(Reuters) &#8211; Facebook Inc’s long-delayed independent Oversight Board plans to launch in mid-late October, just before the November U.S. presidential election, but a Facebook spokeswoman said on Thursday it was unlikely that the board would handle election-related cases.



The board, created by Facebook in response to criticism of its handling of problematic content, will initially have the power to review decisions to take down posts from Facebook and Instagram, and recommend policy changes.



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Oversight Board member Alan Rusbridger told Reuters in an interview this week the board was now aiming for an October launch. A board spokesman said that the late launch, originally planned for last year, had been further slowed by the coronavirus pandemic.



Potential cases would come to the board from users who have exhausted the appeals process, or be sent over from Facebook. Deciding and implementing rulings would take up to 90 days, although Facebook could ask for them to be expedited within 30 days.



The Facebook spokeswoman said it was unlikely that cases related to the election would get through the process given that time frame.



Rusbridger also told Reuters that cases involving President Donald Trump’s posts were not among those that the board had looked at in trial runs.



“We haven’t done a Trump case,” said Rusbridger, a former editor-in-chief of Britain’s Guardian newspaper. “We have done a nudity case, we’ve done a blasphemy case.”







Facebook faced employee backlash in recent months over its decision to take no action over posts from Trump containing misleading claims about mail-in voting and inflammatory language about anti-racism protests. Its smaller rival Twitter, by contrast, attached fact-checking labels and warnings to the same posts.



Tech watchdog Accountable Tech, which launched a campaign asking the board’s members to demand “real authority” or resign, said in a statement on Thursday the launch would be “too late to address Facebook’s deficiencies ahead of the election.”



The board will initially review only appeals over posts that Facebook has taken down, rather than content the company decides to leave up. Some experts say that means it will be of little use in addressing problems such as misinformation and hate speech.



It will also at first only deal with individual posts, not Facebook ads, or groups.



Rusbridger said the board had not yet made any changes to its remit.



Rusbridger declined to comment on Facebook’s policy of exempting politicians’ speech and ads from its third-party fact-checking program, though he said: “I can’t imagine we won’t have a case brought to us on that.”







‘WIDER RESONANCE’



Since the first 20 members of the board were announced in May, they have had virtual meetings to discuss issues such as how to select cases and deal with minority opinions, Rusbridger said.



Rusbridger said the board would be looking for cases with “wider resonance,” though precedents set by decisions on individual posts would not be binding in future cases.



Facebook can also ask the board for policy recommendations though it does not have to act on them, a framework that was criticized by some U.S. Democratic lawmakers.



The board, which includes a former Danish prime minister, a Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize laureate, law experts and rights advocates from around the world, is expected to grow to a group of 40 members.



Rusbridger said the board was thinking about how it will select these candidates but was not yet choosing more members.

Facebook holds on as TikTok invades Social Media in SA

Facebook’s Oversight Board plans to launch just before U.S. election

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s candidate to become the next head of the World Trade Organisation pledged on Thursday to integrate climate change issues into the WTO agenda if selected.



Amina Mohamed, who is the East African nation’s sports minister, progressed to the second round of selection to become the next director-general of the WTO, along with four other candidates, on Friday.



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“How is it possible that the WTO does not discuss climate change?&#8230; WTO must be a part of the global conversation on climate change,” she told an online media briefing from Geneva.



Mohamed, who was involved in the development of green financial instruments when she was the deputy head of the U.N. agency for the environment (UNEP), said she would make the WTO’s trade and environment committee active.



“At the end of the day, it is about the bottom line, but that bottom line can actually be improved by going green because that is the future,” she said.



The committee’s first task, if she wins the selection contest, would be to draw up rules for the international trade of environmental goods and services like solar panels and wind turbines, she said.



It will also look to replicate climate change mitigation initiatives, like the carbon tax in Europe, which is now being adopted by other states in places like Africa.



“The WTO can do that on a grander scale&#8230; so that the impact of the measures that we are putting in place can be felt,” Mohamed said, adding that the measures will be accompanied by incentives for firms like other tax breaks.



The wider adoption of those climate change mitigation measures will make the globe reap their benefits sooner, because “we don’t have to wait for 50 years” to feel the impact of individual states or trade blocs are doing, she said.



In the second round of selection, the WTO’s 164 members will give their preferences from Sept 24 to Oct 6, whittling the candidates down to two. The organisation has said it wants to select the winner by early November.

Amina Mohamed

Kenya’s WTO candidate says she will focus on climate change if selected

NEW YORK/BEIJING (Reuters) &#8211; China&#8217;s ByteDance said on Monday that TikTok&#8217;s global business will become its subsidiary, even as Oracle Corp <a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ORCL.N">ORCL.N</a> and Walmart Inc <a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WMT.N">WMT.N</a> said over the weekend that they and U.S. investors would own the majority of the video app following a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/396x2765-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382079" width="695" height="500"/><figcaption>President Donald Trump</figcaption></figure>



Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 14 giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok, amid concerns that the personal data of as many as 100 million Americans that use the app could be passed on to China’s Communist Party government. On Saturday, he said he supported a deal in principle that would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States.



