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Usha Vance is a lawyer, a Yale graduate, the Hindu daughter of Indian immigrants – and has just become the United States’ “second lady”.

She was thrust into the spotlight after her husband, JD Vance, was chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

Almost immediately, she quit her job as a lawyer and appeared on stage to introduce him at the Republican Convention.

There, she gave a flavour of her husband; a “working-class guy” who had overcome childhood traumas to attend Yale Law School.

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A “meat and potatoes” man who had adapted to her vegetarian diet and learned to cook Indian food for her mother.

A “tough Marine” who had served in Iraq but loved nothing more than “playing with puppies and watching the movie Babe”.

That duality was also present in the way the pair positioned themselves as committed Republicans, but parents first and foremost.

Mrs Vance talked of her husband’s “over-riding ambition” to have a family, while he called her “an incredible lawyer and a better mom”.

Early life and family background

Mrs Vance, 38, was raised in San Diego by parents who had moved to the US from India in the 1970s.

Her mother is a biologist and provost at the University of California at San Diego; her father is an engineer, according to Mr Vance’s campaign.

In her introductory speech at the Republican Convention, she said her middle-class upbringing was very different to her husband’s experience growing up poor in Ohio.

“That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry is a testament to this great country,” Mrs Vance said. “It is also a testament to JD.”

Republican Senate candidate JD Vance, left, is kissed by his wife Usha Vance, as he speaks to supporters during an election night watch party, Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
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Pic: AP

Republican Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance celebrates being declared the winner of his Senate race with his wife Usha at his side at his 2022 U.S. midterm elections night party in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Gaelen Morse
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Pic: Reuters

In a June interview with Fox News alongside her husband, Mrs Vance talked about being raised in a religious household.

“My parents are Hindu and that is one of the things that made them such good parents, that made them really good people. And so I have seen the power of that.”

Mr Vance told the broadcaster his wife had helped him “re-engage” with his Christian faith.

Mrs Vance received an undergraduate degree at Yale University and a master of philosophy at the University of Cambridge through the Gates Cambridge scholarship.

She then returned to Yale for law school, where she met her now-husband.

How the couple met

In his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Mr Vance said the two got to know each other through a class assignment, where he soon “fell hard” for his writing partner.

“In a place that always seemed a little foreign, Usha’s presence made me feel at home,” he wrote.

In a 2017 NBC interview, Mrs Vance described liking that Mr Vance – then just a friend – was “very diligent” when they were assigned to work together on a brief in law school.

“He would show up for these 9am appointments that I set for us to work on the brief together,” she said.

The pair graduated in 2013 and got married the following year.

They live in Cincinnati, Ohio, and have three children together: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.

Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is accompanied by his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance as he arrives for Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 15, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar
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Pic: Reuters

Career as a lawyer

After law school, Mrs Vance spent a year clerking for Justice Brett Kavanaugh – who is now on the Supreme Court – when he served as an appeals court judge in Washington, followed by a year as a law clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts.

During that time, Justice Roberts authored a 5-4 ruling upholding Mr Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries.

In another ruling, he was in the 7-2 majority that backed a Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple.

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Until recently, Mrs Vance was an associate at the 200-lawyer Munger Tolles & Olson firm, where she focused on civil litigation and appeals.

The firm has counted Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America, and PG&E among its clients.

Her clients there included a division of the Walt Disney Company and the Regents of the University of California, court records show.

A Munger spokesman said she had been an “excellent lawyer and colleague”.

What JD Vance has said about his wife

Talking about meeting as law students in a 2017 interview, Mr Vance said: “The thing I remember about Usha is how completely forward and confident with herself she was.”

In his memoir, he credited part of his success and happiness to his wife.

“Even at my best, I’m a delayed explosion – I can be defused, but only with skill and precision,” he wrote.

“It’s not just that I’ve learned to control myself but that Usha has learned how to manage me.”

He also told the Megyn Kelly Show podcast in 2020 that he benefits from having a “powerful female voice” on his shoulder.

“Usha definitely brings me back to earth a little bit, and if I maybe get a little bit too cocky or a little too proud, I just remind myself that she is way more accomplished than I am,” he said.

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‘Better late than never’: Palestinian minister says UK recognition of state would be ‘courageous step’

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'Better late than never': Palestinian minister says UK recognition of state would be 'courageous step'

Britain will be taking “a courageous step at a very difficult time” by officially recognising a Palestinian state, according to the authority’s foreign minister, who told Sky News she believes the announcement – expected in the coming days – will inspire more nations to follow suit.

The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Varsen Aghabekian, told me Britain’s move was “better late than never”, and said “Britain, with its weight, can influence other countries to come forward and recognise, because that is the right thing to do”.

But she also said she is “very angry” with the White House over its “unwavering support” for Israel, and said that Israel’s refusal to pass on tax revenue was pushing Palestinian civil society to the brink of “collapse”.

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Could recognition of Palestine change the West Bank?

