A four-term Congresswoman, 2020 presidential candidate and NYT bestselling author, Gabbard is a veteran with three deployments to war zones in the Middle East and Africa. She recently moved from being a Democrat to a Republican member.
President-elect Donald Trump announced a slate of key Cabinet nominations, including tapping former Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his Secretary of Health and Human Services and former Congressman Doug Collins of Georgia as Secretary for Veterans Affairs. Trump also named Jay Clayton as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General, and Dean John Sauer as Solicitor General of the United States.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, has formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination becoming the first Indian-American to win the nomination from a major political party, and chose Minnesota Gov Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday.
Early this month, Trump had unceremoniously fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and nominated Mike Pompeo
The move has left the Democrats fuming, asserting that the Pentagon didn't seek permission.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has accused the Obama administration of contradicting itself and "doubling down on denial" about the true origins of the assault on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed American envoy to Libya.
US President-elect Biden has a history of advocating on behalf of women in the US and around the world and the new team announcement is a continuation of that work.
Dr Pat Basu of Naperville, Illinois, and Dr Sunny Ramchandani of Rowland Heights, California, USA are among the 2010-11 class of White House Fellows.
Marking a historic trip to Myanmar, a senior United States lawmaker on Saturday met pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the country's military ruler Than Shew and secured the release of an American, who had been jailed for secretly visiting the residence of the detained leader. Democrat Senator Jim Webb became the first senior US official to meet the reclusive Myanmar general in the capital Naypyidaw.
"He's a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience," said Trump of his new appointment.
Tillerson is a veteran chief executive who has had extensive overseas business dealings but his relationships with foreign leaders could complicate his confirmation prospects.
"Read my lips," said Richard Holbrooke, special US representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, "I am not working on that problem," when asked by a Pakistani journalist if the Obama administration was 'serious to appoint any adviser to resolve this issue,' since as the latter contended, "We all know that deep down, there is no solution of Afghanistan and the South Asia problem, without resolving the Kashmir issue that is controlled by Indian government."
The appointment of veteran diplomat Peter Burleigh as charge d'affaires at the American embassy in New Delhi was a Department decision and not on the recommendation of Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as had been rumored because of their earlier longtime working relationship, senior Administration sources have told rediff.com.
The appointment of veteran diplomat Derek Mitchell, who was till now the Special US Representative and Policy Coordinator for Myanmar, was confirmed by the Senate on Friday and he is expected to leave for that country soon.
Khanna, an attorney who is perhaps one of the most articulate spokesmen of Indian Americans in the Democratic Party, argued political mobilisation is the final step for the community.
This would make him the highest-ranking Indian American ever in the US Department of State. Over a month ago, Verma was appointed as one of the leads of the Agency Review Team overseeing the US Department of Defence for President-elect Barack Obama's Transition.
The presence of more Indian Americans in the team has made the whole community proud.
The first-ever Indian-American assistant secretary of state Richard R Verma gives Aziz Haniffa an insider's view of the administration.
United States Senator John F Kerry -- President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next Secretary of State -- has asserted that he would be strongly opposed to any cuts in America's considerable aid to Islamabad.
Democrat Tulsi Gabbard who won the race for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District said that she hoped to play some small role in increasing people's respect, understanding, and love for one another despite differences. Aziz Haniffa reports
President Barack Obama has nominated Rahul 'Richard' Verma, currently a partner with the top-notch international law firm in Washington,DC -- Steptoe & Johnson LLP -- as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, and sources told Rediff India Abroad that considering that he has been a much respected Congressional staffer, his confirmation process before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the coming weeks would be a shoo-in.
If the ethnicity of those attending the gurudwara in Wisconsin, where six persons were shot dead two days ago, turns out to be the reason behind the massacre, then Americans should "immediately recoil against those kinds of attitudes," United States President Barack Obama has said.
The India Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies -- a leading Washington, DC think tank -- will be occupied by Karl F Inderfurth, erstwhile Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs in the Clinton Administration.
If confirmed, Nancy Powell will be the first woman ambassador to India, but some have questioned if she would have the ear of the President unlike a political appointee. Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington DC.
Incoming US President Donald Trump has assembled a core team that is -- not surprisingly -- overwhelmingly white and male.
The election of Obama as President is bound to be a matter of rejoicing for the downtrodden sections of society everywhere in the world. Most of all, the immediate effect will naturally be on the black population of the US itself. There will be a surge in their self-esteem and sense of integration with the mainstream and this will be all to the good, says B S Raghavan
Six decades of complaints about 'foreign involvement' in creating unrest in Balochistan has done no good to Pakistan neither have its intermittent military operations in the province. Islamabad has resorted to repressive measures to muzzle the Baloch demand for greater autonomy and right of ownership of its natural resources. This has not worked.
President George W Bush signs the first part of the enabling legislation into law today.
'The current period of implementation and consolidation will put the relationship on an even sounder footing when the leaders in both capitals determine it is time to quicken the pace,' US experts tell Aziz Haniffa.
The Democratic Party's rising star spoke to Aziz Haniffa
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