Sudan says it has South Sudan’s former rebel leader who fled

FILE---In this Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016 file photo, South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar addresses a press conference in his private residence in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Sudan announced Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016, it was now hosting South Sudan’s former rebel leader and vice president, whose whereabouts had been unknown after he fled his country into neighboring Congo last week.Riek Machar needed “urgent medical attention,” government spokesman Ahmed Bilal Osman said in a statement carried by the SUNA news agency. (Mulugeta Ayene, File/Associated Press)

By Mohamed Osman | AP August 23 at 2:24 PM

KHARTOUM, Sudan — South Sudan’s former rebel leader and vice president who fled the country last week has re-emerged in neighboring Sudan, which announced Tuesday that he had needed “urgent medical attention.” Riek Machar’s whereabouts had been largely unknown for weeks, leaving an already fragile peace deal in limbo.
Machar’s condition was now stable, and he will stay “until he leaves the country for a destination of his choice to complete his medical treatment,” Sudan government spokesman Ahmed Bilal Osman said in a statement carried by the SUNA news agency.
Machar fled South Sudan’s capital last month amid renewed fighting, just months after he returned to the country to resume being vice president under a peace deal signed last year under international pressure to end a civil war.
Many of his bodyguards were shot dead in the July fighting that erupted outside the presidential compound where Machar and former rival President Salva Kiir were meeting on recent tensions.
His absence further weakened the peace deal, with Kiir quickly replacing Machar as vice president in a contested move.
A spokesman for Machar, James Gatdet Gak, confirmed via social media that Machar was in Khartoum and suffered from “exhaustion and a swollen leg,” and he thanked the Sudanese government for the medical care.
Osman, the government spokesman, said Sudan had recently accepted Machar for “purely humanitarian reasons” and promptly notified neighboring South Sudan’s government. He did not say how or when Machar had arrived.
Sudan’s foreign ministry spokesman had told The Associated Press on Saturday that Machar was not there.
South Sudan’s presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, said the government was not aware that Machar was in Sudan and had no comment.
Last week, a spokesman for Machar announced that he had fled across the border into Congo after weeks of walking through the bush. The United Nations said it had arranged for its peacekeeping mission in Congo to fly Machar to a safe place away from the Congo-South Sudan border and that Machar was in the hands of Congolese authorities.
But Congo’s government last week said it had no knowledge of Machar being there.
It was not immediately clear whether Machar had plans to emerge from his treatment in Sudan to speak publicly.
South Sudan’s civil war began in December 2013 between armed supporters of rivals Kiir and Machar. Machar’s side has received ammunition, arms, uniforms and other supplies from Sudan, a U.N. panel of experts has reported .
Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 900,000 have fled the world’s youngest country, which was founded in 2011 after years of fighting for independence from Sudan.
___
Associated Press writer Justin Lynch in Juba, South Sudan, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Trump, Clinton spar over economic plans in dueling speeches

Published August 11, 2016

Just The Facts News

The 2016 presidential rivals set aside their latest campaign controversies Thursday to trade jabs on jobs, taxes and the economy -- with Donald Trump casting Hillary Clinton as bad for the housing industry and the Democratic nominee accusing her opponent of offering "no credible plans" for working Americans.
Clinton also tried to out-tough Trump on trade, vowing to beef up enforcement on trade rules and punish countries that violate them.
"Mr. Trump may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength," Clinton said in Michigan. "If Team USA was as fearful as Trump, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles would be cowering in the locker room, afraid to come out to compete."
Trump delivered an economic speech of his own earlier this week in Michigan. On Thursday, he also spoke to the National Association of Home Builders in Miami Beach, Fla., and decried the Obama administration’s increase in regulations on building properties.
“In the last five years, regulations on building … have increased by 29 percent,” he said.
Trump cited his family’s history in the industry and regaled the crowd with anecdotes of his father Fred’s homebuilding exploits. He told the association, though, that the regulation situation would only get worse if Clinton is elected in November.