Accounts of the deal differ. ByteDance said on Monday that it will own 80% of TikTok Global, a newly created U.S. company that will own most of the app’s operations worldwide. Oracle and Walmart, which have agreed to take stakes in TikTok Global of 12.5% and 7.5% respectively, had said on Saturday that majority ownership of TikTok would be in American hands.



ByteDance in its statement on Monday said it was a “rumor” that U.S. investors would be TikTok Global’s majority owners and that ByteDance would lose control over TikTok. Oracle declined to comment on ByteDance’s statement, while Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.



Some sources close to the deal have sought to reconcile the discrepancy by pointing out that 41% of ByteDance is owned by U.S. investors, so by counting this indirect ownership TikTok Global would be majority owned by U.S. parties. One of the sources said the deal with Oracle and Walmart values TikTok Global at more than $50 billion.







TikTok also confirmed plans for an initial public offering of TikTok Global. The Beijing-based firm said TikTok Global&#8217;s board of directors will include ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming as well as Walmart&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WMT.N">WMT.N</a>&nbsp;chief executive Doug McMillon and current directors of ByteDance. The company declined to further comment on who else would be among the directors.



Oracle and Walmart said in a joint statement on Saturday that four out of the five board of directors will be Americans.



The current plan for TikTok Global does not involve any transfer of algorithms or technologies, and Oracle will be able to inspect TikTok U.S.&#8217;s source code, ByteDance said. This is akin to U.S. companies such as Microsoft Corp&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>&nbsp;sharing their source code with Chinese technology experts, ByteDance added. Oracle and Walmart have said all of TikTok&#8217;s technology will be in possession of TikTok Global.



ByteDance also said a $5 billion payment of taxes TikTok Global is reportedly supposed to make to the U.S. Treasury is based on estimated income and other taxes the company will need to pay over the next few years and has nothing to do with the deal reached with Oracle and Walmart.



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Trump last week had said there would be a $5 billion U.S. education fund as part of the deal but ByteDance has said it was not aware of this.



ByteDance owning the majority of TikTok Global and the algorithms means that ByteDance is “not out of the game” and has avoided the worst-case scenario, China’s state-run newspaper Global Times said in an editorial published on Sunday.



Shen Yi, a Fudan University professor, said in a separate article published in the Global Times on Monday that Trump’s nod to the deal “could even been seen as a reversal of U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in August” and that it was helped by a “concerted effort” by the Chinese government, ByteDance and U.S. domestic forces.



“If the Trump administration makes more moves to block the deal, it may encounter direct checks and balances from interest groups of Wall Street.”

The Rise Of TikTok

China’s ByteDance says TikTok will be its subsidiary under deal with Trump

M’BATTO, Ivory Coast (Reuters) &#8211; Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara’s government has reached out to his main opponents and religious leaders to intervene and ease tensions following his decision to bid for a third term in next month’s election.The world’s top cocoa-producing nation has seen a spate of violent protests, with a least 10 killed and over a hundred wounded in clashes between protesters and police since Ouattara announced his bid in August.



The election is seen as the greatest test yet for stability since a brief civil war killed about 3,000 people following a disputed election in 2010 won by Ouattara.



Ouattara plans to run in the Oct. 31 election after the sudden death of his handpicked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly in July.



His opponents say the constitution forbids him because he has already had two terms. The Ivory Coast Constitutional Council is set to rule on his eligibility, and those of other candidates next week.



Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko is expected to meet youth leaders of the main opposition parties next week to restart discussions, and end street violence before the election, a government statement said on Friday.

shutterstock_270259862

Ivory Coast government seeks end to violence ahead of October election

President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to the resolute lion of the courtroom George Bizos on hearing of his passing.



Bizos died among his family at the house he built in 1959 Parktown North, in Johannesburg. It was a small home with a famous vegetable garden built by the man himself. In latter years many of Bizos&#8217;s friends told him he should move to a bigger house, but he would have none of it. Bizos was one of that generation of selfless fighters for freedom in South Africa who cared nothing for the trappings of wealth and power. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1152457961-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-374813" width="690" height="549" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1152457961-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1152457961-594x594-1-300x239.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px" /><figcaption>OSAKA, JAPAN &#8211; JUNE 28: (RUSSIA OUT) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speeches during a bilateral meeting at the G20 Osaka Summit 2019, June 28, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. Vladimir Putin has arrived to Japan to participate the G20 Osaka Summit and to meet U.S.President Donald Trump. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



&#8220;Ït is sad news for us as South Africans , George Bizos is one of those lawyers who contributed immensely to the attainment of our democracy. He worked very closely with Nelson Mandela, Arthur Chaskalson and many others and as the government we extend our condolences to his family and we extend condolences to all of us South Africans because George Bizos&#8217;s name was a well know name and he had an incisive legal mind and also was one of the architects of our constitution and contributed immensely. He will surely be missed and we dip our heads in honour that the contribution that George Bizos had made to our democracy. We shall ever remember his contribution,&#8221; says President Ramaphosa on hearing the news. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1023" height="682" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bizos-and-lawyers.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-381312" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bizos-and-lawyers.jpg 1023w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bizos-and-lawyers-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bizos-and-lawyers-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bizos-and-lawyers-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Bizos-and-lawyers-696x464.jpg 696w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px" /><figcaption>Rivonia lawyers reunited Joel Jeffe George Bizos and Denis Kuny</figcaption></figure>



Bizos came to South Africa, along with his father, as a 13-year-old refugee during World War Two. The pair slipped out of their native Greece, then occupied by the Germans, on a fishing boat and made the long sea journey to South Africa. 



