- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
- Zelensky to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Israel captain says 'difficult' to focus on football in time of war
- Macron to host Ukraine's Zelensky after meeting Ukrainian troops
- Root says 'many more to get' after England Test runs landmark
- India pile up World Cup high to rout Sri Lanka
- One year later, Israeli hostage family learns of loss
- Texans receiver Collins, Pats' safety Peppers out for NFL clash
Teens for Trump? Republicans eye gains among US youth
Caden Schaefer-Rose will only just be 18 by the time of November's US election, but he is determined to cast his very first presidential vote -- for Donald Trump.
The high school student is among a growing number of teens defying liberal stereotypes of America's youngest voters and hopping aboard the Trump train.
"I feel like he reflects a lot of my personal values," Schaefer-Rose, wearing mirrored sunglasses, told AFP at a "Youth VoteFest" Wednesday near the Republican National Convention.
He first became aware of Trump in 2016, seeing him on television during that year's raucous campaign. Other young voters at the event said their first memory of Trump was seeing his cameo in "Home Alone 2," or as a brash boss in television's "The Apprentice."
"I kind of just connected with him," Schaefer-Rose said. "I was only eight years old at the time, but I could see that he was someone I could eventually look up to."
Same with Matthew Paley, a New Jersey 19-year-old who was playing corn hole outside the Republican convention arena.
He met his idol Trump -- "very nice dude!" -- recently in Florida and fully backs the billionaire as he seeks a White House comeback.
"Honestly in the beginning... I just liked Trump because I thought he was hilarious," said Paley.
"Then once I started doing my research, I was like 'Oh wow, alright.'"
Paley said he embraces the same "core conservative values" as Trump, including gun rights.
"And I love that he has such a strong backbone and fights for what he believes in."
America's youth have traditionally voted Democratic, and for now they largely still do. But Republicans insist a shift is afoot.
Pew Research shows that in 2016, voters under 30 supported the Democratic Party ticket by a 30-point margin. By 2020, that advantage shrank to 24 points.
The youngest voters in particular are pivotal, as studies show college student voting is rising -- and Republicans are courting them like never before.
Trump's newly announced running mate, J.D. Vance, is just 39 years old, 20 years younger than Vice President Kamala Harris.
The party invited Amber Rose, a social media influencer with 24 million followers on Instagram, to address the convention, where she endorsed Trump Monday.
And in a bid to attract young Black voters, rapper Forgiato Blow made an appearance.
- 'Limit your dreams' -
Charlie Kirk, who founded the youth-oriented grassroots conservative group Turning Point USA when he was just 18, took the convention stage this week claiming Biden's message to Gen Z is to "limit your dreams (and) be content with less."
"Donald Trump refuses to accept this fake, pathetic, mutilated version of the American dream," Kirk, 30, said to huge applause.
"This is why young men are the most conservative that they have been in 50 years."
Xavier Starks, an African-American high schooler in Wisconsin who turns 18 in August, said he is considering voting for Trump.
"I feel like Trump did do good things, but the way he's trying to run and saying 'I'm a dictator,' and how he's going to conduct himself, I don't know about that," Starks told AFP at the youth symposium.
The fact a convicted felon will be on the ballot is "pretty insane," he said. But Biden, 81, is "so old."
Well-informed young conservatives cite America's soaring national debt, shrinking home ownership prospects, bloated interest rates, and illegal immigration as reasons to back Trump.
Former US senator Heidi Heitkamp, who now heads the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics which coordinated the VoteFest, said she recognizes why young Americans might tune out to the two oldest-ever presidential nominees.
"I think they're looking at these two candidates and saying, 'Do they really understand what my concerns are?'" she said.
"I don't think there's been a lot of clarity on what that future looks like for young people."
L.Davis--AMWN