The FCC has quietly proposed reshaping a key way rural Americans stay informed – their local TV news – by stripping away most of the remaining regulations protecting local influence over local news broadcasting. Companies like Sinclair can get even bigger, and can centralize the production of what should be local news broadcasts in faraway places, leaving rural residents served by Sinclair to have a harder time finding their own communities represented in broadcast news.read more
As the executive director of the African Affairs Bureau, Raynor wrote to the State Department inspector general regarding the tragic attack on the State Department compound in Benghazi, Libya. Raynor wrote that a federal law requiring the Department to hire foreign security based on the lowest cost bidder “often results in poorly paid and motivated guards,” which not only raises security risks but also “undercuts our Missions’ broader engagement in championing human rights.”read more
Njabuliso Busisiwe Sikhulile Gwebu is a sister-in-law of King Mswati, as she is a sister of Queen Inkhosikati LaNgangaza, who is the King’s fourth wife. Gwebu was serving as ambassador and permanent delegate to the U.N. Offices in Geneva, Switzerland, when she was picked for the U.S. post. In addition to the U.S., Gwebu is the accredited, non-resident ambassador to four other Western Hemisphere countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Venezuela. read more
Lalla Joumala served for a time as an executive at Bank Al Maghrib, but turned her focus to diplomacy in the late 1990s. She served briefly as an attaché at Morocco’s mission to the UN in New York, and led her country’s delegation to the UN session on HIV/AIDS. Lalla Joumala founded the Moroccan-British Society, promoting improved relations between the two countries, in 2003. She later took over as ambassador to the United Kingdom, where she served until being tapped for the U.S. post.read more
Presenting his credentials to President Trump in April 2017, Hegbe expressed his country’s desire to work with the U.S. in the context of the African Growth Opportunity Act and the Millennium Challenge Corp, perhaps not knowing that Trump intends to cut foreign aid substantially. Hegbe has served as chargé d’affaires at Togo’s embassy in Washington since 1993, including a stint as interim chief of mission. He also worked for the State Dept’s Foreign Service Institute, where he taught French. read more