Decades later Bizos recalled sitting on the beach on a holiday home to Greece. He said the Greek man looked at him and his moustache and commented to his wife in his mother tongue, assuming that Bizos could not understand: &#8220;Ï want to move away from that man he reminds me of the German officer who tortured me.&#8221;



Bizos smiled at the memory but always used it as a grim reminder of the absurdity of human prejudice. This was something that he fought in the courts every step of the way from the day he joined the Johannesburg bar to almost his last breath. He represented Nelson Mandela &#8211; whom he befriended during their legal studies &#8211; at the Rivonia sabotage trial and the treason trial. More than 50 years later he represented the relatives of the victims of the Marikana massacre.

Bizos and lawyers

“We dip our heads in honour” – Ramaphosa lauds the late Bizos

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) &#8211; Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden accused U.S. President Donald Trump of failing to feel the economic pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic, after data on Friday showed job growth slowing and a widening racial gap in unemployment rates.Democratic U.S. presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden discusses the effects on the U.S. economy of the Trump administration&#8217;s response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., September 4, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque



The former vice president, pushing a campaign message that he is more in touch with working Americans than his rival in the Nov. 3 election, said the economic crisis has exacerbated divisions between the rich and the poor.



“The painful truth is, we just have a president who just doesn’t see it, he doesn’t feel it, he doesn’t understand, he just doesn’t care. He thinks if the stock market is up, then everything’s fine,” Biden said during a speech in his home base of Wilmington, Delaware.



As both campaigns kick into high gear for perhaps one of the most consequential presidential races in recent U.S. history, the Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.37 million jobs last month, fewer than in July.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352573" width="708" height="522" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-300x221.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-570x420.jpg 570w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Trump and his fellow Republicans highlighted the fall in the unemployment rate in August to 8.4% as a sign that the economy is improving after the shock from coronavirus lockdowns that have devastated small businesses from restaurants to gyms and hair salons.



Yet the president still looks set to head into the election with the economy crippled and serious questions hanging over his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 186,000 people in the United States.



Biden, who held a seven-percentage-point lead over Trump nationally in the Reuters/Ipsos poll this week, called on the president to bring congressional leaders together to restart stalled negotiations for another coronavirus economic relief package.



“Bottom line: Mr. President, do your job. Get off your golf course and out of your sand bunker. Call your leaders together and sit in the Oval Office. Make a deal,” the Democrat said.



Another controversy around Trump broke on Thursday when the Atlantic magazine reported that the president had called fallen U.S. military personnel buried in Europe “losers” and declined to visit an American cemetery during a 2018 trip to France because he thought it unimportant. Trump vehemently denied the report.



Biden said that, if true, the comments were “a disgrace.”​



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ECONOMIC WOES</h3>



For most voters, the economy remains a major issue. U.S. employment remains 11.5 million below its pre-pandemic level, and the jobless rate is 4.9 percentage points higher than it was in February.



Trump touted last month’s falling unemployment rate as a sign of recovery.



“Great Jobs Numbers!” he posted on Twitter. “Unemployment Rate Falls To 8.4% (Wow, much better than expected!)”



While the unemployment rate fell last month, it was distorted by people misclassifying themselves as being “employed but absent from work.” Without that error, the unemployment rate would have been about 9.1%, the Labor Department estimated.



Biden stressed the unevenness of the recovery, particularly for people of color, and noted that lower-paid employees in workplaces like factories and stores are also at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.



“Those at the top are seeing things go up and those in the middle and below are seeing things go down and get worse,” he said.



While Monday’s Labor Day holiday typically marks the beginning of a more intense phase of the White House race, both Biden and Trump got a head start in the past week with a flurry of activity following their back-to-back party conventions.



Biden traveled to Pittsburgh and Kenosha, Wisconsin, both in battleground states that help decide the election, to address the continuing and sometimes violent protests over racial injustice and police brutality.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



Trump also visited Kenosha — a flashpoint city where anti-racist demonstrators have clashed with Trump supporters after police shot a Black man in the back — and made stops in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, another key state.



Both campaigns have launched new ad blitzes in those swing states, with Trump criticizing rioters and protesters.



Trump on Friday won the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, the United States’ largest police union with 355,000 members. Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, announced endorsements from nearly 200 current and former law enforcement officials in a challenge to Trump’s assertion that he is the candidate of “law and order.”

Biden says Trump ‘just doesn’t care’ about U.S. economic pain from pandemic

JUBA/KHARTOUM (Reuters) &#8211; Sudan’s power-sharing government and a major rebel group active in southern borderlands have agreed to hold new peace talks hosted by South Sudan, both sides said on Friday, days after Khartoum signaled a peace deal with other groups.



The Khartoum government agreed the move with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, one of the groups that did not join a deal signed on Monday to end wars stemming from the rule of ousted strongman Omar al-Bashir.



