Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump 's pick to be the director of national intelligence, has faced scrutiny over alleged connections to Russia and the Kremlin as well as a visit with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , but some who have worked with her and have followed her political career told Newsweek that they are concerned by her ties to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist movement that counts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a longtime member. The RSS formed nearly a century ago and is described by some as a "Hindu Cultural organization." It has been accused by some critics of seeking to vanquish Indian Christians and Muslims in order to to establish a Hindu nation. Modi, whom Gabbard met with in 2019, is a lifelong RSS member and is associated with the political wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Gabbard, an ex-Democrat who officially joined the Republican Party this year, was recently nominated by Trump to serve as DNI, overseeing 18 intelligence agencies including the CIA and NSA . The military veteran and former congresswoman ran for president in the Democratic primary in 2020. She's been criticized for years for purported affiliations with foreign entities like Russia and Syria. Gabbard has consistently denied any ties to Russia and once filed a defamation suit against Hillary Clinton for suggesting that she had been "groomed" by the Kremlin to run for president as a third party candidate . The suit was later dropped. Gabbard has also said she opposes Russia's military operation in Ukraine. While her Russian and Syrian comments and actions will face scrutiny, some have said that her ties to the RSS should be examined. "Having someone like Tulsi so closely tied to the RSS and its affiliates in America benefits India at a time when India is basically run by the RSS," independent journalist Pieter Friedrich told Newsweek . Newsweek reached out for comment to Gabbard, her husband Abraham Williams, her father, Hawaii State Senator Mike Gabbard, individuals who have worked on her campaigns, the Department of Justice , and the purported Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) group in which she has also has ties, as well as those who have been identified as SIF members. Meeting Modi From an early age, Tulsi Gabbard was immersed in the ideals of the Science of Identity Foundation and its alleged Hare Krishna teachings. She kept her childhood Bhagavad Gita, the Scripture that is central to Hindu philosophy, with her when she was deployed in Iraq, calling it a "transcendental lifeline." Upon being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, Gabbard took her oath of office with her hand on the Gita. In 2019, she personally gifted the Scripture to Modi when she met him. Gabbard, who has said she is not of Indian origin, has been described as an "advanced devotee" within SIF, which several former members have labeled a "cult." She has called her religious practices "transcendental Hinduism," a term recommended to her by the group's leader, Chris Butler, according to a 2017 feature published in The New Yorker . Friedrich wrote in The Caravan that Gabbard has visited India "only once" on personal invitation from Modi. "I believe that fundamentally the chief concern is her foundational ties to the Hindu nationalist movement," he told Newsweek . Gabbard's connections to the RSS have been documented. The organization is considered a foundational part of the Hindutva political ideology that calls for Hindu hegemony in India. Gabbard vowed to be a "strong voice in Congress for improving India-U.S. relations" and "promised to take the lead in passing a resolution to support Prime Minister Modi's call to the U.N." Modi has advocated for reforming the U.N. and adding India as a permanent member of the Security Council, which President Joe Biden has endorsed. She joined the House India Caucus while in office and called for the protection of Hindus and religious minorities in Bangladesh, "people who continue to be targeted and persecuted" as she described in one video message that included admonishing the Pakistani military. Gabbard has also openly defended the far-right Hindutva religious ideology as a way of "expressing pride in one's religion" and noting its "complex history." When the U.S. House issued a resolution in 2013 recognizing the RSS violence against Muslims and Christians, Gabbard opposed the measure, saying: "It is critically important that we focus on strengthening ties between the two nations and I do not believe that (the resolution) accomplishes this." Friedrich provided evidence to Newsweek that thousands of dollars in donations to Gabbard's campaigns came from leaders within the international wing of the RSS, in addition to the Overseas Friends of the BJP—the latter of which Gabbard spoke to in Los Angeles and Atlanta in 2014, according to information provided to Newsweek by journalist Christine Gralow of the local outlet Meanwhile in Hawaii. In August 2020, the Overseas Friends of BJP registered itself under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). According to DOJ rules, the group is required to "to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities." It's been reported by the investigative journalism podcast QAnon Anonymous , which debunks conspiracy theories, that 25 percent of Gabbard's campaign funding came from RSS-affiliates—statistics that doubled once she was in office. India's bloody battles Throughout her time in Congress, Gabbard was regularly seen wearing a scarf of the BJP including at events where attendees donated to her campaign. Ram Madhav, a spokesperson for RSS and