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“And I will say this, and I say this to you very strongly, if short-circuit Hillary Clinton ever gets elected, it's only going to be worse. It is going to get worse. It's going to be four more years of Obama but it will be worse because she's mandated to go to the left, because 45 percent of Bernie's people -- they want her to head in that direction,” he said.
Clinton, meanwhile, detailed her economic package in a speech in Detroit, calling for the largest investment package since World War II, a "patriotic tax code" that would punish those companies sending jobs abroad, broadband in every home by 2020 and making America a “green energy super power.”
She also reached out to disenfranchised Republicans by saying “a big part of our plan will be unleashing the power of private sector to create more jobs at higher pay.”
She cited analysis that found Trump’s positions would lose over 3 million jobs, while hers would create over 10 million.
“When it comes to creating jobs, I would argue, it’s not even close,” she said, when comparing their two plans. “He hasn't offered any credible solutions for the very real economic challenges we face.”
She also said she would oppose any trade deals that would send American jobs abroad, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Clinton has opposed the deal in its current form after once calling it a "gold standard" agreement when she was secretary of state. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe hinted last month that she may change her position when elected, although this was denied by the Clinton campaign.
“I’ll oppose it now, I'll oppose it after the election and I'll oppose it as president,” she said, also promising to stand up to China if they try and take advantage of American workers.
Clinton also took a shot at Trump for making certain items, such as suits and ties, in China and Mexico.
“One thing he could do to make America great is to make great things in America,” she joked.
Trump outlined his economic package in a speech Monday, pledging to cut taxes for businesses and workers, while proposing a three-bracket income tax system more in line with proposals by House Republicans than his previous plan. He also called for greater child care deductions for families.
Economic issues have frequently been pushed to the side amid controversies over remarks made by Trump -- as well as recurring controversies involving Clinton's email scandals and dealing between her State Department and family foundation.
At a Tuesday rally, Trump said there was no way to stop a future-President Hillary Clinton from packing the Supreme Court with anti-Second Amendment justices, “although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is…I don’t know.” Some saw the remarks as a joke about Clinton being assassinated, a claim that the Trump campaign has denied.
Trump has also faced more controversy after claiming that President Obama is “the founder” of ISIS, and Clinton its co-founder.

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At least 4 dead, dozens wounded after coordinated bombings hit Thailand resort areas

Aug. 12, 2006: Investigators work at the scene of an explosion in the resort town of Hua Hin, 150 miles south of Bangkok, Thailand. (AP)

BANGKOK –  Coordinated explosions targeting some of Thailand's most popular resort cities and beach towns killed at least four people and wounded dozens more. Police said Friday that 10 foreigners were injured in the violence, some of the worst here since the military seized power in a coup two years ago.
It was not clear who was behind the attacks Thursday and Friday, but police ruled out links to international terrorism or a low-level insurgency in the country's Islamic south.
The timing and scope of the attacks suggested the bombs were set off by opponents of the Southeast Asian nation's ruling junta, which last weekend organized a successful referendum on a constitution that critics say will bolster the military's power for years to come.
The explosions all occurred south of Bangkok and several of the blasts — including one on Patong beach in the tourist town of Phuket, three in the seaside resort city of Hua Hin — appeared designed to strike the tourism industry.

