IGIHE

Category: People

  • Hungarian Journalist Asked to Return State Award

    {{Hungary’s Minister of Human Resources has asked a journalist to return a state award he received Friday after Israel and the United States complained about disparaging remarks he had made earlier about Gypsies and Jews.}}

    Minister Zoltan Balog has said he made a mistake by giving the Mihaly Tancsis prize to Ferenc Szaniszlo, a former foreign correspondent who now has a show on right-wing Echo TV.

    In 2011, Hungary’s media authorities fined the station 500,000 forints ($2,200) because of Szanilo’s comments which, for example, said Gypsies — or Roma — were monkeys and social parasites.

    In a letter to Szaniszlo released on his website late Tuesday, Balog asked Szaniszlo to “kindly” return the award.

    The ambassadors of Israel and the United States have issued letters criticizing Balog’s original decision.

    Associated Press

  • Drones Are Another Mistake in Congo—M23 Boss

    {Bertrand Bisiimwa the New President of the M23 Rebel Movement has said deployment of unmanned drones in DRC would be another mistake in Congo.

    Bisiimwa had an exclusive interview with Uganda’s Newvision, below are excerpts of the interview.}

    {{How did M23 start?}}

    On March 23, 2009, different groups signed an agreement with the government of Kinshasa in Goma, but after three years, we asked the government to implement the agreement in January 2012.

    Instead of implementing it, they threatened to attack us. In February, they attacked. CNDP and other groups decided to form an alliance and defend themselves. This is how the M23 was born.

    {{A recent UN report says M23 is supported by Rwanda and Uganda. Is this true?}}

    The problems we have are not Rwandan or Ugandan, they are Congolese problems. In our claims, we do not have Rwanda or Uganda there.

    {{How do you feel about the presence of foreigners in the name of peace keepers and the like?}}

    Congolese want to be free, without war. The only thing we want is good governance and security. Eastern Congo harbours foreign militias that kill people.

    We ask government to protect us but they refuse. When we insist, they call us Rwandans. We have a right to live. The government must answer these fundamental problems.

    {{Women and children are the most vulnerable during war. How are you protecting them?}}

    Ladies are raped everyday by the government army and the marauding groups. The government has failed to sheild its people from these barbaric attacks.

    Women and children under our territory are secure from these attacks. You visited our area, ladies are working normally, girls going to school.

    The Kinshasa propaganda machinery is trying to shift the blame, but the UN recently said it is fed up with some battalions which raped people. We call for the investigation to absolve us of these crimes, but we also hope those responsible be brought to justice.

    {{But the continued fighting is creating IDPs and refugees}}

    We have many problems. Gen. Bosco Ntaganda tried to manipulate some of our soldiers and former president to influence decisions in the Kampala talks. It has brought insecurity, but we are managing it.

    Ntaganda is collaborating with negative forces, and he has started fighting us. We have to provide security for IDPs going from Kichanga to Rwanda. We want our people to go back home next month.

    Will you arrest Ntaganda?

    Arrest is not our priority but fighting indispline. We can arrest and try him in our courts, but it is not our mandate to arrest him. We do not have an agreement with the International Criminal Court. If they ask to arrest him, we shall look into the matter.

    {{What do you think went wrong with the peace talks in Kampala?}}

    If we do not have agreement from Kampala our people will not agree with us, they do not want war. We are still waiting for a word from the Kinshasa government. We hope they will accept to negotiate and reach an agreement.

    {{What do you say about the use of drones in Congo?}}

    They want to make another mistake in Congo. Our people do not want war. If the UN brings drones and soldiers to fight, we shall not accept. War is not a solution, but dialogue for peace. The UN should support the Kampala talks, so that we have a peace agreement soon.

    My vision is not for myself, but to bring peace and good governance to the country. I will make sure the talks resume and we reach an agreement.

    I will tell the people why we are fighting so that we stop existing on paper only. My predecessor did not do much to build institutions but I have already started.

