Trump appoints Indian-American Raj Shah to key White House position

Shah played a leading role in the Republican party's anti-Clinton campaign during polls

Latest News : US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday appointed young Indian-American Raj Shah, who played a leading role in the Republican party's anti-Clinton campaign during polls, to a key White House position.

Shah, whose parents immigrated to the US from Gujarat, has been appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communication Director and Research Director, according to an announcement made by the Presidential Transition Team.

Shah, who is in his early 30s, is currently head of Opposition Research in the Republican National Committee.

In this position, he led a team of experts to carry out research against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate. Shah was behind all the anti-Clinton campaign during the presidential elections.

The announcement of Shah's appointment to this key White House position was made by incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus along with other appointments.

"These individuals will be key leaders in helping to implement the President elect's agenda and bring real change to Washington," Priebus said.Read more.

Final US Presidential Debate: As it happened

Final US Presidential Debate: As it happened

08:11 AM

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump do not shake hands after final debate

08:07 AM

I'm reaching out to all Americans...because we need everybody to make our country what it should be: Hillary Clinton

08:06 AM

We are going to make America strong again, we are going to make America great again. We can't wait for four more years: Trump

08:03 AM

Hillary Clinton accuses Trump of being 'most dangerous' White House candidate in modern history

  

08:03 AM

Will repeal ObamaCare. It is a bad healthcare and it has to go: Trump

08:01 AM

I am going to create tremendous jobs. The GDP will grow from 1% to 4% . I am going to create a country that we were: Trump

08:01 AM

He has been criticising our government for decades. In 1997 he brought out an advertisement that said we were laughing stock of the world: Hillary Clinton. Read 

07:52 AM

Hillary Clinton should have never been allowed to run for presidency: Donald Trump referring to email row

07:51 AM

We will go after Baghdadi like we went after Bin Laden when you (Trump) were doing celebrity apprentice: Hillary Clinton

07:50 AM

Hillary: Once again Donald is denying he supported invasion of Iraq. Trump says : Wrong. Hillary says Google it. Trump: Wrong

07:50 AM

We had Mosul. But when she left, she took everybody out, we lost Mosul: Trump

07:49 AM

Onslaught on Mosul is only happening because Clinton is running for president: Trump

Hillary Clinton diagnosed with pneumonia, cancels California trip

Hillary Clinton diagnosed with pneumonia, cancels California trip

Hillary Clinton has cancelled a two-day trip to California starting from Monday after the Democratic presidential candidate was diagnosed with pneumonia and has been advised to rest by her doctor.

The cancellation was confirmed by her campaign on Sunday night following Clinton's abrupt departure from a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in downtown Manhattan because she felt "overheated", The Hill daily reported.

She was supposed to campaign in San Francisco and Los Angeles and was scheduled to make an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The former secretary of state's doctor, Lisa R Bardack released a statement revealing the diagnosis on Sunday evening, The Hill daily reported.

Bardack said Clinton had an examination at her home in Chappaqua after the incident, which was a result of dehydration and overheating.

She said the presidential candidate was "re-hydrated and recovering nicely".(more)

Republican leaders denounce Clinton in Cleveland convention

Republican leaders denounce Clinton in Cleveland convention

Top Republican leadership on Wednesday held a mock criminal-style trial before the American public against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, saying she is not fit to be an occupant of the White House and the safety and security of the country cannot be left on her.

Soon after Donald Trump was declared the presidential nominee of the Republican party, speakers after speakers of the Republican party went after Clinton with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie turned the audience into an ad hock jury by asking if the 68-year-old former secretary of State was guilty or not guilty.

After every charge-sheet, the cheering crowd pronounced her "guilty" shouting "lock her up".

"I am proud to say that the voice of the people of our nation is being heard in this hall and those voices want Donald Trump to be the next President of the United States. But this election is not just about Donald Trump. It is also about his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton," Christie said.

"We know exactly what four years of Hillary Clinton will bring: all the failures of the Obama years, but with less charm and more lies. It is our obligation to stop Hillary Clinton now and never let her within 10 miles of the White House again," he said.(Read more)

World's richest 10% produce 50% of CO2: Report

The richest 10 per cent of people produce half of Earth's climate-harming fossil-fuel emissions, while the poorest half contribute a mere 10 per cent, British charity Oxfam said in a study released today.

