- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Karine Jean-Pierre named as first Black W.House press secretary
US President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-Pierre as the next White House press secretary, the first Black person to hold the high-profile post.
Jean-Pierre, who will also be the first openly LGBTQ+ person in the role, will replace Jen Psaki, under whom she served as deputy, from May 13.
Biden in a statement praised Jean-Pierre's "experience, talent and integrity," saying he was "proud" to announce her appointment.
"She will be the first black woman and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve as the White House Press Secretary," Psaki tweeted after the announcement.
"Representation matters and she will give a voice to many, but also make many dream big about what is truly possible."
The outgoing press secretary, who said from the outset that she would step down during Biden's term, is due to join MSNBC, according to US media reports.
Jean-Pierre, 44, worked on both of former president Barack Obama's campaigns in 2008 and 2012 and then on Biden's campaign in 2020 before joining Biden's team at the White House.
She also served under Biden during his tenure as Obama's vice president.
- Haitian parents -
Jean-Pierre was previously Chief Public Affairs Officer for liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org and worked as a political analyst with NBC and MSNBC, the White House statement said.
Raised in New York, French-speaking Jean-Pierre was born in Martinique to Haitian parents who emigrated to the United States, where her father drove a taxi and her mother worked as a cleaner.
It was in New York that she took her first steps into politics before also becoming a leading figure in the non-profit sphere, having graduated from the prestigious Columbia University.
Jean-Pierre has often said her family's background, emblematic of the "American dream," was a determining factor in her career.
An advocate for combatting mental health stigma, the new White House spokeswoman has also shared her own stories of being sexually abused as a child and suffering from depression.
In a book published in 2019, she wrote of "the pressure of growing up in an immigrant household to succeed."
"That pressure grew so big, and my sense of failure so strong, that I felt like my family would be better off without me. At one point, I attempted suicide," she said in a post published on the MSNBC website.
"I am everything that Donald Trump hates," said Jean-Pierre, who has a daughter with her partner, a journalist with CNN, in reference to Biden's predecessor in a 2018 video for MoveOn.org.
"I am a Black woman. I am gay. I am a mom."
In a Twitter post marking LGBTQ Pride month in June 2021, she said her "journey towards feeling accepted by myself and loved ones wasn't an easy one, but it was worthwhile."
"No matter where you are in your journey, I see you, we see you and we celebrate you."
P.Mira--PC