    (Editor: Gen. Bosco Ntaganda has handed himself in at the USA embassy in Kigali where he requested that he be transfered to ICC)

  • Hillary Clinton Announces Support for Gay Marriage

    {{Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her support for gay marriage Monday, putting her in line with other potential Democratic presidential candidates on a social issue that is rapidly gaining public approval.}}

    Clinton made the announcement in an online video released Monday morning by the gay rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.

    She says in the six-minute video that gays and lesbians are “full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship.”

    “That includes marriage,” she says, adding that she backs gay marriage both “personally and as a matter of policy and law.”

    Clinton’s announcement is certain to further fuel the already rampant speculation that she is considering another run for president in 2016.

    Other possible Democratic contenders — including Vice President Joe Biden, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — all back the right of same-sex couples to marry.

    Polls show that public opinion on gay marriage has shifted perhaps more rapidly than on any other major issue in recent times.

    In Gallup polling last November, 53% of adult Americans said same-sex marriages should be granted the same status as traditional marriages, while 46 percent felt they should not be valid.

    ABC

  • Rwanda’s first female pilot to fly Rwandair

    {{Esther Mbabazi was eight years old when her father was killed in a crash as the plane he was flying in overshot the runway landing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.}}

    A few years later she announced her intention to train as a pilot, the plan was not well received by some of her family. But at the age of 24, Mbabazi has made history as the first female Rwandan pilot – although as a woman she says she doesn’t make flight announcements because it scares the passengers.

    “Some people questioned why I wanted to do it, they thought I wanted to be a pilot to find out what happened to my dad, but that didn’t have anything to do with it,” Mbabazi said.

    Mbabazi, who is fluent in five languages, trained at the Soroti flight school in Uganda before being sponsored to continue her training in Florida by national carrier Rwandair. She now flies the company’s CRJ-900 regional jets across Africa.

    The death of her father has influenced the way she flies. “It has moulded my character as a pilot, and I think what happened to my dad makes me a little more safe.

    It could have stopped me, but an accident is an accident. If someone is knocked over in a car you don’t stop driving. As a pastor’s child I know that you have to let stuff go.”

    One person who never questioned Mbabazi’s plans was her mother, Ruth. A strong farmer and businesswoman, she wasn’t fazed to see her daughter take to the air after what the death of her husband, who was a Pentecostal pastor before his death.

    “I didn’t get any resistance from my mum,” Mbabazi said. “In her time she was the only girl in her electricity class, so she doesn’t have any issues with what I do. She has five children and whether we want to do fashion or aviation, as long as we’re doing something we’re interested in, she’s happy.”

    “Things are changing in Rwanda,” says Mbabazi. “Before you wouldn’t find women driving taxis here, and now you see it. There are men who cook now in Rwanda, when, in an African culture, women have to cook.

    So I think eventually things change. If you really work hard and you prove that you can do something well, I don’t think there’s a question of you being a woman, it doesn’t come into the equation.

    “There are not so many male Rwandan pilots either. So even though I am the first female, my colleagues are the first male Rwandan pilots to be flying commercial planes. So I think it’s a big change for all of us Rwandans and something that should be celebrated.”

  • Combat Soldiers Likely to Commit Violent Crimes – Study

    {{British soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan – particularly young men and those who have seen active combat – are more likely to commit violent crimes than their civilian counterparts, according to research published on Friday.}}

    The study of almost 14,000 British soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan is the first to examine the link between military service and violent crime by using official criminal records.

    Researchers said the findings could help military officials improve their risk assessment of violence among serving and ex-military personnel.

    They stressed that although the study points to a serious problem for those affected, it does not mean all ex-soldiers will become violent criminals.

    “Just as with post traumatic stress disorder, this is not a common outcome in military populations,” said Professor Simon Wessely, co-director of the Centre for Military Health Research at King’s College London, who co-led the study.

    “Overall you must remember that of those who serve in combat, 94 percent of those who come back will not offend.”

    The study found that those in combat roles were more than 50 percent more likely than those in non-combat roles to commit assaults or threaten violence after returning.

    The problem was particularly striking among young men. Of around 3,000 soldiers aged under 30, more than 20 percent had a conviction for violent offences, compared with only 6.7 percent of civilian men in the same age group.