BJP, was at Gabbard's wedding in 2015 to her husband, Abraham Williams. Newsweek reached out to Madhav for comment. "In 2008 I was in India," Michael Brannon Parker, an acquaintance of the family, told Newsweek . "Ram Madhav asked me if I knew a lady named Tulsi Gabbard. I said, 'Yes, I do know her.' He said she had approached him in [Washington] D.C. and introduced herself stating that she knew me from Hawaii and that I was close with her dad and brothers." Parker, who is about 16 years older than Gabbard, says he met her when she was around 8 or 9 years old. He said he has known the Gabbard family for decades since he worked for Gabbard's father, Mike, and the pair remain close. Mike and his wife, Carrol, ran a fully functioning Krishna temple near downtown Honolulu that Parker used to frequent. He described the temple as always offering "a small friendly family-type gathering." That was when he said he had some interactions with Tulsi, though he says that they talked more in the mid-2000s when she was older and becoming interested in a political career. "So, that was the beginning of Tulsi's connection with [RSS and BJP spokesman] Ram Madhav," Parker said. "Ironically, both being well-known leaders, [they] have become a lot closer than I ever was with her." From January 2002 to June 2015, the RSS arranged for Parker to participate in numerous conferences in the U.S., Mexico and India, he said. They sent him along with several other Westerners to Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India—and an area that was once known for secessionist insurrections became a pro-India, BJP-ruled enclave. In 2009, Parker's book Orissa in the Crossfire was published, detailing Hindu-Christian violence in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, India. The book was written in response to the August 2008 assassination of Hindu monk Lakshmanananda Saraswati, also known as the Hindu Swami. That killing led to riots and violence that resulted in the death of nearly 100 Christians, 300 churches being attacked or destroyed , and 6,000 Christian houses plundered. More than 55,000 Christians were left homeless, according to South Asian human rights and religious journalist Anto Akkara. Akkara told Newsweek he has never interacted with Gabbard and that she only came on his radar due to her association with Madhav—the latter described by Akkara as "one of the key brains behind the Kandhamal bloodshed of 2008 and the international cover-up." "Tulsi Gabbard looks like a hypocrite to me as she waxes eloquent about atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh and does not leave out other minorities, including Christians, who are being tormented in the Middle East under Islamic regimes," Akkara said. He added: "However, she has never opened her mouth on the atrocities Hindu nationalists have been perpetrating on minuscule Christians in India, especially during the regime of Modi from 2014 when atrocities against Christians started shooting up." In September 2023, the United Christian Forum issued a statement warning about a continuous year-over-year uptick in violence against Christians in India. At that time, 525 incidents of violence against Christians were reported in 23 Indian states in the first eight months of that calendar year—noting that incidents had increased "sharply and steadily" since the 147 reported incidents in 2014, reaching 599 in 2022. "Putting Gabbard in charge as director of national intelligence would be like turning the U.S. into a safe haven for bigoted Hindu nationalists," Akkara said. "That would also circumvent even the work of the Office of International Religious Freedom that speaks out for persecuted Christians in India. "Elevating Gabbard as a key U.S. official would give a wrong impression about the U.S. and will be a stunner for tormented Christians as she is a professed Hindu who has a long association with Hindu nationalists engaged in violence against Christians and other minorities." Parker said his last direct contact with the RSS and Madhav occurred in 2016. Parker says he had been invited by the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh State to give a talk at a conference organized by the cultural wing of the state government. "I am now married to [a] staunch Muslim Pakistani woman," Parker said. "This is why I've stepped back from my involvement with the RSS and pretty much anything political. I didn't burn any bridges, but in 2015 I decided to focus on my personal life." Warnings from faith-based communities Gabbard has posed in pictures with RSS leaders and has had meetings with Modi when other U.S. lawmakers have refused. She met Modi in New York a decade ago on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. In 2017, Gabbard accepted the offer to serve as the chair of the World Hindu Congress, which is run by the RSS. When Friedrich asked Gabbard about her ties to RSS, he says that she sidestepped the question , noting that she's a soldier who took "one oath in my life to serve and protect this country." Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations (FIACONA), a, Washington D.C.