Hilu’s group has now agreed with the Khartoum government on the necessity to reach a complete political solution in Sudan and address the root causes of its conflicts, the office of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on its website.



It said both sides had agreed to set up workshops for different issues but gave no timeframe or details.



Hilu’s group, one of the biggest rebel forces that control territory in southern borderlands, confirmed the deal.



“We will continue&nbsp;negotiation under Juba mediation. So far, there’s no agreed date for the talks,” Aman Amum,&nbsp;the group’s chief negotiator, told Reuters.



He sent Reuters a picture showing Hamdok and Hilu signing a document in English in Ethiopia on Thursday in which both sides pledged to achieve a democracy and “separation of religion and state”, a major break from Bashir’s repressive Islamist regime.



There was no immediate comment from South Sudan, which hosted the talks that led to Monday’s deal.



Hilu’s group operates in a region inhabited by minority Christians and followers of African beliefs, who complain of long discrimination under Bashir, who was ousted last year, and seek a secular democratic state for the Muslim-majority country.



Sudan has been riven by conflicts for decades. After the oil-rich south seceded in 2011, an economic crisis fueled protests which led to Bashir’s overthrow.



Three major groups signed Monday’s deal, including factions from Darfur where more than 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed and 2.5 million displaced since 2003.



Sudan’s civilian and military leaders, who have shared power since then, say ending conflicts is a top priority to help bring democracy and peace to a country in crisis.

1280px-Flag_of_Sudan_(3-2).svg

Sudan and major rebel group agree to resume peace talks

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; The Black Lives Matter movement has forced South African sport to reflect on its post-Apartheid history and created fissures between former team mates in a country still trying to come to terms with its racist past.



The BLM movement has put a spotlight on the way societies treat people of colour around the world and in South Africa the debate has centred on sport.



The discussion has focussed on how opportunities were scarce for Black players across some sporting codes even after the fall of Apartheid, the system of racial segregation that existed in the country from 1948 until the early 1990s.



It has been a public debate that has often turned ugly and threatened to create further divides, including between former players from an older generation and those who currently feature in national teams.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="717" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-1110x717.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380935" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-1110x717.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-300x194.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-1536x992.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-2048x1323.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-696x450.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-1068x690.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-1920x1240.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-110168263-1-600x388.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Happier times -South Africa&#8217;s midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala celebrates after scoring a goal against Mexico during their 2010 World Cup group A first round football match on June 11, 2010 at Soccer City stadium in Soweto, suburban Johannesburg. NO PUSH TO MOBILE / MOBILE USE SOLELY WITHIN EDITORIAL ARTICLE &#8211; AFP PHOTO / ROBERTO SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



When South Africa’s World Cup-winning former rugby captain Francois Pienaar went down on one knee in support of BLM at a cricket fixture in July, he was criticised by some former team mates.



Former Springbok prop Ollie le Roux retweeted a post that likened BLM to worshipping Satan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Pienaar said he was showing solidarity against “any form of racism and suppression”, but the backlash from the public included death threats.



“I think a discussion must be held to fully understand the black pain, but the other side of the coin is the farm murders which have caused a lot of white pain,” Le Roux told the Sunday newspaper Rapport, referring to the regular violent attacks on usually white-owned farms in South Africa.



Shortly afterwards, eight South African members of the Premiership rugby team Sale Sharks side did not ‘take a knee’ before a game in England, though they did wear ‘Rugby Against Racism’ t-shirts.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘CANCER CALLED RACISM’</h3>



The country’s minister of sport, Nathi Mthethwa, asked South African Rugby to take action against the players, who included 2019 World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Lood de Jager, in a sign of the pressure that will be put on sports federations to ensure their athletes comply with the government’s anti-racism message. &nbsp;



“Racism is no longer in the statutes books but some are practising it covertly and we are saying that we will hunt them down because we know the pain that is caused by this cancer called racism,” Mthethwa said in a statement.



“We are ready to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that people toe the line and those who are racist are taught to embrace other people.



“If that doesn’t happen‚ government is going to ensure that we do what the constitution mandates us to do.”



Cricket South Africa, the sport’s governing body in the country, has recently come under fire from various quarters, including former black players, who say black athletes were blocked from the national team.



Other allegations have concerned the poor treatment of those black players that were selected, including under the captaincy of current Director of Cricket Graeme Smith.FILE PHOTO: South African President Nelson Mandela (L) raises his arms in jubilation as Springbok captain Francois Pienaar holds aloft the Webb Ellis cup after South Africa&#8217;s victory over New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final played at Ellis Park June 24. South Africa won 15-12 in extra time/File Photo



He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, but the current squad recently had a four-day “culture camp” where, among other things, they could air views on issues concerning race and the past treatment of players. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“It’s extremely important to have discussions around race, the country’s history and transformation,” batsman Rassie van der Dussen said in a statement from CSA after the camp.



“In South Africa, you cannot afford to be oblivious to the past and in my opinion, it almost borders on ignorance if you don’t go to the effort to research the history of our country – the good and the bad.”



Rugby and cricket in the country have been in focus without any on-field action due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they face the prospect of microscopic scrutiny when teams start playing again in the coming months.