    The study also highlights mental health problems in the military, and issues of alcohol abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and aggressive behaviour, the researchers said.

    Violent offending was most common among young men from the lower ranks of the army, said Deirdre MacManus from King’s College London, who led the work and presented the results at a briefing in London.

    This behaviour was strongly associated with a history of violent offending before joining the military, she said.

    The study’s publication, in the Lancet medical journal on Friday, comes as military chiefs in the United States say a soldier charged with slaying 16 civilians in Afghanistan last year should undergo a sanity review.

    Anecdotal evidence and media coverage of violence and assaults committed by ex-servicemen has focused attention on whether serving in combat makes soldiers less stable and more prone to violent outbursts.

    The study’s results found that men who had seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan were 53 percent more likely to commit violent offences than their fellow soldiers in non-combat roles.

    Men who had multiple traumatic combat experiences had a 70 to 80 percent higher risk of becoming violent criminals.

    David Forbes, an expert in post-traumatic mental health from the University of Melbourne, Australia, said this study showed for the first time the link between combat and interpersonal violence, and the need for better understanding of the mechanisms behind how combat enhances the risk of violence.

    “By understanding these factors, we might develop more informed prevention and intervention programmes for troops as they reintegrate into civilian life,” he wrote in a commentary.

    Wessely said that having naturally higher levels of aggression was likely to be an attribute for many soldiers.

    “Some people with aggressive dispositions make very good soldiers, that’s the nature of the game,” he said.

  • Teen Gives Birth on Plane Bound for NY

    {{A baby was born several hours after departure on board South African Airways flight 203 from Johannesburg bound for New York on Saturday evening.}}

    The NY Daily News reports Fatawmatt Kaba, 17, of Angola went into labour four hours into the 16-hour trip.

    The newborn, Mamel Joella, was born about 38 000 feet in the air over West Africa and therefore will not be recognised as a US citizen since he was not born in US airspace.

    According to the report, crew members hurriedly escorted the mom-to-be to the front of the plane.

    The pilot announced the medical emergency, calling for the assistance of any doctors on board.

    Pediatric anesthesiologist Dr Julie Williamson, 41, came to the aid of Kaba and was assisted by another doctor and a nurse also on board the New York bound flight.

    “It was exhilarating,” Williamson said in the report. The baby was delivered in two pushes according to Williamson who had been returning from a week-long medical conference in South Africa when she was forced to swap theory for practice. The quick-acting doctor, who hadn’t delivered a baby since she was in medical school 15 years ago, described the little guy as “vigorous and healthy.”

    “He nursed right away,” said Williamson. “And she was a very strong woman — never cried, never complained. It was amazing.”

    Kaba and baby Mamel were doing so well after the birth that they were allowed to return to their seats afterwards and the doctors gave the all clear for the flight to continue.

    One of the passengers on board Jamahl Winters, 32, said of the air-born experience, “You could see his little umbilical cord still attached. It was amazing. I didn’t think stuff like that really happened in real life. I thought it was something that happened in TV and movies.”

    Port Authority Emergency Technicians boarded the plane when the flight landed at JFK around 05:30 and then took mother and child to Jamaica Hospital. A beaming Kaba, cradling her bundle of joy at the medical centre said, “I’m very happy, I’m fine. He’s fine.”

    A statement from the airline said officials initially considered redirecting the flight to West Africa once it became clear early Saturday that there was “a medical emergency” but after the doctors gave the all clear the flight continued to New York as planned.

  • Soyinka Blames Nigeria Insecurity On Weak Leadership

    {{Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says the insecurity which has almost brought some regions of the country to their knees is self-inflicted due to the weakness of the leadership in those troubled parts of the nation.}}

    According to Soyinka, the silence of religious and community leaders when the religious rights of others were trampled upon, often terminally, was self-evident and lamented that leaders did little to halt the evil trend, which is now threatening to consume the entire country.

    Soyinka’s position is contained in his acceptance speech at the inaugural award of the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership in Lagos Wednesday.