-based organization that advocates on behalf of over 1 million Indian American Christians and includes a coalition of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, Pentecostal and independent church and civic organizations, calls the purported transnational repression by Hindu nationalists to be "an obscene violation of U.S. sovereignty" that Gabbard has refused to speak out against—which in turn they argue amounts to a national security danger. Friedrich, also a FIACONA board member, recently created a petition in hopes of discouraging Gabbard's confirmation to become the next head of U.S. intelligence. FIACONA Executive Director Neal Christie, a former United Methodist Church clergy member, told Newsweek that putting Gabbard in charge of national intelligence is "sort of like putting the fox in the hen house." "It is very dangerous to put someone like Ms. Gabbard [as director of national intelligence]," said Christie, a second-generation Indian American. "It just does not show America First. As a Christian, I want to put global peace first; I want to put first multilateralism. "This is someone who will bless the current practice that's in India and move us further in alignment with their agenda and interest supporting an internal spy mechanism that is oppressing religious minorities, tribal peoples, Indigenous peoples." Christie and his colleagues have protested India and Modi, including during one of Modi's recent trips to the U.N. He said he wants to support Gabbard but does not believe she is the right person for the DNI role, given its global importance. "[Gabbard] is a person who comes from a minority community, who's served her country, who has been elected," he said. "I want to celebrate and affirm her service. At the same time, we cannot deny the financial support she's received from the RSS. We cannot deny her blessing of the RSS and the Modi government. "Society is not going to be quiet. Is that really what we want as a nation where we're trying to come together after this election? Do we want another person who's in the pocket of another government—the armed wing of a party in another country? I don't think we want that. And as a person of faith, I certainly don't want that."Scheifele notches hat trick as Jets top Maple Leafs 5-2 ahead of NHL's holiday break
Bengaluru, Dec 26 (PTI) Condoling the passing away of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday called him a statesman of unparalleled wisdom. He said Singh's legacy will continue to inspire generations. Meanwhile, the Congress-ruled Karnataka announced seven days of state mourning as a mark of respect to the former Prime Minister. The Chief Minister's office in a statement also said government holiday has been declared on December 27. Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, died in New Delhi on Thursday night. He was 92. "Deeply saddened by the passing of former Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh ji. A statesman of unparalleled wisdom, his leadership and vision left an indelible mark on our nation," Siddaramaiah posted on 'X'. "It was during his tenure as PM that I became the CM of Karnataka for the first time. His encouragement of our budgetary measures and the influence of landmark UPA policies like the Right to Food Act shaped Karnataka's progress and welfare initiatives. My heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones," he said. Singh's death was announced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, where he was admitted in the Emergency ward around 8.30 PM in a critical condition. Deputy CM D K Shivakumar condoled the death of Singh and said an era defined by statesmanship, integrity and quiet strength came to an end with his demise. Posting a picture of him with Singh on social media platform 'X', Shivakumar said his vision for the nation both as the PM and the economic architect during one of its most defining moments truly speaks volumes about his resilient leadership. "His passing away feels like a personal loss to me- not only was he an extraordinary leader, but he was an extraordinary human being as well! My deepest condolences to the family members and loved ones as we bid farewell to a true son of the soil," he added. Former PM and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda said Singh will be remembered in history as the man who changed the course of India's economic future. "Very sad to know the passing away of former Prime Minister, Shri Manmohan Singh. He was a good and patient man, a brilliant economist, and a colleague I valued and respected. He will be remembered in history as the man who changed the course of India's economic future. RIP," Gowda posted on 'X'. (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)
Photo: Oliver Fire Department It's the last night to catch a glimpse of the celebratory Oliver Fire Department holiday truck. They have spent the week touring different neightbourhoods in their coverage area nightly. "We have enjoyed this last week of brining Christmas Cheerto you and your families. We have enjoyed every minute of it and hope you have a fantastic holiday season!" reads an update from the fire department on social media. "Tonight we are in the downtown core. Main St to Gala and Co-op to Hillside. We'll see you out there starting at 6 p.m. MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Photo: ContributedPHOENIX (AP) — Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States "foolishly" ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged "ridiculous" fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Panama's conservative president José Raúl Mulino, who was elected in May on a pro-business platform, roundly rejected that notion as an affront to his country's sovereignty. The Republican president-elect's comment came during his first major rally since winning the White House on Nov. 5. He also basked in his return to power as a large audience of conservatives cheered along. It was a display of party unity at odds with a just-concluded budget fight on Capitol Hill, where some GOP lawmakers openly defied their leader's demands. Addressing supporters at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Arizona, Trump pledged that his "dream team Cabinet" would deliver a booming economy, seal