Thailand's economy has sagged since the military seized power in a 2014 coup. But tourism has remained one of the few bright spots, with more than 14 million people visiting in 2016 so far — up from 12.5 million the year before.
Foreign governments, including the United States, issued warnings urging travelers to avoid affected areas.
Germany's Foreign Ministry said that three German citizens were among the injured. It gave no further details, and it was unclear which blast was responsible.
The most devastating explosions occurred overnight in Hua Hin on a busy street filled with bars and restaurants. One Thai woman was killed and about 20 people were wounded, half of them foreigners, according to Pol. Lt Chaiyot Tisawong.
Gen. Sithichai Srisopacharoenrath, the superintendent of police in Hua Hin, said the bombs were hidden inside potted plants and were set off by remote control, half an hour apart. He said a Samsung cell phone had been recovered that they believe was used to detonate at least one the bombs.
On Friday, debris and ball bearings could be seen strewn across the road as police investigated the scene. The blast damaged a pair of phone booths and shattered the window of a nearby Starbucks.
Many shops in the city center closed afterward and normally bustling streets were empty, for good reason: Hua Hin was hit again by another bomb that exploded Friday morning near a clock tower, killing one person and wounding four more.
Separate blasts were reported elsewhere in the south. One exploded on Phuket city's popular Patong beach, injuring one person. Two more detonated in front of two police stations half an hour apart in Surat Thani in southern Thailand, killing one and wounding three. And two bombs exploded outside a market in Phang Na, damaging two vehicles but causing no casualties.
Earlier Thursday, another bomb blew up in the southern province of Trang — full of beautiful beaches and tourist island — killing one person and injuring six, according to Thai press reports.
Trang is on the fringes of Thailand's deep south, where a low-level Muslim separatist insurgency had killed more than 5,000 people since 2004. Almost all the violence has been in the three southernmost provinces.
In Hua Hin, tourist Shane Brett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. from his hotel room that there was panic after the first explosion there Thursday.
"I was at a bar in the main bar district in Hua Hin right outside the Hilton Hotel and at first I heard kind of a bang ... and everyone kind of panicked," Brett said.
He looked outside and saw people running. Half an hour later, heading back to his hotel, he saw "a good few people injured and the whole area just panicking ... the whole area was just shut down with police cars, ambulances."
Thailand has been plagued by political violence, including several bombings, since the populist billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted as prime minister in a 2006 military coup after demonstrations accused him of corruption, abuse of power and insulting King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Thaksin's ouster set off sometimes bloody battles for power between his supporters and opponents, who include the military. The government of his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who became prime minister in 2011, was toppled in the country's last coup in 2014.
On Sunday, Thai voters approved a referendum on a new constitution that is supposed to lead to an election next year. Critics say it is undemocratic and is fashioned to keep the military in control for at least five more years even if a free election is held.
In a speech Wednesday night, junta chief and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha took credit for bringing stability back to Thailand after an extended period of unrest.
On Friday, Prayuth said the government was doing the best it "could to provide security to the country ... We have to band together and stay strong."
Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a junta spokesman, said Prayuth "expressed his sadness over the unexpected and tragic incident (in Hua Hin)" and ordered police and soldiers in the area to step up security measures.
Friday's blast took place on the birthday of Thailand's Queen Sirikit. The junta has repeatedly said that defending the monarchy is a top priority, and the army and its allies are keen to ensure a smooth succession for Bhumibol, who is the world's longest reigning monarch.

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Iran's ex-president Ahmadinejad asks Obama to 'fix' $2B Supreme Court ruling

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran's former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter on Monday to President Barack Obama, asking him to "quickly fix" a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing families of people killed in attacks linked to Iran to collect damages from some $2 billion in frozen assets.
While writing that his letter "is by no means of (a) political nature," Ahmadinejad's message to Obama arrives amid swirling speculation that the hard-line politician may run as a candidate in Iran's presidential election next year.
It also comes as average Iranians largely have yet to see the benefits of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers -- something a discontent Ahmadinejad and other hard-liners could mine in any potential campaign against moderates.

In the letter, posted on a website associated with the former president's office, Ahmadinejad focuses on the Supreme Court's decision in April. The court's 6-2 ruling allows families of victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and other attacks linked to Iran to collect monetary damages from Iran.
At risk for Iran is $1.75 billion in bonds, plus accumulating interest, owned by Iran's Bank Markazi and held by Citibank in New York.
"It is the clear expectation of the Iranian nation that the particular case of property seizure ... be quickly fixed by your excellency and that not only the Iranian nation's rights be restored and the seized property released and returned, but also the damaged caused be fully compensated for," the letter said.
"I passionately advise you not to let the historical defamation and bitter incident be recorded under your name," Ahmadinejad added.
Ahmadinejad's letter was delivered to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which has overseen America's interests in the country in the years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover. Embassy officials declined to comment.
It's unclear what steps Ahmadinejad expects Obama to take. There was no immediate comment from the White House regarding the letter.
The timing of the letter, however, is interesting as Ahmadinejad's name continues to circulate as a possible challenger to moderate President Hassan Rouhani in Iran's coming May 19 election. Rouhani's administration negotiated the nuclear accord, which put limits on Iran's atomic program in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.
While Ahmadinejad previously served two four-year terms, Iranian law calls only for a one-term cooling-off period before he's eligible to run again.
How Iranians would react to another Ahmadinejad run, however, remains to be seen if and when it happens.
Under his presidency, Iran found itself heavily sanctioned over the nuclear program as Ahmadinejad questioned the scale of the Holocaust and predicted the demise of Israel. His disputed 2009 re-election saw widespread protests and violence. Two of his former vice presidents have since been jailed for corruption.

