After months of delay, President-elect Donald J. Trump on Friday became the first American president to be criminally sentenced.

He avoided jail or any other substantive punishment, but the proceeding carried symbolic importance: It formalised Trump’s status as a felon, making him the first to carry that dubious designation into the presidency.

“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” said the judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan. “This has been truly an extraordinary case.”

The judge then imposed a so-called unconditional discharge of Mr. Trump’s sentence, a rare and lenient alternative to jail or probation. Explaining the leniency, Justice Merchan acknowledged Mr. Trump’s inauguration 10 days hence.

“Donald Trump the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump the criminal defendant” would not be entitled to the protections of the presidency, Justice Merchan asserted, explaining that only the office shields him from the verdict’s gravity. 

The judge then wished Trump “godspeed” and departed the bench. Trump appeared virtually, his scowl projected onto a screen in a chilly yet bright Lower Manhattan courtroom filled with reporters, sketch artists and courtroom personnel. He was at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, seated along with one of his lawyers in front of a pair of large American flags.

“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump said during the hearing, adding: “The fact is, I’m totally innocent.”

Asserting the primacy of the election over the verdict, he said that the voters “got to see this first hand.”

The hearing had begun with a lead prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, recapping the “overwhelming evidence” and saying that the prosecution had recommended that Mr. Trump receive the so-called unconditional discharge of his sentence.

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But Steinglass still blasted Trump, saying that “far from expressing any kind of remorse for his criminal conduct, the defendant has purposefully bred disdain for our institutions and the rule of law.”

Trump, he added, “has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm’s way.”

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, said he “very much” disagreed with Mr. Steinglass. He blasted the legitimacy of the case, repeating Mr. Trump’s frequent claims that it amounted to election interference. 

He said it was a “sad day” for Trump’s family — and the country.

Now that Trump has been sentenced, he can begin a formal appeal of his conviction. He cannot, however, pardon himself. Presidential pardon authority does not extend to state charges.

The sentencing stems from Trump’s conviction on charges of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his first campaign.

Once the jury convicted Trump on all 34 felony counts in May, the former and future president fought tooth and nail to avoid the spectacle of a sentencing. Business Day

By BBC

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, has announced that he has quit X, where he has been posting controversial messages.

The 50-year-old army general has become increasingly involved in the political arena, in breach of military protocols, reigniting debates about his ambitions to succeed his father, who has been in power since 1986.

He recently sparked anger with a tweet in which he threatened to behead the country’s leading opposition figure, Bobi Wine.

In his last post on Friday, Gen Kainerugaba said “time has now come to leave and concentrate” on his military duties but promised to “re-converge” with his one million followers in the future.

This is not the first time Gen Kainerugaba has deactivated his X account.

In 2022, he quit the micro-blogging platform only to return days later.

Critics have taken a swipe at the general over the statements he has made on social media, which touched on subjects considered taboo for a serving soldier.

In 2022, he made headlines for discussing an invasion of neighbouring Kenya, a comment that forced his father to step in and apologise.

Gen Kainerugaba’s recent post threatening to “cut off” the head of Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, drew widespread condemnation in the country.

Although the general apologised about the post which he described as a joke, Bobi Wine said he could not take such threats lightly.

The Ugandan government downplayed the post, with a spokesperson describing Gen Kainerugaba’s social media statements as “casual” remarks that should not be interpreted as reflecting official policy.

Gen Kainerugaba’s undiplomatic outburst on social media has also angered other countries with his previous posts about siding with Russia in the invasion of Ukraine, and saying that Uganda would be on the side of Tigray in the Ethiopian civil war.

Museveni has nevertheless defended his son as a “very good general” and the army said he enjoyed the constitutionally guaranteed individual right of expression.

In his farewell message to his X followers, the general said his decision to leave the platform was guided by his faith and a renewed focus on his military duties as a general in the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF).

“It is on the instructions and blessings of my Lord Jesus Christ that I leave this social media and dedicate myself to my assignment to bring peace and security to our region,” his statement stated.

“To all my dear followers, it has been a great whirlwind and rousing journey together on these streets for the last 10 years since 2014,” he added.

He urged his followers to continue supporting his father, whom he referred to as “the greatest general of the resistance”.

Gen Kainerugaba is seen as a possible successor to his long-serving father but Museveni has denied that he is grooming him for the presidency.

The general has been holding rallies, mobilising support around the country, which has drawn criticism in some quarters.

He joined the army in 1999 and has had a meteoric rise. His ascent to power has been dubbed the “Muhoozi Project” by local media.

“I know you all love me, and that you will continue to follow me like the wind long after here,” he said in his signing off statement from X.

President William Ruto has slammed youthful Kenyans who have turned social media into the next front of government criticism as he wound up a two-day tour of his North Rift home turf.

Of concern to Ruto during the tour is the manipulation of his image and that of other leaders and placing them in coffins.

The President has been on a whirlwind development tour of Elgeyo Marakwet and Uasin Gishu since Thursday, amidst sharp criticism by digitally savvy young Kenyans who have taken social media by storm with cartoons and silhouettes. 

During the final tour in Uasin Gishu today, Ruto and his close allies described the social criticism as a serious erosion of morals in Kenyan society.

He appeared to fight back against what he termed as harsh criticism by youth and blamed the trend on political leaders who he claimed were sponsoring young people for selfish political gains. 

Among youth criticising the Head of State online are those from Rift Valley counties that voted him to the last man.

The President used his development to ask them to stop the use of images placed in caskets to criticize him, but instead use digital creativity to earn income.

 “I want to ask those who are using digital spaces to criticise the government not to be used by selfish politicians to put images of leaders in graves and coffins,” the President said during the official opening of Nigeria Technical Training Institute in Kapseret. 

Ruto expressed fears that the youths placing images of leaders might soon turn out to be a security threat. 

 “I want to tell them that today, they will place images of leaders in coffins, and tomorrow they put their parents and then they follow it with their friends and eventually they resort to actual killings,” said Ruto in his home county. By By Stephen Rutto, The Standard