What the #Springboks’ #RWC2019 win means for brand SA

Black Lives Matter forces South African sport to face past demons

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. President Donald Trump has urged residents in the critical political battleground of North Carolina to try to vote twice in the Nov. 3 election, once by mail and once in person, causing a furor for appearing to urge a potential act of voter fraud.



“Let them send it in and let them go vote,” Trump said in an interview on Wednesday with WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina. “And if the system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won’t be able to vote” in person.



Trump has repeatedly asserted, without evidence, that mail-in voting &#8211; expanded by some states because of the coronavirus pandemic &#8211; would increase fraud and disrupt the November election, although experts say voter fraud of any kind is extremely rare in the United States.



Voting more than once in an election is illegal and in some states, including North Carolina, it is a felony not only to vote more than once but also to induce another to do so.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RELATED COVERAGE</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-ballots/trump-after-comments-on-voting-twice-says-voters-should-check-mail-in-ballots-at-the-polls-idUSKBN25U2B2">Trump, after comments on voting twice, says voters should check mail-in ballots at the polls</a></li><li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-northcarolina/white-house-says-trump-not-encouraging-illegal-voting-with-north-carolina-remarks-idUSKBN25U23Q">White House says Trump not encouraging illegal voting with North Carolina remarks</a></li></ul>



Ballots are due to be mailed in North Carolina on Friday.



The state’s Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter that Trump, a Republican, had “outrageously encouraged” North Carolinians “to break the law in order to help him sow chaos in our election.”



Stein wrote: “Make sure you vote, but do NOT vote twice! I will do everything in my power to make sure the will of the people is upheld in November.”



Trump’s campaign and the White House later denied that he meant to tell people to vote twice.



“The president is not suggesting anyone do anything unlawful,” White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News Channel on Thursday. “What he said very clearly there is make sure your vote is tabulated and if it is not, then vote.”



In a series of tweets on Thursday morning, Trump again urged his supporters to vote early by mail and then follow up by attempting to vote in person, however.



“On Election Day, or Early Voting go to your Polling Place to see whether or not your Mail In Vote has been Tabulated (Counted),” Trump wrote. “If it has you will not be able to Vote &amp; the Mail In System worked properly. If it has not been Counted, VOTE.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">VOTING TWICE ‘A FELONY’</h3>



The Democratic National Committee accused Trump of encouraging voter fraud and said the president was undermining confidence in the fairness of the election.



“Let’s be clear: Voting by mail is a safe and secure way for Americans to participate in our democracy — and Trump should be working to make it easier to vote, not harder,” Reyna Walters-Morgan, the DNC’s director of voter protection, said in a statement.



Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for North Carolina’s state Board of Elections, said a person would not be able to cast two ballots, regardless of if they voted by mail or in-person first. The first vote that is received and processed is the one that counts, he said.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352573" width="705" height="521" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-300x221.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-570x420.jpg 570w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 705px) 100vw, 705px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



“Voting twice in an election is a felony,” Gannon said. “If you put a ballot in the mail, and it hasn’t arrived yet, and then you vote in-person before your absentee ballot has arrived, your in-person vote will count.”



He said if an absentee ballot showed up after a person had voted in-person, it would not be counted.



Many Americans vote by mail because they cannot make it to the polls in person. Nearly one in four voters cast presidential ballots by mail in 2016.



The coronavirus pandemic is expected to result in a record number of mail-in ballots this year as voters seek to avoid the risk of infection. Experts have cautioned the expected surge means a winner may not be clear on election night given the time it will take to count and verify all the ballots.



Trump campaigned on Wednesday in North Carolina, known as a battleground state because its population can swing either to Republicans or Democrats and play a decisive role in presidential elections.



National opinion polls show Trump, 74, trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden, 77, the vice president under then-President Barack Obama. Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to suppress the vote to help their side.

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Trump encourages supporters to try to vote twice, sparking uproar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration would help U.S. airlines facing sharp downturns in passenger traffic as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but gave no details.



“We’ll be helping the airlines. You have to help the airlines,” Trump told reporters before departing on a visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin. “Airlines are a tough business in good times.”



Airline shares jumped on Trump’s comments but then gave up some gains. American Airlines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AAL.O">AAL.O</a>) was up 1.5%, while United Airlines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/UAL.O">UAL.O</a>) was up 0.5% in early afternoon trading.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="658" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-1110x658.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380363" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-1110x658.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-300x178.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-820x486.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-768x455.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-1536x910.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-696x412.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-1068x633.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085-600x356.jpg 600w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/British_Airways_Comair_B737-236A_ZS-OKE_14235118085.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /></figure>



White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows last week said Trump was weighing executive action to avoid massive layoffs at airlines if Congress fails to agree on a fresh economic stimulus package.



U.S. passenger airlines are still collectively losing more than $5 billion a month as 30% of airplanes remain parked. Passenger travel demand remains down about 70% and, on average, planes are half-full.



Last week, American Airlines said its workforce would shrink by 40,000, including 19,000 involuntary cuts, in October unless the government extends aid for airline employee payrolls.



United said Thursday it will need to cut 2,850 pilot jobs between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30 if the government does not extend assistance.