Capital City	Tehran
Type of Government	Islamic Republic
Primary Languages	Persian
Currency	Iranian Rial

Population

79.1

million

GDP per Capita

$5,443

Land Area

628,783

square miles

Sources: World Bank: World Deve

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Presidential

Clinton, Trump clash on economy

Hillary Clinton clashed from afar with Donald Trump on the economy Monday, accusing him of peddling “old, tired ideas” that benefit the “really wealthy” – after the Republican nominee hammered the Democrats' “job-killing” agenda in a speech of his own where he unveiled a revised plan to jolt the economy by slashing taxes and regulations.

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North Korea

North Korea, China want to undo the Japan-South Korea Alliance that the US helped broker

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Now Playing North Korean missile lands near Japanese waters

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With the world preoccupied by America’s raucous election, the U.K.’s vote to exit the E.U., and continued terrorism in Europe and the Middle East, North Korea fired a missile Wednesday more than 600 miles into Japanese waters, just 155 miles off its shores.
The launch defied a resolution approved in March by the United Nations, the fifth since 2006, that bars development of nuclear and ballistic missile technology and applies broad sanctions. In recent weeks, North Korea and China have been protesting plans by South Korea to deploy a missile defense system developed by the United States, and the missile launch may have been a reaction. But it seems much more.
North Korea and China have been deploying a strategy of undermining cooperation between the two largest democracies in the region, South Korea and Japan, which comprise the fulcrum for the Obama Administration’s “pivot to Asia.” Attacks on this alliance will almost certainly intensify as we approach Aug. 15, the 71^st anniversary of the surrender of Japan, ending World War II.
In December, the United States played a key role in helping South Korea and Japan forge an agreement to end a dispute involving so-called  “comfort women” that had been festering for decades. The Japanese government agreed to compensate Korean women who were used for sex by Japanese troops, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe renewed an apology.
The agreement had far broader implications. It was a major step in ending the animosity between the two countries that had seriously infected economic and security relations. Between 2012 and 2014, for example, Japan-South Korea trade fell 17 percent, and tourism dropped sharply.
In headlines, the Guardian newspaper of Britain called the so-called comfort women deal “a triumph for Japan and the U.S.,” and The Washington Post concluded that it “offers strategic benefit to U.S. in Asia-Pacific.” President Obama intervened several times personally during the two years of negotiations, trying to bring Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye closer to together. He phoned to congratulate the two on the agreement, praising them for “having the courage and vision to forge a lasting settlement to this difficult issue.”
Also facilitating the agreement was Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, who was slashed in March 2015 by a knife-wielding attacker.
According to the BBC, the accused South Korean man, Kim Ki-jong, attacked the Japanese ambassador to South Korea in 2010 and later tried to erect a memorial altar in the heart of Seoul to the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
Obama brought Park and Abe together during a nuclear summit meeting at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to The Hague in 2014. It was the first time the two Asian leaders had met despite being in office for more than a year. North Korea’s aggressive policies were the backdrop for the comfort women talks.
Abe and Park spoke within 24 hours of a North Korean nuclear test that occurred shortly after the comfort women agreement. That contact showed that working through the wartime claims deal had helped establish “a relationship of trust,” said a special adviser to Abe.
But trust and unity between South Korea and Japan, especially with U.S. encouragement, is precisely what the North Koreans oppose, and they continue to try to drive a wedge between the two nations. North Korea immediately attacked the December agreement and mobilized its allies.
The Association of Koreas in Japan for Peaceful Reunification, for example, issued a statement saying: “For South Korea, there is no more humiliating diplomacy than to reach such a deal with Japan.”
Now, more than seven months after the agreement was reached, the response to “an issue that the Korean media often treated as central to South Korean identity” seems to have “dropped out of the newspapers,” according to Robert Kelly, who teaches at Pusan University.
The truth is that the comfort women issue has been a favorite hot-button issue for politicians across Asia, but now that it’s been settled in South Korea and Japan, you can still expect North Korea and China to exploit it.
James K. Glassman served as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2008-09).

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Iran Is Ready To Attack Israel

 

The tension between Israel and Iran appears to be heightening. Hossein Salami, deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently said: “Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes.”

