Trusted Donald Trump aide Hope Hicks quits as White House communications director

Agencies
March 1, 2018

Washington, Mar 1: Hope Hicks, one of US President Donald Trump`s longest-serving, most trusted aides, is resigning from her job as White House communications director.

The White House announced she was leaving a day after Hicks, 29, spent nine hours in a closed hearing of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Hicks` decision to leave was not related to her appearance before the panel. Lawmakers said Hicks, Trump`s spokeswoman during the election campaign, declined to answer questions about the administration but she did answer every question asked about her time with the campaign, and the transition months between the November election and the January 2017 inauguration.

Hicks` exact departure was unclear but is expected to be sometime over the next few weeks.

Hicks was caught up in a controversy surrounding former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, whom she had been dating. She worked to defend him when charges of domestic abuse against his two former wives emerged. Porter was ultimately forced to resign.

A one-time aide to Trump`s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and with no previous experience in politics, Hicks was one of the first people hired by the then-New York businessman when he began his campaign for the presidency.

Aides said she had approached the president and told him she wanted to leave so she could start exploring opportunities outside of the White House.

Robert Trout, a lawyer for Hicks who has represented her in the Russia investigation, declined comment.

Among the issues Hicks declined to discuss with the House panel on Tuesday was her part in drafting a statement in July 2017 misrepresenting a July 2016 meeting at Trump Tower that included the President`s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., other Trump associates and Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer.

Trump Jr. said initially the meeting was about adoptions, but said later that Veselnitskaya had promised damaging information about his father`s election campaign opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia ran a program of hacking and disinformation to interfere in the elections and it later developed into an attempt to help Republican candidate Trump defeat Clinton. On Feb. 16, a U.S. special counsel indicted 13 Russians and three companies on charges of tampering in the campaign.

Russia denies interfering in the U.S. election and Trump denies any collusion between his campaign and Moscow officials.

Hicks took over as communications director in September after the difficult, 11-day tenure of Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired. She is credited behind the scenes for stabilizing the communications operation.

"Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years. She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person," Trump said in a statement released by the White House. "I will miss having her by my side but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future."

Hicks said in her own statement that "there are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump. I wish the president and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country."

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News Network
June 17,2020

Vienna, Jun 17: Austrian police fined a man 500 euros for loudly breaking wind after officers stopped him earlier this month to check his identity.

The police defended the massive fine saying he had deliberately emitted a "massive flatulence," lifting his backside from the bench where he was sitting.

The accused complained of what he called the disproportionate and unjustified fine when he gave his account of the June 5 events on the O24 news website.

In reply to social media commentaries that followed, the police in the Austrian capital justified their reaction on Twitter.

"Of course, nobody is put on the spot if one slips out by accident," the police said.

However, in this case, the police said, the young man had appeared "provocative and uncooperative" in general.

He then "slightly raised himself from the bench, looked at the officers and patently, in a completely deliberate way, emitted a massive flatulence in their immediate proximity."

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News Network
May 1,2020

Washington, May 1: The United States on Thursday recorded 29,625 new coronavirus cases, and 2,035 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The total number of coronavirus cases has reached 1,069,534 and the death toll stands at 63,001, CNN reported.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 3.2 million people and killed at least 233,000 globally, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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News Network
May 22,2020

May 22: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight on its way from Lahore to Karachi, crashed in the area near Jinnah International Airport on Friday, according to Civil Aviation Authority officials.

Geo News reported that the plane crashed at the Jinnah Ground area near the airport as it was approaching for landing. There were more than 90 passengers on board the Airbus aircraft. Black smoke could be seen from afar at the crash site, say eye witnesses.

There were no immediate reports on the number of casualties. The aircraft arriving from the eastern city of Lahore was carrying 99 passengers and 8 crew members, news agency AP said, quoting Abdul Sattar Kokhar, spokesman for the country’s civil aviation authority.

Witnesses said the Airbus A320 appeared to attempt to land two or three times before crashing in a residential area near Jinnah International Airport.

Flight PK-303 from Lahore was about to land in Karachi when it crashed at the Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir, just a minute before its landing, Geo News reported.

Local television reports showed smoke coming from the direction of the airport. Ambulances were on their way to the airport.

News agency said Sindh’s Ministry of Health and Population Welfare has declared emergency in all major hospitals of Karachi due to the plane crash.

It’s the second plane crash for Pakistani carrier in less than four years. The airline’s chairman resigned in late 2016, less than a week after the crash of an ATR-42 aircraft killed 47 people. The incident comes as Pakistan was slowly resuming domestic flights in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reported.

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