Airlines received $25 billion in U.S. government stimulus funds in March meant to cover payrolls and protect jobs through September. Congress also approved another $25 billion in loans for airlines.



As bailout money runs out without a travel recovery in sight, airlines and unions have lobbied Washington for another $25 billion. However, talks have stalled as Congress has struggled to reach agreement on a broader coronavirus assistance package.



American said last month it would suspend flights to 15 small U.S. cities in October without more federal aid.

Trump says he will help struggling U.S. airlines

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. President Donald Trump’s intelligence chief on Sunday defended his decision to cease in-person Congressional briefings on election security, while Democrats said the move would suppress critical information about foreign election meddling and warned they may subpoena testimony.



John Ratcliffe, the president’s new director of national intelligence and a close Trump ally, accused U.S. lawmakers of leaking classified information from a July 31 briefing to promote what he called false narratives for political purposes.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352574" width="707" height="521" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-300x221.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-570x420.jpg 570w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



“A number of members of Congress went to a number of different publications and leaked classified information, again, for political purposes, to create a narrative that simply isn’t true, that somehow Russia is a greater national security threat than China,” Ratcliffe told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.



Ratcliffe is a former lawmaker who defended Trump during Congressional probes into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election.



Democratic lawmakers accused Ratcliffe of trying to block them from questioning intelligence officials in a bid to conceal information on how Russia has been interfering in the 2020 presidential election to help Trump, as it did in 2016.



“You can say things in a written report that are not correct, and you can’t be subject to questioning about it,” Representative Adam Schiff, Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN’s State of the Union program.



“When you can hide behind documents or withhold documents and not have to answer questions about it, it lets you conceal the truth. And in this case, concealing the truth is concealing Russians are again intervening to help the president in his re-election,” he said.



Schiff denied leaking any classified information from the July briefing.



“I haven’t, my staff hasn’t. I can’t speak for what all the members of the committee have done or not done, including a lot of the Republican members,” he said.



The intelligence community has warned that Russia is trying to “denigrate” Trump’s 2020 Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, and that Iran and China are also trying to sow disinformation. [L2N2EV1EF] Schiff vowed he would “compel” the intelligence community to hand over information to Congress on the threat, including potentially through the use of subpoenas.FILE PHOTO: Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe arrives to brief Congressional leaders on reports that Russia paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. military in Afghanistan, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo



Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, a former presidential candidate, told ABC’s “This Week” that Ratcliffe’s decision was an “outrage” at a time when multiple foreign governments were trying to “break into” the Nov. 3 election, and that it was “crazy” that the House may be forced to subpoena him.



However, Senator Ron Johnson, Republican chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, played down the significance of Ratcliffe’s decision when speaking with CNN’s “State of the Union” program, saying that the Democratic response had been “blown so way out of proportion.”



A bipartisan investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee found this month that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Trump at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump intel chief defends briefings ban, Democrats raise subpoena threat

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Western diplomats in Zimbabwe expressed deep concern on Friday over a deteriorating political and economic crisis, and said the government should stop using the COVID-19 pandemic to curtail freedoms.



Zimbabwe is suffering inflation over 800%, which has revived memories of the hyperinflation more than a decade ago during Robert Mugabe’s rule. Nurses are on strike and a series of arrests of political opponents have raised the alarm about a crackdown on dissent.



Heads of mission from the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Norway and Poland said in a statement that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s initial promises of uniting the country and reforming the economy when he came to power had given hope of a break with Mugabe’s rule — then proceeded to list ways in which it seems not to have.



“The heads of mission express deep concern with the current political, economic, social and health crisis that Zimbabweans are facing today,” the diplomats said.



It is relatively rare for diplomatic missions to club together and publicly criticise their host country.



A government spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mnangagwa accuses the West of sponsoring the opposition to destabilise his government.



African leaders often bristle at criticism from the West, which they say can be selective &#8211; vilifying some and keeping silent on others when it suits their strategic interests.



“COVID-19 must not be used as an excuse to restrict citizens fundamental freedoms,” the statement said.



The diplomats urged “the government to address corruption and the illicit extraction of Zimbabwe’s wealth for personal gain, which continue to undermine Zimbabwe’s development.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="748" height="1024" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15-748x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-375030" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15-748x1024.jpg 748w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15-219x300.jpg 219w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15-584x800.jpg 584w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15-768x1052.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15-696x953.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15-600x822.jpg 600w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Emmerson_Mnangagwa_2019-01-15.jpg 790w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px" /></figure>



It has been two years since Mnangagwa won a disputed election. As economic conditions worsen, critics say his government is reverting to the authoritarian tactics used by his predecessor.



“The government also has a responsibility to investigate and prosecute those responsible for violating human rights,” the diplomats said.



Activists say the government is abducting, torturing and arresting critics, including a freelance journalist and opposition politician who have spent more than a month in detention over anti-government protests.



The government denies the charges.

Zimbabwe tightens coronavirus lockdown in capital Harare as cases hit 203

Western diplomats express deep concern over Zimbabwe crisis

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma, facing trial for graft, lashed out at his successor Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday, accusing him of betraying the ruling African National Congress (ANC) with his stance against corruption.