He added: “Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are [present] more than ever.” Salami warned that if Israel made the “wrong move,” it would come under attack.

A few weeks ago, a senior adviser to the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, Ahmad Karimpour, said Iran could destroy Israel “in less than eight minutes” if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave the order.

Rhetoric and Iran’s Military Capabilities

There are several reasons why Iran’s repeated anti-Israel statements may be pure rhetoric. They are most likely meant as a type of psychological warfare, because Iran cannot afford direct conflict with Israel.

Although Iran is larger geographically and in terms of population, its military capacity is inferior. Even regarding missile capabilities, which Iranian generals boast about, Israel’s are greater in range and number.

What fundamentally changes the balance of power is Israel’s nuclear capacity. It is widely believed to have some 200 nuclear warheads that can be used with intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as nuclear-armed submarines.

As such, Iran’s policy toward Israel is to not strike first, as doing so would be suicidal for the ruling political establishment, whose main objective is to maintain power. It would be more effective to fight Israel via its Lebanese Shiite proxy Hezbollah.

Tehran’s repeated boasting about IRGC capabilities is aimed at invoking nationalist sentiment among the public, because Iranian leaders know that the overwhelming majority of Iranians are dissatisfied with the hardliners and the political establishment.

Kazem, 29, PhD student majored in public health, pointed out “I would like to see a regime change in Iran, but I want Iran, ruled by any government even the current clergies, to be stronger than any country in the region including Israel. Iran should be the most powerful nation in the region militarily, technologically and economically as it was under Shah era or thousands of years of the Persian empire”.

In addition, IRGC attempts to maintain and increase the budget allocated to it by showing that it is an indispensable and a must-have force to protect Iranians.

This method has been successful, as polls have repeatedly shown that many Iranians who oppose the political establishment still favor their country becoming a nuclear power or being more powerful than any other country in the region.

Finally, Khamenei and senior cadre of IRGC are appealing to the nationalistic sentiments of Iranians to win their votes by showing that IRGC is a must-have force to protect Iranians and project Iran’s prowess. They are also recalibrating the domestic balance of power, making it clear that they are the final decision-makers. They are appealing to their hardline social base by showing it that they continue to prioritize the values of the 1979 revolution (such as opposing Israel and the US) over other issues, including national interests. And, they are sending a message that the nuclear agreement does not mean Iran would make fundamental changes in its socio-political and socio-economic policies.

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Trump's love affair with presidency is over

 

There is only one reasonable explanation for Donald Trump's erratic behavior in recent weeks. His infatuation with the presidency apparently has ended.

Like a schoolboy falling for a girl the very first time, Trump was bewitched by the grandeur of the title "Mr. President." The power and prestige that go along with being the leader of the free world would far exceed the notoriety of the high-rise hotels and steaks that bear his name.

So for months, Trump flirted with the idea of being president. He pursued his new passion with a vengeance, trampling over 16 other suitors who got in his way. He teased potential supporters with merciless vigor, bringing them to the point of complete surrender, convinced America could not survive without him at the helm.

They fell in love with his brash demeanor, his uncensored voice and his irreverent behavior. But for Trump, the feelings never ran as deep. For him, it was merely a crush.

Days after the engagement party in Cleveland, where he secured his party's nomination, the thrill of winning had all but subsided. The pursuit, perhaps, was more exciting than the prize.

Since the Republican National Convention, he has made blunder after blunder. He seems to be doing everything possible to show that he wants out.

Republican Party leaders are getting the message. They're in a panic, we're told, and have begun looking into options for replacing Trump if he were to make the unprecedented decision to drop out.

We've never seen this sort of thing in the history of presidential politics. Then again, we've never seen a candidate quite like Trump. And the GOP has good reason to be wary that their nominee's heart is no longer in the right place.

First, he says he loves babies. Then he says he was kidding and has his staff escort the child out.

Let's take, for example, the rally last week in Virginia. Trump committed the cardinal sin of presidential campaigning. Even the most inexperienced politicians know that babies are an essential prop in conveying a candidate's tenderheartedness and humanity. But instead of kissing a baby, Trump told an antsy mother to get her bawling child out of there.