    President Goodluck Jonathan described the choice of Soyinka for the award as befitting. Represented by the Vice president Namadi Sambo, Jonathan said the Awolowo Leadership Award was in tandem with the Federal Government’s initiative on transformational leadership, which is designed to encourage purposeful leadership in the country.

    Former Head of State and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Awol?w? Foundation, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, chaired the occasion, while traditional rulers and politicians were in attendance.

    In his speech entitled “Winding down history: Religion and nation, power and freedom,” Soyinka said: “I address you in all frankness. Leadership in the currently troubled regions of the nation has been remiss.

    The signs were over-abundant. I have lamented, on numerous platforms, the delinquent silence of religious and community leaders where the religious rights of others were trampled upon, often terminally, where again and again martyrdom became commonplace – yes, the genuine martyrdom – made up of innocents, singly, in sectors, often brutally but always with the confidence of immunity.”

    He pointed out that though there were patriotic interventions by some persons in the region to save the situation, those positive actions were never emulated, instead violence and impunity increased.

    “The tragedy of the nation is that these, and allied initiatives did not find emulation remotely proportionate to the incidents and intensity of violent bigotry and impunity – and at levels that they deserved.

    So, it is not merely staunching the grounds for recruitment that is the problem. There is also the issue of leadership. Of wrongful silence and inertia.

    The folding of arms and the buttoning of lips when leadership – and not merely localised – desperately needed to lead and inflict exemplary punishment on violators of the freedom of belief, and existence of others.

    The examples are too numerous and depressing, and this is hardly the occasion for a recital of human derelictions that only stir up negative memories. During that period of serial violations, we missed the strength, the vigorous conviction of voices such as we have heard in recent times, voices of community and traditional leaders, political figures of iconic stature.”

    According to him, Nigerians missed such intensity of conviction, such stern, uncompromising denunciation when individuals, with or without public profile, were being systematically mown down for alleged religious offences, some of which took place, not even within our borders but in remote, frozen regions as the Scandinavian nations or the United States (U.S.).

    “Again and again, the innocents, the real martyrs paid the supreme price. My intention is not to weigh down any sector of this nation with the burden of guilt but to say to you, to me, to all of us: No more evasion.

    The knives, the cudgels, the matchbox and burning tyres that decapitated Akulaku, that incinerated the female teacher and invigilator Oluwaseesin and a host of others, including school children and infants, at the slightest or no provocation have given way to far more efficient but indiscriminate means of human disposal – but still in the hands of the same malformed minds, now grouped under the fatalist banner of the Party of Death.

    “Individually and collectively, we are at war, and the enemy is not hidden. Of its own volition it has given itself a name, a profile, and an agenda. Others have sprung up, geared to outdo their obsessed predecessors.

    Let each community look into its past, and see how both inertia and covert gleefulness have fuelled the raging inferno. Nowhere is immune, not even those which presently appear unaffected.

    Now is the time to close ranks. Making up for past derelictions is not a sectional task, but a collective undertaking. Protection of our hard won Freedom – against any threat – is the imperative of our times.”

    The literary icon advised that religious bigots and fanatics should be exposed, isolated and hunted down. He said: “I do however vehemently denounce the use to which religion has been put, and that means, I indict such abusers. And we must not be afraid to expose them; to defend ourselves against them and isolate them.

    Where they have intruded on our peace – or even fragile mutual accommodation – we must hunt them down, in here, or pursue them wherever lodged. To Mauritania. To Somalia. Or Mali.

    “Arrest them where we can, and re-educate them. If they have committed crimes against humanity during their period of delusion – ensure that they make open restitution before competent institutions before re-admittance into the parent community.

    If they refuse, if they prove incorrigible, then we must punish them. Openly, not secretively, as indication that we, as rival theologians of the Religion of Freedom, will not submit to the tyranny of the few.”

    Soyinka recalled that Awolowo, a Christian, set up a pilgrim’s board in 1958 for Muslims in order to help them fulfill one of the seven pillars of Islam and added that that action eventually became the springboard for demand for parity by Christians who do not have any religious obligation to go on pilgrimage.