U.S. borders and quickly settle wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. "I can proudly proclaim that the Golden Age of America is upon us," Trump said. "There's a spirit that we have now that we didn't have just a short while ago." His appearance capped a four-day pep rally that drew more than 20,000 activists and projected an image of Republican cohesion despite the past week's turbulence in Washington with Trump pulling strings from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as Congress worked to avoid a government shutdown heading into the holidays. House Republicans spiked a bipartisan deal after Trump and Elon Musk, his billionaire ally, expressed their opposition on social media. Budget hawks flouted Trump's demand that they raise the nation's debt ceiling, which would have spared some new rounds of the same fight after he takes office on Jan. 20, with Republicans holding narrow control of the House and Senate. The final agreement did not address the issue and there was no shutdown. Trump, in his remarks in Phoenix, did not mention the congressional drama, though he did reference Musk's growing power. To suggestions that "President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon," Trump made clear, "No, no. That's not happening." "He's not gonna be president," Trump said. The president-elect opened the speech by saying that "we want to try to bring everybody together. We're going to try. We're going to really give it a shot." Then he suggested Democrats have "lost their confidence" and are "befuddled" after the election but eventually will "come over to our side because we want to have them." Atop a list of grievances — some old, some new — was the Panama Canal. "We're being ripped off at the Panama Canal," he said, bemoaning that his country "foolishly gave it away." The United States built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. The canal depends on reservoirs to operate its locks and was heavily affected by 2023 Central American droughts that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships. With fewer ships using the canal each day, administrators also increased the fees that are charged all shippers for reserving a slot. With weather returning to normal in the later months of this year, transit on the canal has normalized. But price increases are still expected for next year. Mulino, Panama's president, has been described as a conservative populist who aligns with Trump on many issues. Panama is a strong U.S. ally and the canal is crucial for its economy, generating about one-fifth of that government's annual revenue. Still, Trump said, that, once his second term is underway, "If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question." "I'm not going to stand for it," Trump said. "So to the officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly." He did not explain how that would be possible. Shortly after Trump's speech, Mulino released a video declaring that "every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong" to his country. Without mentioning Trump by name, Mulino addressed Trump's complaints over rising fees for ships crossing the canal, saying they are set by experts who take into account operational costs, and supply and demand factors. "The tariffs are not set on a whim" Mulino said. He noted that Panama has expanded the canal over the years to increase ship traffic "on its own initiative," and added that shipping fee increases help pay for improvements. "Panamanians may have different views on many issues" Mulino said. "But when it comes to our canal, and our sovereignty, we will all unite under our Panamanian flag." Trump then took to his social media site to offer in response, "We'll see about that!" He also posted a picture of a U.S. flag planted in the canal zone under the phrase, "Welcome to the United States Canal!" The canal aside, Trump's appearance at Turning Point's annual gathering affirmed the growing influence the group and its founder, Charlie Kirk, have had in the conservative movement. Kirk's group hired thousands of field organizers across presidential battlegrounds, helping Trump make key gains among infrequent voters and other groups of people that have trended more Democratic in recent decades, including younger voters, Black men and Latino men. "You had Turning Point's grassroots armies," Trump said. "It's not my victory, it's your victory." Trump on Sunday also announced several new members of his incoming administration, most notably: -Stephen Miran, who worked at the Treasury Department in Trump's first term, to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, an executive branch agency charged with providing objective economic advice to the president. —Callista Gingrich to be the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland. Gingrich was U.S. ambassador to the Holy See in Trump's first term. She is married to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Separately, Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt announced he was donating $1.1 million to Trump's inaugural fund to complement the $14 million that he said he already had given to the Make America Great Again Inc. super political action committee — making him one of the president-elect's top donors. Pratt is chairman of Pratt Industries, which uses recycled paper and boxes as a raw material in a process that produces new cardboard. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that Panama's president Mulino was elected in May, not April. ___ Weissert reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writer Manuel Rueda in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.
Trump still wants to buy Greenland