That alone might not have been enough to draw a conclusion, but couple it with his fierce attack on a Gold Star family who lost their son in a heroic act of valor in Iraq. No one who really wants to be commander in chief would disparage the parents of a fallen soldier, no matter how many times they pulled their worn copy of the Constitution from their pocket and challenged you to read it.

And when they accused you of having sacrificed nothing, savvy politicians would have maintained a dignified silence in public while working underhandedly to deflect it onto their opponent. No one would come back at a grieving family with the ridiculous defense that you have sacrificed by employing "thousands and thousands of people."

Clearly, being in a position to hire people is not a sacrifice. If someone is working for you, then you are reaping the benefits. And if you aren't getting anything out of it, you must be a lousy manager.

Trying to move past recent stumbles, Trump promises tax cuts, assails Clinton

And what about that Purple Heart? A wounded veteran certainly has the right to give his medal to anyone he chooses, but someone who really wants to be president wouldn't accept it and thank him with an insult. After the decorated veteran expressed his confidence in Trump and handed over his Purple Heart at a rally in Virginia, Trump quipped the unthinkable: "I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier."

There aren't many things that would be more disrespectful to our troops who have been wounded or killed while protecting their country.

The political blunders have been constant. He practically committed treason by suggesting that Russia hack former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails and release them publicly. Then he took his time giving GOP House Majority Leader Paul Ryan and Arizona Sen. John McCain lukewarm endorsements in their re-election bids, though they had held their noses and thrown their support behind his nomination for the party's sake.

Trump also suggested that disenfranchised voters such as African-Americans and Hispanics — the primary victims of restrictive voter ID laws — would commit voter fraud without them. "We may have people vote 10 times," Trump told The Washington Post. "If you don't have voter ID, you can just keep voting and voting and voting."

In Trump's America, we're one another's enemy

Trump further alienated women by blaming them for sexual harassment in the workplace. In an interview with USA Today, he said if his daughter Ivanka were sexually harassed at work, she should find a new job. "I would like to think she would find another career or find another company if that was the case," Trump said.

He also diminished the work of first responders by criticizing local fire marshals for managing crowds at his rallies. "They don't know what the hell they're doing," he told supporters in Colorado Springs, Colo. "This is why our country doesn't work." Of course, Trump didn't mention that the Colorado Springs Fire Department had just rescued him and his Secret Service detail from a stalled elevator.

Despite the unrequited love, Trump's supporters continue to shower him with $10 and $20 donations — enough to edge closer to Clinton's multimillion-dollar fundraising effort.

And in case he loses the election in November, Trump already has begun to try and ease the heartache his followers will undoubtedly feel.

It won't be their fault, he assured them. And it certainly won't be his. If he doesn't get to be president next year, it will be because America's election system is rigged.

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NBC announcer apologizes for comments about Simone Biles' parents

Simone Biles. (Getty Images)

As he was discussing the background of Team USA gymnast Simone Biles on Sunday night, NBC gymnastics announcer Al Trautwig referred to Biles’ adoptive parents, Ron and Nellie Biles, as her “grandparents.” Ron and Nellie Biles are indeed Biles’ biological grandparents, but adopted Simone and her sister Adria in 2001. Simone and Adria’s mother, Ron Biles’ daughter, struggled with drugs and alcohol.
[Related: Simone Biles dominates women’s qualifying]
Trautwig’s reference to Ron and Nellie as “grandparents” rather than parents angered adoption advocates, and when one reached out to Trautwig on Twitter, he doubled down:

Simone Biles’ coach Aimee Boorman added her opinion on the matter:

Twitter reacted to Trautwig’s lines with characteristic levelheaded restraint, with demands for Trautwig’s firing coalescing under the hashtag #FireTrautwig. Trautwig offered an apology on Monday afternoon, as reported by USA Today:
“I regret that I wasn’t more clear in my wording on the air,” he said in a statement emailed by NBC Sports. “I compounded the error on Twitter, which I quickly corrected. To set the record straight, Ron and Nellie are Simone’s parents.”
With an audience of billions listening, announcers are under tremendous pressure to speak in the moment while respecting a range of opinions and sensitivities. Fellow NBC announcer Dan Hicks has also taken heat for saying the coach/husband of swimmer Katinka Hosszu is “the man responsible” for her recent success.