    “It is my view that some of those demands should have been dismissed outright – certainly that of government-assisted pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Nothing in the Christian religion makes pilgrimage mandatory to any destination in the world – so there is really no basis for claims of parity.

    All it has resulted in, predictably for us in this nation, has been an encouragement to our affluent classes for extended tourist destinations, this time under the guise of religious obligation. It was only a matter of time before this class also felt that the act of tourism was not enough.

    There had to be a title for the outlay on that personal excursion, and thus came into usage the title of JP – no, not Justice of the Peace but – Jerusalem Pilgrim. You style yourself el-Hajj, I call myself JP! Of course, it all has to do with the promiscuous environment of ostentation that had become the hallmark of national life”, he declared, adding that Awolowo would obviously be upset in grave with the level of decadence in the society today.

    “I was a beneficiary of the liberal educational policy – at tertiary level – of the man whose memory we are here to honour, and now, today, I find myself recipient of yet another largesse, an inestimable honour at the hands – albeit post-humously – of that same sage”, he stated.

    Meanwhile, family members, friends and political associates of the late Awolowo gathered at his Ikenne, Ogun State country home yesterday as they marked his 104th posthumous birthday.

    Awolowo, the former Premier of the Old Western Region, passed on in 1987 but his admirers, especially his political associates, believe he still lives on. Therefore they gathered at Ikenne to celebrate his birthday on March 6.

    At the event, which began with a communion service at Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, Ikenne, and ended with entertainment at his residence, were the former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande; former Transport Minister, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; and Chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Mr. Jide Adeniji, among others.

    In her brief remark, the matriarch of the Awolowo Dynasty, Chief Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) Awolowo, appealed to Nigerian politicians to emulate the good virtues of her late husband, which she listed to include honesty, hardwork, commitment and selfless service to the common man, if the country was to move forward.

    Yeye, as she is fondly called, emphasised that “if only politicians can listen and follow the legacy my late husband left behind, Nigeria will be better off.”

    According to her, her late husband was not only nice but also kind-hearted and loving, adding: “I still remember him as if he is still alive. I will never ever forget him until I join him.”

    Speaking to journalists, Jakande, who was one of Awolowo’s closest political associates, described him as a Nigerian whose immense contributions to the nation’s development could not be forgotten, insisting that his legacies remained unequalled, and would continue to live in the minds of people.

    Also speaking at the event, Babatope described Awolowo as a visionary leader who always put the interest of Nigerians at heart .

    He noted: “He was a great and visionary leader who always thought about the problem of the country and how to solve it; there was never a dull moment with him.”

    For Adeniji, researchers would continue to work on the legacy the late sage left behind. He urged politicians to emulate his “uprightness and integrity.”

    The eldest daughter of the late sage, Mrs. Omotola Oyediran, said her father was a loving and “highly devoted father,” adding that “every good thing children could ask for in a father was in him.”

    Earlier in his sermon at the communion service, Ven. Funsho Babajide urged Nigerians to continue to remember Awolowo for his selfless service to the nation. He asked Nigerian leaders to emulate his good work, as he was a man full of passion for mankind.

    Nguardian

  • Wole Soyinka Receives Awolwo Leadership Prize

    {{NOBEL laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, is set to add yet another diadem to his intimidating list of honours as he receives the maiden award of the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, an initiative of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation.}}

    The Foundation, following a rigorous selection process by a panel of eminent Nigerians, had announced in December 2012 that Soyinka had been picked as winner of the prize.

    The actual presentation of the prize, which consists of a plaque, medal and the certificate of award, will be made at a ceremony, expected to draw a wide array of distinguished Nigerians on Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Soyinka is expected to deliver a lecture on the occasion.

    A dance performance, musical celebration, goodwill messages, as well as a documentary on Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Foundation itself, set up in 1992 to preserve his intellectual legacy are highlights slated for the event.

    The documentary on Awolowo, according to a statement by the Executive Director of the Foundation, Dr. Olatokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu, seeks to refresh the national memory concerning critical milestones in the sage’s political career with a view to teaching a generation, groping for direction and leadership renewal useful lessons.