In an unprecedented attack, Zuma, whose decade in power was marked by multiple corruption scandals that are still being investigated, accused Ramaphosa of bringing the party into disrepute &#8211; a sign of growing divisions within the ANC ahead of its national executive committee conference this weekend.



Zuma himself faces multiple investigations for corruption, including a trial relating to a $2 billion arms deal before he took office in 2009, but he retains considerable support from a powerful faction within the ANC. He denies all charges.



Ramaphosa has ordered investigations into reports of corruption in the government’s COVID-19 response, including the diversion of funds meant for protective equipment for COVID-19 medics, as well as food handouts.



Many scandals have involved junior ANC members conspiring with family-owned businesses to defraud COVID-19 funds.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1006175054-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-374814" width="692" height="1034" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1006175054-594x594-1.jpg 397w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1006175054-594x594-1-201x300.jpg 201w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px" /><figcaption>South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses a media conference at the end of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on July 27, 2018, as the heads of the BRICS group &#8212; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa &#8212; met in Johannesburg for an annual summit dominated by the risk of a US-led trade war. &#8211; Five of the biggest emerging economies on July 26, stood by the multilateral system and vowed to strengthen economic cooperation in the face of US tariff threats and unilateralism. (Photo by Themba Hadebe / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read THEMBA HADEBE/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



This week Ramaphosa wrote a letter to ANC members saying its “leaders stand accused of corruption” and that the ANC “does stand as accused number one.”



Zuma, who has so far desisted from making explicit public attacks on his successor, said in response:



“You are the first president of the ANC to stand in public and accuse the ANC of criminality &#8230;. This is a devastating statement &#8230; I view your letter as a diversion by which you accuse the entire ANC in order to save your own skin.”



Divisions within the ANC could make it harder for Ramaphosa &#8211; whose presidency has been dogged by opposition from factions in the party since he took office 2-1/2 years ago &#8211; to push through economic reforms needed to revive South Africa’s struggling economy.



Since taking power after winning its struggle against white minority rule in 1994, the ANC has been a broad coalition of groups whose disagreements often make it impossible to push through policies.

Malcolm_Turnbull_and_Jacob_Zuma_in_Jakarta_2017_11_cropped

South Africa’s ex-leader Zuma, accused of graft, hits out at successor

(Reuters) &#8211; Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday laid blame on Republican President Donald Trump for the way the coronavirus pandemic and racial strife have spread across the United States.



“The problem we have right now is we’re in Donald Trump’s America,” Biden said on MSNBC in his first public reaction to this week’s Republican convention, where speakers have alleged a Biden administration would produce chaos and disorder.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/download-2-e1598600709718.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380251" width="335" height="469"/></figure>



“He just keeps pouring fuel on the fire. He’s encouraging this. He’s not diminishing it at all. This is his America now,” Biden said, as the campaign heats up ahead of the Nov. 3 election. “If you want to end where we are now, we’ve got to end his tenure as president.”



His comments come as Trump prepares to unleash a blistering attack on Biden, who served two terms as vice president under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Obama Barack.



“We have spent the last four years reversing the damage Joe Biden inflicted,” Trump is expected to say Thursday night, according to excerpts of his remarks.



Trump in recent weeks has stepped up his verbal attacks on protests &#8211; largely peaceful but marked with pockets of arson and looting &#8211; in which Americans have voiced their anger at police shootings of Black men, including Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday.



Democrats have dismissed Trump’s focus on “law and order” as an attempt to distract from his slow response to the coronavirus pandemic.



In his interview, Biden countered that “the biggest safety issue is all the people dying from COVID,” referring to the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which has caused the world’s highest death toll of 180,000 in the United States.



“More people have died on this president’s watch than just about any time in American history on a daily basis,” Biden said. “COVID is out of control.”

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Biden says coronavirus crisis, unrest symptoms of ‘Donald Trump’s America’

(Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination on Thursday for a second term with an attack on rival Joe Biden, asserting that a Democratic victory in November would exacerbate the racial strife and coronavirus pandemic besieging the nation.



Following are excerpts from the speeches on the last day of the Republican National Convention, much of which was pre-recorded due to the coronavirus pandemic.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:</h3>



On the pandemic:



“The entire planet has been struck by a new and powerful invisible enemy. Like those brave Americans before us, we are meeting this challenge. We’re delivering life-saving therapies. And we’ll produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner.”



On the election:



“At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas. This election will decide whether we save the American dream, or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny. This election will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchic agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.”



“If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns, and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352573" width="711" height="524" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-300x221.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-570x420.jpg 570w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 711px) 100vw, 711px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



On Joe Biden:



“Joe Biden is not a savior of America’s soul. He is the destroyer of America’s jobs. And if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness.”



“Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism. If Joe Biden doesn’t have the strength to stand up to wild-eyed Marxists like Bernie Sanders and his fellow radicals &#8230; then how is he ever going to stand up for you? He’s not.”