Oxfam published the numbers as negotiators from 195 countries met in Paris climate change to wrangle over a climate rescue pact.

Disputes over how to share responsibility for curbing greenhouse-gas emissions and aiding climate-vulnerable countries are among the thorniest and longest-running issues in the 25-year-old UN climate process.

"Rich, high emitters should be held accountable for their emissions, no matter where they live," Oxfam climate policy head Tim Gore said in a statement.

"But it's easy to forget that rapidly developing economies are also home to the majority of the world's very poorest people and while they have to do their fair share, it is rich countries that should still lead the way."

The report said that an average person among the richest one per cent emits 175 times more carbon than his or her counterpart among the bottom 10 percent.

Rich and developing nations remain deeply divided on the issue of "differentiation" -- how to share out responsibility for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, which derive mainly from burning coal, oil and gas.

Developing countries say the West has polluted for much longer and should shoulder a bigger obligation for cutting back.

They also demand assurances of finance to help them shift to less-polluting renewable energy, shore up defences against Paris climate change conference impacts such as sea level rise, droughts and superstorms, and to cover damage that cannot be avoided.

"We hope advanced nations will assume ambitious targets and pursue them sincerely. It's not just a question of historical responsibility -- they also have the most room to make the cuts and make the strongest impact," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Monday's opening of the summit by world leaders.

Yet many rich nations, led by the United States, reject the idea of a "bifurcated" approach with obligations placed on one group of countries, and not the other.

They point to the risk of carbon emissions -- as measured by volume, rather than per capita -- from emerging giants such as China and India.

Oxfam said its analysis "helps dispel the myth that citizens in rapidly developing countries are somehow most to blame for climate change".

India, 19 other nations pledge $20 billion to promote clean technologies

Twenty countries, including India, the US and China, will today launch an initiative to double their clean energy research and development budget over the next five years as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.
The total amount of money being committed by these 20 countries - under 'Mission Innovation' -- amount to $20 billion, about half of which would come from the US, White House officials said.
A formal announcement of the initiative is expected later in the day at a meeting attended by US President Barack Obama, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande along with other leaders from the private and public sector, a White House official told reporters before Obama left for Paris to attend the crucial paris climate change summit here.
These additional resources will dramatically expand the new technologies that will define a future global power mix that is clean, affordable and reliable, the White House said.
"This is an effort designed to accelerate clean energy innovation and address global climate change, provide affordable clean energy to consumers with a special focus on the developing world in creating commercial opportunities for creating clean energy in developing countries," top Obama adviser Brian Deese told reporters.
Other participating countries include France, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the UAE and the UK.
These 20 countries accounts for over 80 per cent of global clean energy R&D.
"One thing that we know clearly is that the investment in basic research in clean energy technologies needs to be connected to private capital that's willing to deploy against the most promising of those technologies and help bring them to scale," Deese said.
Noting that individual countries will focus on clean energy efforts that suit their needs, like energy efficiency or reducing hydrofluorocarbons, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in the US' increase in funding, about 15 per cent per year starting in 2017, would rely on Congress.
"There's a lot of support for innovation," he said.
In addition to 'Mission Innovation', another initiative called 'Breakthrough Energy Coalition' will be launched simultaneously.
Spearheaded by Bill Gates, it is a global group of private investors that will take the risks that allow the early stage energy companies that emerge from the research programmes of 'Mission Innovation' countries to come out of the lab and into the marketplace.
"Paris climate change conference the renewable technologies we have today, like wind and solar, have made a lot of progress and could be one path to a zero-carbon energy future," Microsoft founder Bill Gates said in a statement.
"But given the scale of the challenge, we need to be exploring many different paths and that means we also need to invent new approaches. Private companies will ultimately develop these energy breakthroughs, but their work will rely on the kind of basic research that only governments can fund. Both have a role to play," Gates said.
He noted that the world's growing demand for energy is also a big problem, because most of that energy comes from hydrocarbons, which emit greenhouse gases and drive climate change.
"So we need to move to sources of energy that are affordable and reliable, and don't produce any carbon," he said.