Aghabekian was speaking as Britain, along with France, Canada and Australia, prepares to recognise the State of Palestine officially at the United Nations.

She told me: “Britain has been supporting the existence and the flourishing of Israel for some time, but I think today Britain is looking at the matter objectively, in terms of the right of people, in terms of complying with international law, and in terms of the future of this area for both the Israelis and Palestinians.”

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She rejected the idea that recognising Palestine was a reward for Hamas terrorism, saying that “non-recognition” would also be a “reward to the extremists” and said that “if we wait until Israel decides it wants to go into negotiations with the Palestinians, then it won’t happen”.

Aghabekian told me she expected Gaza to be returned to the Palestinians, but I put it to her that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being empowered by the diplomatic support he receives from America, and in particular, US President Donald Trump.

So is she angry with the White House? “Very angry, because I expect the White House and the United States of America to align with international law, with human rights, with having no double standards.

“This unwavering support for Israel, this blind support, is not only harming the Palestinians but also Israeli society.”

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Varsen Aghabekian speaks to Sky's Adam Parsons
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Varsen Aghabekian speaks to Sky’s Adam Parsons

The state of Palestine is already recognised by three-quarters of the United Nations’ members. It comprises two separate territories – the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Together, they are officially known as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The West Bank has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, while Gaza has been attacked by Israel since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, when nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza as Israel has sought to destroy Hamas and recover its hostages. There are 48 hostages still in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

She confirmed to me that Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, “has given guarantees in letters to various leaders around the globe that said Hamas will not be part of the governance of the Gaza Strip” and insisted there was “probably a worldwide consensus” on the topic.

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How has UK responded to Israel-Gaza conflict?

But she also insisted it was “not reasonable” to talk of completely erasing Hamas: “Hamas is an ideology, not a building that you bring down. Hamas is in people’s minds; in their heads.

“Those who support Hamas need to see a future, need to see something that is moving on the political level, need to see that there might be a state in which their children and their grandchildren might prosper.

“What people see today, whether they are Hamas supporters or not, they see darkness and they see destruction all over. They see violation of rights. They are helpless and hopeless. People need to see things are moving forward, and once that happens, there will be a shift in the mood, and they will look for a better future.”

But just as the Palestinians prepare to welcome recognition, Aghabekian said the West Bank was facing financial collapse as Israel continues to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue that, under a 30-year-old agreement, it collects on the Palestinian Authority’s behalf.

Israel has retained a proportion of the money since the start of the war in Gaza, but, encouraged by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, it has recently withheld a much higher amount.

“People have not been paid, civil servants are only receiving small parts of their salaries. We can’t buy medical supplies, equipment, you name it,” said Aghabekian.

“How can a government run a country under such conditions? So yes, we are very worried.”

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Dublin Airport terminal evacuated as ‘safety precaution’

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Dublin Airport terminal evacuated as 'safety precaution'

Passengers have been evacuated from Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2 as a “precautionary measure”. 

Flights could be “temporarily impacted”, the airport said in a statement.

It did not give any details about the reason for the evacuation but said “the safety and security of our passengers and staff is our absolute priority”.

At this stage there is no suggestion the evacuation is linked to the cyber attack that has caused disruption at several European airports.

“We advise passengers to check with their airline for the latest updates,” the airport added, saying further information would be provided as soon as it is available.

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At least 70 killed in Sudan after paramilitary attack on mosque

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At least 70 killed in Sudan after paramilitary attack on mosque

At least 70 people have been killed after a paramilitary drone attack on a mosque in Sudan.

The Sudanese army and aid workers said the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out the attack during Friday prayers in the North Darfur region.

The attack took place in the besieged city of Al Fasher and was said to have completely destroyed the mosque.

With bodies still buried under the rubble, the number of deaths is likely to rise, a worker with the local aid group Emergency Response Rooms said.

The worker spoke anonymously, fearing retaliation from the RSF.

Further details of the attack were difficult to ascertain because it took place in an area where many international and charitable organisations have already pulled out because of the violence.

In a statement, Sudan’s army said it was mourning the victims of the attack.

It said: “Targeting civilians unjustly is the motto of this rebel militia, and it continues to do so in full view of the entire world.”

Sky News Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir reported earlier this month on the situation in North Darfur, where people are facing torture, rape and forced starvation.

The Sudan war started in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF broke out in Khartoum.

The US special envoy to Sudan estimates that 150,000 people have been killed, but the exact figure is unknown. Close to 12 million people have been displaced.

Several mediation attempts have failed to secure a humanitarian access mechanism or any lulls in fighting.

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The Resistance Committees in El Fasher, a group of local activists who track abuses, posted a video on Friday claiming to show parts of the mosque reduced to rubble with several scattered bodies.

The Darfur Victims Support Organisation, which monitors abuses against civilians, said the attack happened at a mosque on the Daraga al Oula street at around 5am local time, citing witnesses.

The attack is the latest in a series of heavy clashes in the past week of between the two sides in Al Fasher.

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