Judge: Victims of sports doc are ‘sister survivor warriors’
LANSING, Mich. — The judge overseeing the sentencing of disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar said Monday that more than 120 girls and women who had given statements so far at the five-day hearing were “sister survivor warriors.”
“I want you to know that your face and the face of all of the sister survivor warriors — the whole army of you — I’ve heard your words,” Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said after a woman spoke in her Michigan courtroom. “Your sister survivors and you are going through incomprehensible lengths, emotions and soul-searching to put your words together, to publicly stop (the) defendant, to publicly stop predators, to make people listen.”
Nassar, 54, has admitted molesting athletes during medical treatment when he was employed by Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics on Monday announced the resignations of three key leaders — chairman Paul Parilla, vice chairman Jay Binder and treasurer Bitsy Kelley — days after former gold medalists Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber said in court that Nassar had sexually assaulted them. CEO Steve Penny was forced out last year.
Nassar has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography crimes. Under a plea deal, he faces a minimum prison sentence of 25 to 40 years in the molestation case. The maximum term could be much higher.
“Larry, how many of us are there? Do you even know?” asked Clasina Syrboby, as she fought back tears while speaking for more than 20 minutes Monday. “You preyed on me, on us. You saw a way to take advantage of your position — the almighty and trusted gymnastics doctor. Shame on you Larry. Shame on you.”
Fighting rages amid Turkish push in Kurdish enclave in Syria
HASSA, Turkey — Intense fighting flared Monday as Turkish troops and their allies advanced on a Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria, the third day of Ankara’s offensive to oust a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia from the area, according to the militia and a war monitoring group.
Skirmishes between Turkish troops and Kurdish fighters also broke out farther east in Syria, threatening to widen the scope of the new front in the Syrian war that pits Turkey against Washington’s main ally in the region.
The Turkish ground and air offensive on Afrin, codenamed “Operation Olive Branch,” began Saturday, raising tensions in the already-complicated Syrian conflict and threatening to further strain ties between Turkey and the U.S., both NATO allies. Turkey says it aims to create a 30-kilometer (20-mile) deep “secure zone” in Afrin, the Kurdish-controlled enclave on its border.
The Turkish military announced late Monday its first fatality to the operation. It said a soldier was killed in cross-border raid.
The U.N. Security Council was scheduled to convene later Monday to discuss the situation.
Pence says US embassy will move to Jerusalem by end of 2019
JERUSALEM — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told Israeli lawmakers Monday that the U.S. would put plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem on a fast track, drawing angry denunciations from Arabs who were forcibly removed from the hall during his speech before Israel’s parliament.
The Trump administration’s plan to accelerate the move of the embassy, announced in the first address of a sitting American vice president to the Knesset, marked the highlight of Pence’s visit celebrating President Donald Trump’s decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“Jerusalem is Israel’s capital — and, as such, President Trump has directed the State Department to begin initial preparations to move our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Pence told the lawmakers, vowing that the “United States Embassy will open before the end of next year.”
Pence’s speech drew protests from the Palestinians, with chief negotiator Saeb Erekat saying it “has proven that the U.S. administration is part of the problem rather than the solution.” Shortly after Pence began speaking, several Arab lawmakers voiced their displeasure by raising signs that said, “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine,” and heckling the vice president. They were forcibly removed from the plenum.
Despite the pandemonium, Pence expressed hope in an interview with The Associated Press after the speech that the Palestinians would re-enter negotiations. “Our message to President (Mahmoud) Abbas and the Palestinian Authority is: The door’s open. The door’s open. President Trump is absolutely committed to doing everything the United States can to achieve a peace agreement that brings an end to decades of conflict.”
15-year-old girl shot at Texas school; boy, 16, arrested
DALLAS — A 15-year-old student in Texas was injured in a shooting in her high school cafeteria Monday morning and a 16-year-old boy, also a student at the school, was taken into custody, sheriff’s officials said.
The girl was airlifted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas following the shooting in the small town of Italy, some 45 miles south of Dallas, said Sgt. Joe Fitzgerald of the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office. The shooting happened at about 7:50 a.m. in the Italy High School cafeteria.
“In a small town, the school district is the center of what goes on for our kids and this morning’s tragedy hits the heart of this community,” said Lee Joffre, superintendent of the Italy Independent School District, which has about 600 students.
Joffre said that on a typical morning, there would be about 45 to 55 students in the cafeteria.
Ellis County Sheriff Chuck Edge said the suspect “engaged the victim” and fired several shots from a semi-automatic .380 handgun before being confronted by a school district staffer and fleeing. Edge did not say at the Monday afternoon news conference how many times the victim was shot. Officials have said that they don’t know the relationship between the victim and shooter.