On public safety:



“Make no mistake, if you give power to Joe Biden, the radical left will defund police departments all across America. They will pass federal legislation to reduce law enforcement nationwide. &#8230; No one will be safe in Biden’s America.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP:</h3>



“Donald Trump did not come to Washington to win praise from the Beltway elites. Donald Trump came to Washington for one reason and one reason alone, to make America great again.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL OF KENTUCKY:</h3>



“Today’s Democratic Party doesn’t want to improve life for middle America. They prefer that all of us in flyover country keep quiet. And let them decide how we should live our lives. They want to tell you when you can go to work. When your kids can go to school. They want to tax your job out of existence, and then send you a government check for unemployment. They want to tell you what kind of car you can drive, what sources of information are credible, and even how many hamburgers you can eat.”



“I’m immensely proud of the work the Republican Senate has done, acting as a firewall against Nancy Pelosi’s agenda.”



JEFF VAN DREW, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW JERSEY WHO SWITCHED FROM THE DEMOCRATIC TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY:



“Joe Biden is being told what to do by the radicals running my former party, the same radicals trying to install him as their puppet president.”



PATRICK LYNCH, PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION:



“The radical left doesn’t really want better policing. They don’t really care about making the justice system fairer. What they want is no policing.”Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP’S PERSONAL LAWYER AND FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR:



“These continuous riots in Democratic cities, gives you a good view of the future under Biden.”



DAN SCAVINO, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR COMMUNICATIONS:



“While they call it chaos, President Trump calls it change.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY OF CALIFORNIA:</h3>



“Four years ago, President Trump promised to be your voice. He kept that promise. But there’s still so much more to do. The choice before you could not be clearer. Forward in freedom or backward in socialism. Forward in prosperity, or backward in poverty. Forward in personal liberty or backwards in more government control.”



BEN CARSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT:



“We have a choice: Do we want big government that controls our lives from cradle to grave? Or do we believe in the power and wisdom of the people and their ability to self-govern with help from a limited federal government?”



DANA WHITE, PRESIDENT OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS PROMOTION COMPANY, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP:



“Make no mistake about it. We still have a long way to go. And that is why we need a leader, with President Trump’s unique attributes, at this critical time.”

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Quotes from last day of Republican National Convention themed ‘Land of Greatness’

(Reuters) &#8211; U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris on Thursday denounced the looting and acts of violence that followed the police shooting of a Black man, as Republicans sought to paint the two Democrats as weak on crime.



Hoping to win a second term in November and trailing Biden in opinion polls, President Donald Trump has used this week’s Republican National Convention to promise a “law and order” response to protests against racial injustice.



In Kenosha, Wisconsin, relative calm returned after multiple nights of looting and two violent deaths in response to an officer who on Sunday fired seven shots at the back of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, paralyzing him.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380235" width="641" height="446" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765-4.jpg 396w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765-4-300x209.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 641px) 100vw, 641px" /></figure>



Harris, a U.S. senator who previously served as California’s attorney general, said she supported peaceful protesters.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380234" width="702" height="936" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait-2.jpg 540w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait-2-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px" /></figure>



“We should not confuse them with those looting and committing acts of violence, including the shooter who was arrested for murder. And make no mistake, we will not let these vigilantes and extremists derail the path to justice,” Harris said in a speech from a university auditorium in Washington streamed online.



Protests drew an array of rifle-toting civilians, among them 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who was arrested on Wednesday on homicide charges in connection with Tuesday night’s shootings in which the two people were killed.



Trump said on Wednesday he was sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha. He planned to attack Biden at Thursday’s final night of the convention.



Biden countered by saying Trump was to blame for the way the coronavirus pandemic and racial strife had spread across the United States.



“These guys are rooting for violence. That’s what it’s all about,” Biden said on CNN. “To prove the issue ‘be scared of Joe Biden,’ they’re pointing to what’s happening in Donald Trump’s America.”

540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait

Kamala Harris condemns looting, violence in wake of police shooting

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Manhattan’s top prosecutor told a U.S. court on Thursday he should be able to obtain President Donald Trump’s tax returns, saying Trump cannot immunize himself from a criminal probe of his business practices by pursuing an appeal that has “no chance of success.



Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, urged the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan in a filing to reject Trump’s emergency bid to block a subpoena to the president’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for eight years of tax returns.



Trump has until Monday to respond in writing. Oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 1.



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The Republican president has been fighting to block Vance’s subpoena for a year, including at the U.S. Supreme Court, which last month rejected his argument that he has immunity from criminal probes while in the White House.



Trump later claimed that Vance’s subpoena was “wildly overbroad” and issued in “bad faith,” largely mirroring similar subpoena issued by congressional Democrats.



He has also called Vance’s subpoena part of a “witch hunt,” saying the case will likely head back to the Supreme Court.



But in Thursday’s filing, Vance said that by continuing to litigate, Trump had effectively obtained “temporary absolute immunity,” a claim “rejected at every level of the federal courts,” by keeping a grand jury from seeing his tax returns.



He also said handing over the returns would not irreparably harm Trump, citing the confidentiality of grand jury proceedings, and noted that the past six U.S. presidents publicly released their tax returns.



On Aug. 20, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, who had rejected Trump’s broad immunity argument last October, again refused to block the subpoena.



“Justice requires an end to this controversy,” Marrero wrote, and which Vance repeated in his filing.



It is unlikely that Trump’s tax returns will become public before the Nov. 3 election.



Vance agreed not to enforce the subpoena until two days after the appeals court rules on Trump’s request for a stay.

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