majority, opinion polls suggest, as Japan struggles with rising costs of living and increasingly tense relations with neighboring China.

Losing the majority in the lower house would force Ishiba, in office just a month, into power-sharing negotiations with smaller parties, bringing uncertainty in some policy areas, although no polls forecast the LDP being ejected from power.

Political wrangling could roil markets and be a headache for the Bank of Japan (BoJ), if Mr. Ishiba chooses a partner that favors maintaining near-zero interest rates when the central bank wants to gradually raise them.

“He’ll be considerably weakened as a leader, his party will be weakened in the policies that it particularly wants to focus on, because bringing in a coalition partner will cause them to have to make certain compromises with that party, whatever party it may be,” said Jeffrey Hall, an expert on Japanese politics at the Kanda University of International Studies.

The LDP could lose as many as 50 of its 247 seats in the lower house and Komeito could slip below 30, giving the coalition fewer than the 233 needed for a majority, a survey by the Asahi newspaper suggested last week.

“That’s basically the scenario for ‘sell Japan,’” as investors ponder how the outcome could affect fiscal and monetary policy, said Naka Matsuzawa, chief macro strategist at Nomura Securities. Japanese shares fell 2.7% last week on the benchmark Nikkei index.

The LDP will remain easily the biggest force in parliament, polls indicate, but it could lose many votes to the number two party, the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), which toppled the LDP in 2009, the Asahi said, estimating he CDPJ could win as many as 140 seats.

COALITION HEADACHES
Nine days before US voters choose a new president, Japan’s general election appears likely to show Mr. Ishiba miscalculated in going to the voters for a verdict on the LDP’s scandal over unrecorded donations at fundraisers.

After purging some LDP members, Ishiba says he considers the case closed and has not ruled out giving government posts to disgraced politicians, possibly angering voters, experts say.

Potential coalition partners could be the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and the Japan Innovation Party, but both propose policies at odds with the LDP line.

The DPP calls for halving Japan’s 10% sales tax until real wages rise, a policy not endorsed by the LDP, while the Innovation Party has pledged tougher donation rules to clean up politics.

The Innovation Party opposes further rate hikes, and the DPP leader has said the central bank may have been hasty in raising rates, while the BoJ wants to gradually wean the world’s fourth-largest economy off decades of monetary stimulus.

Almost 40% of voters say their top concern is the economy and cost of living, according to a poll by public broadcaster NHK. It found 28% want a tax cut and 21% hoped to see a continued rise in their wages.

Various parties have pledged to raise wages in a move that may win votes but also threatens smaller businesses that are struggling to keep up with rising costs. — Reuters