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#UGANDA NEWS BRIEFINGz group updates - #Matsanga ‘used forged papers to fix #ICC president’

#UGANDA NEWS BRIEFINGz group updates - #Matsanga ‘used forged papers to fix #ICC president’

A Ugandan forged documents to fix bribery and money laundering allegations against International Criminal Court President Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, the ICC has said.

According to the ICC, Mr David Nyekorach Matsanga forged invoices and bank statements, and named bank account holders who either do not exist or do not come from the country he cited.

The Ugandan had made the allegations in a case against Ms Gurmendi. He had claimed that the ICC president received money to bribe witnesses for the court to indict Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir.

He had alleged that Ms Gurmendi received the cash from Sudanese organisations that were out to fix President Bashir using the court.

Mr Matsanga claimed Ms Gurmendi received into her private bank accounts unexplained funds amounting to more than $17 million (Sh1.7 billion), which were then used to bribe witnesses to indict President Bashir.

The ICC issued its first warrant of arrest against President Bashir on March 4, 2009, and the second one on July 12, 2010, but he has not been arrested yet by any signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC.

In a statement, ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said the allegations had been taken through the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) by the institution and found to be false.

FORGED EVIDENCE

The IOM is an independent body established by the Assembly of States Parties as an inspection, evaluation and investigation mechanism for the ICC.

“These allegations concerning the supposed involvement of the president with payments to Sudanese rebel groups are based on forged evidence and are, therefore, demonstrably untrue,” Mr Abdallah said in a statement.

(READ: ICC boss accused of receiving bribe to fix Bashir)

“Indeed, the only evidence offered by Mr Nyekorach Matsanga on this supposed involvement is contained in an alleged invoice that was confirmed to be forged by the entity that had issued it. The issuing entity confirmed that the client and address details, which now include the ICC president’s name, were altered on the invoice.”

The ICC said it had noted that it was not Mr Matsanga’s first time to criticise its officials.

Ms Gurmendi, an Argentinian who rose to the helm of the ICC in March 2015, was also accused of having money in several bank accounts, which the IOM said was not evidence of misconduct.

“The president has in any event asserted that she does not have any accounts with the institutions named in the report, or in the jurisdiction named,” said the ICC in a statement.

Mr Matsanga has been a vocal anti-ICC activist. He has accused the court of using its processes to punish African leaders.

The Ugandan has also been a constant figure in the Kenyan cases against the ICC, appearing in various talk shows criticising the court.

The ICC said the bank statements Mr Matsanga provided were forged and were from individuals who did not even have any relations with Sudan.

“Further enquiries have been made by the IOM with the banks concerned,” said Mr Abdallah.

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WARNING TO EX-#UGANDA MILITARY SOLDIERS IN DIASPORA

WARNING TO EX-#UGANDA MILITARY SOLDIERS IN DIASPORA

Museveni has lured many ex-military personnel in the diaspora to go back to Uganda and a strong warning is hereby issued to those soldiers who are thinking of going back to Uganda that you are digging your own graves. The warning is directed especially to those soldiers from Buganda who have been lured into going back to Uganda. Museveni will slaughter you after getting information from you. Those that have gone back are first taken to CMI to give statements and ask yourselves why is this so?

Museveni is using Katumba Wamala to convince fellow Baganda soldiers to go back and among those lured to go back is one Capt. Kabali Masembe. Many of these soldiers have been active in anti Museveni and many of them have participated in meetings to topple the Museveni regime. This is a betrayal of the highest order and have rolled out efforts to remove dictator Museveni's corrupt government.

It is one thing to be lured back but another thing to try and convince those that are determined to form a fighting force to abandon their struggle to liberate our nation from dictatorship. We will not be deterred by those that have left us and gave information regarding our plans and we are more determined than ever to free our nation from occupation by Rwanda. Our nation is put in chokehold by Museveni's foreign forces such as M23 on standby incase Uganda is invaded by her true sons and daughters.

Those that have joined the Museveni regime must know that, we may have a setback but our plans will go on. We are asking members of UPDF to desert the force and not die for a corrupt family of dictator Museveni. We thank those brave soldiers who have resisted the promise and temptations, of money but have their country at heart. Either you are with us or you are with the occupying force calling itself the Uganda government.

Stop The Madness.

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