    Former Head of State and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Awolowo Foundation, General Yakubu Gowon, will chair the occasion, while guests of honour include other former Heads of Government, State Governors, traditional rulers and other distinguished Nigerians.

    The idea of the leadership prize derived from the special dialogue of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation held in July 2011 with the theme, “Transformational Leadership and Good Governance: Lessons from the Awolowo Example”.

    It was observed on that occasion that one of the greatest challenges confronted by Nigeria is the leadership deficit.

    It was recommended at that dialogue that an Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership be instituted for the purpose of recognizing excellence and benchmarking key leadership attributes associated with Chief Awolowo.

    Soyinka, whose nomination was unanimously made by the selection committee, headed by former Secretary General of Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, graciously accepted the nomination, describing it as the “crème de la crème of all the recognitions I have ever received, being at once so personal and universalist in vision”.

    {Nguardian}

  • Pistorius in Talks With Assault Accuser

    {{South African Oscar Pistorius, charged with murdering his girlfriend, is holding “confidential” talks to resolve a lawsuit against a woman who had accused him of assault, his lawyer said on Friday.}}

    “There are confidential settlement negotiations under way,” attorney Gary Pritchard confirmed.

    The Paralympic and Olympic sprinter is suing his former neighbour Cassidy Taylor-Memmory, who in 2009 said he slammed a door at her during a party at his house.

    He was arrested and spent a night in jail, but police later dropped the charge.

    “It was a couple of years back. He claimed damages to his reputation from her,” Pritchard told AFP of the R2.2m lawsuit.

    The case is due to come before a regional court in Pretoria, the Mail & Guardian reported on Friday, but the athlete is working to resolve it quietly.

    “We are trying to settle outside of court,” said Pritchard.

    Pistorius was released on bail a week ago after prosecutors charged him with intentionally shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29, on Valentine’s Day.

    He claims he mistook her for an intruder in the dead of night.

    news24

  • Former aide to Canadian PM Dumped Over Child Porn

    {{The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office quickly distanced themselves from former Harper aide Tom Flanagan on Wednesday after the political commentator said viewing child pornography did not harm others.}}

    Flanagan was a campaign manager and chief of staff for Harper or the Conservative Party at various times before the Conservatives took power in 2006, and has long been a commentator for CBC.

    At a seminar at Alberta’s University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, he took issue with the Conservative “jihad” on child pornography.

    The CBC dumped him as a political commentator and Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall said his remarks were repugnant and did not reflect the Conservative government’s view.

    “…you know a lot of people on my side of the spectrum, a certain side of the spectrum, are bent on kind of a jihad against pornography and child pornography in particular, and I certainly have no sympathy for child molesters, but I do have some grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures,” Flanagan, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, told the seminar on Wednesday night.

    He said there was a real issue as “to what extent we put people in jail for doing something in which they do not harm another person.”

    Flanagan apologized, but not before the CBC fired him and Alberta’s conservative Wildrose Party, for which he was campaign manager last year, said he would have no future role.

    CBC News Editor-in-Chief Jennifer McGuire said: “While we support and encourage free speech across the country and a diverse range of voices, we believe Mr. Flanagan’s comments to have crossed the line and impacted his credibility as a commentator for us.”

    MacDougall tweeted: “Tom Flanagan’s comments on child pornography are repugnant, ignorant, and appalling.”

    In a later statement, MacDougall noted Conservative measures to toughen penalties for making or accessing child porn, and said Flanagan had not represented government views for some time.

    “The tragic reality is that child pornography hurts children. Pedophiles abuse children, and then trade these pictures on the Internet. Once online, these images haunt victims long after the sexual abuse occurs,” MacDougall said.

    Flanagan in a statement condemned the sexual abuse of children and the use of children to produce pornography, but drew a distinction between that and the use of porn.

    “Last night, in an academic setting, I raised a theoretical question about how far criminalization should extend toward the consumption of pornography,” he said.

    “My words were badly chosen, and in the resulting uproar I was not able to express my abhorrence of child pornography and the sexual abuse of children.

    I apologize unreservedly to all who were offended by my statement, and most especially to victims of sexual abuse and their families.”

    {Reuters}