‘A CALIBRATED, PRACTICAL APPROACH’: Speaking at a meeting of the G-7 foreign ministers in London, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to return fire in the wake of incendiary statements from North Korea in reaction to President Joe Biden’s reference to the North’s nuclear program as a “serious threat.”
Khaled Elgindy, moderator
Co-host:
Biographies:
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is a well-known progressive warrior and, in her own words, “a mother working for justice for all.” Her two young sons are at the root of her unwavering passion to help change lives for the better. She is the oldest of 14 children, born and raised in Detroit, the proud daughter of Palestinian immigrant parents.
Rashida made history in 2008 by becoming the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature. She is beloved by residents for the transformative constituent services she provided, and for successfully fighting the billionaires and corporations that tried to pollute her district. When families get to know Rashida, they have no doubt that she will work tirelessly to knock down barriers for real change, and whether by policy or action, she will roll up her sleeves to make sure her residents are cared for, no matter how big the challenge.
POLITICO
How Indian Americans Got the President’s Ear
After years of trying to build influence, the Indian American political world is starting to feel a sense of actual power and clout in the new administration.
A health worker waits to receive a Covid-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Mumbai, India, in January. | Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo
By RIKHA SHARMA RANI
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Rikha Sharma Rani is a writer in Oakland, California, and a contributing editor at Politico Magazine. Follow her at @rikrani.
Shekar Narasimhan started calling and emailing the White House on a Wednesday the same day India’s Covid-19 death toll reached a record 2,000 people in a single day. News of oxygen shortages, overrun hospitals and depleting vaccine supplies had been trickling in from India all week, and Narasimhan, a longtime Democratic fundraiser who chairs a super PAC focused on mobilizing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, was among the rising chorus of Indian American voices calling for
Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
For the past few years, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a far-right Hindu nationalist faction, have dominated national politics. Since coming into power in 2014, Modi and BJP have attacked the foundations of India’s political system, gradually undermining the guardrails protecting democracy.
But this weekend saw a notable setback for Modi: an electoral defeat by a larger-than-expected margin.
In local elections held in five states, the BJP lost the biggest prize: control of the Legislative Assembly in West Bengal. The defeat came amid gathering signs of trouble for Modi’s quest to dominate India the world’s worst Covid-19 outbreak, attributable in no small part to government policy, foremost among them.