Media organizations criticize Trump for tweeted video ADVERTISING Media organizations criticize Trump for tweeted video BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — In his latest jab at the media, President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted a mock video that shows him pummeling a
Media organizations criticize Trump for tweeted video
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — In his latest jab at the media, President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted a mock video that shows him pummeling a man in a business suit — his face obscured by the CNN logo — outside a wrestling ring.
It was not immediately clear who produced the brief video, which appears to be a doctored version of Trump’s 2007 appearance on World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. The 28-second clip was posted on Trump’s official Twitter account, with the message: “#FraudNewsCNN #FNN.”
The president in the past has branded the media as “the opposition party” and “the enemy of the American people.” He has taken particular aim at CNN, calling the network “fake news.”
Trump stayed on the attack later in the day, stating on Twitter that “the dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!”
Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, condemned the video as a “threat of physical violence against journalists.” He said Trump’s tweet was “beneath the office of the presidency.”
Airstrikes propel Mosul gains, despite toll on civilians
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces say their recent territorial gains against the Islamic State group in Mosul’s Old City have largely been propelled by airstrikes, despite a spike in allegations of civilian casualties and warnings from human rights groups of the dangers of using large munitions in the dense, highly-populated area.
As strikes pummeled the Old City Sunday, hundreds of civilians fled.
Many were badly injured and had to be carried out over mounds of rubble by family members.
Deeper inside the district, narrow alleyways were littered with bodies.
Special forces Lt. Col. Muhanad al-Timimi said over the past three days his forces have carried out about 20 airstrikes a day on IS-held territory within the area of operation — a portion of the Old City measuring about one square kilometer in size.
“It’s because we have a lot of enemy forces here,” he said, conceding the number of munitions used was relatively high.
Damascus rocked by suicide blast, 2 others foiled
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Security forces chased three explosive-laden vehicles through Damascus Sunday, intercepting two of them at checkpoints but failing to stop the third before it exploded in the city center, killing at least eight people, state media and others reported.
The rare attack in the heart of Syria’s capital unfolded ahead of the morning commute on the first work day after a major Muslim holiday.
The Interior Ministry said security forces tracked all three cars and intercepted two of them at checkpoints on the airport road. The third made it into the city center, where the driver blew himself up near Tahreer Square.
The Syrian Minister of Local Administration, Hussein Makhlouf, said the response marked a “major success in foiling a plot” to cause mass casualties.
Rapper held on unrelated charges after Ark. shooting
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A rapper whose concert in Little Rock was the site of a shooting that left 28 people injured was arrested early Sunday on unrelated assault charges while outside an Alabama club where he was performing just 24 hours later, and authorities said several firearms were recovered during the arrest.
Ricky Hampton, 25, of Memphis, Tennessee, also known as Finese 2Tymes, was arrested on outstanding charges of aggravated assault with a gun out of Forrest City in eastern Arkansas, the U.S. Marshals Service said. A second man also was taken into custody.
Several firearms seized by federal authorities during Hampton’s arrest will be sent to a crime lab in Arkansas to determine whether they match shell casings found at the scene of the shooting early Saturday at the Power Ultra Lounge.
Top rebel leader in intensive care following stroke
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The top commander of Colombia’s largest rebel movement was hospitalized Sunday following a stroke and remains in intensive care, just days after his group handed over the last of its individual weapons as part of a historic peace deal.
Rodrigo Londono, better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, checked himself into a hospital in the city of Villavicencio in eastern Colombia after feeling exhaustion and numbness in his arm, doctors and Revolutionary Armed Forces officials said in a news conference.
Doctors said he remains in intensive care but is recovering well from what they described as a temporary blockage of blood to his brain.
