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Donald Trump calls India a true friend: US official

Agencies
December 14, 2018

Washington, Dec 14: President Donald Trump calls India a "true friend", a top American diplomat has said as she highlighted the steps taken by the US over the last two years to strengthen its ties with India for the benefit of a broader Indo-Pacific region.

Principal deputy assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia Alice Wells' remarks came at a farewell reception hosted by the State Department in honour of the outgoing Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Singh Sarna.

"President Trump calls India a true friends and Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo has characterise the US-India bilateral relationship as one deeply bound by our shared values," she said.

Top officials of the state department and the White House were present at the farewell reception for Sarna held at the historic Blair House, which is the official guest house of the US president. It is quite rare that the Blair House is used for a State Department farewell reception for an outgoing diplomat.

The US tenure of Sarna, who is retiring from Indian foreign service after an illustrious career of 38 years, has been extraordinary, Wells told the select audience.

Sarna took charge as India's ambassador to the US on November 5, 2016.

"Over the last two years, we have been able to host Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi here in Washington for a successful summit with President Trump," Wells said.

During Sarna's tenure, the two countries have inaugurated a new 2 +2 Dialogue to elevate their cooperation on security and strategic priorities for the benefit of their people and for the benefit of a broader Indo-Pacific region where the leadership of the two nations matters so much.

"Under your leadership in our countries have negotiated and finalised a landmark communications compatibility and security agreement, which makes our military cooperation more profound and advanced. We have also taken significant steps to build on India's status as a US major defense partner, including elevating India to strategic trade authorization, tier one status," Wells said.

"In your engagements with Americans across the country and also with the more than three million Indian Americans and this incredibly vibrant business leaders, the students, the technologist, the artist, you really helped bring our people in other countries together," she said as she praised Sarna.

Sarn said that the successful visit of Prime Minister Modi in June 2017 was the high point of his term here in Washington DC.

"The fact that the outcomes were so strong from the visit, the personal chemistry between Prime Minister Modi and President trump was so, so evident… and the joint statement that we came out with really set the chart for the months to follow," the Indian Ambassador said.

Listing some of the major highlights of his posting in US, Sarna said "today we can look back on and say that, well, yes, we are truly strategic global partners".

"We have found a huge amount of understanding for our political space, for our strategic autonomy, for the needs of our economy, for our role, for our taking into account our art history and our regional position vis a vis several other countries," he said.

"I think this entire process of building the bilateral relationship has been to work with each other to find while each country fulfils its national objectives - the US as well as India - at the same time, we find ways and means of growing together," he said.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Washington, Jul 1: The United States has approved four coronavirus vaccine candidates for clinical trials, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) head Stephen Hahn told reporters.

"Four vaccines have been approved for moving into clinical trials... and another six are in the pipeline for us to review," Hahn said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

The US Administration launched in May Operation Warp Speed, a joint project of Health and Defense Departments, which aims to deliver 300 million doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021.

The country's top pandemics expert Anthony Fauci warned on Tuesday, however, that there is no certainty the United States will be able to develop a vaccine against COVID-19 that works and will be safe.

Data on vaccine effectiveness, he added, may be available in the winter or early next year.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Paris, Aug 5: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said France will deploy a civil security detachment and several tonnes of medical equipment to Lebanon, whose capital was hit by an explosion that left over 70 people dead and thousands injured.

"Emergency doctors will also reach Beirut as soon as possible to strengthen hospitals. France is already engaged," the French President said in a tweet.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, also extended his deepest condolences to all those affected by the "massive explosion at the port of Beirut."

"We are closely monitoring and stand ready to assist the people of Lebanon as they recover from this tragedy. Our team in Beirut has reported to me the extensive damage to a city and a people that I hold dear, an additional challenge in a time of already deep crisis. 

We understand that the Government of Lebanon continues to investigate its cause and look forward to the outcome of those efforts," he said in a statement.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country is ready to provide support in any way it can.

"The pictures and videos from Beirut tonight are shocking. All of my thoughts and prayers are with those caught up in this terrible incident. The UK is ready to provide support in any way we can, including to those British nationals affected," Johnson said.

Israeli people share the pain of their Lebanese neighbours after a devastating blast in the port of Beirut and reach out to offer their aid, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said on Tuesday.

"We share the pain of the Lebanese people and sincerely reach out to offer our aid at this difficult time," Rivlin said on Twitter.

Over 70 people have been killed while thousands of others were wounded in the massive explosion on Tuesday in Beirut which shattered buildings and caused widespread damage.

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News Network
May 21,2020

London, May 21: Working mothers in Europe and the United States are taking on most of the extra housework and childcare created by lockdown - and many are struggling to cope, a survey showed on Thursday.

Women with children now spend an average 65 hours a week on the unpaid chores - nearly a third more than fathers - according to the Boston Consulting Group, which questioned parents in five countries.

"Women have been doing too much household work for too long, and this crisis is pushing them to a point that's simply unsustainable," Rachel Thomas, of U.S.-based women's rights group LeanIn.Org, said in response to the data.

"We need a major culture shift in our homes and in our companies ... We should use this moment to build a better way to work and live – one that's fair for everybody."

Researchers say fallout from the pandemic weighs on women in a host of ways, be it in rising domestic violence or in lower wages, as some women cut paid work to take on the new duties.

With lockdowns shutting schools and keeping citizens at home, creating a mountain of domestic work, public campaigns from Georgia to Mexico have urged men to do their fair share.

But women, who on average already do more at home than men, are now shouldering most of the new coronavirus burden, too, said the survey of more than 3,000 working parents in the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

Women's unpaid hours at home have nearly doubled to 65 hours a week, said the survey, against 50 logged by an average father.

British women are more likely to support others in the COVID-19 pandemic and are finding it harder to stay positive, according to separate analysis released this week by polling firm Ipsos MORI and feminist organisation The Fawcett Society.

It is "no surprise" to see women do more childcare and housekeeping on top of their day jobs, Jacqui Hunt of women's rights group Equality Now, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

However, there are "hopeful signs" that men in West Africa are sharing more childcare during the pandemic in a shift in social norms, found a small rapid analysis by humanitarian organisation CARE International released on Wednesday.

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