LOS ANGELES – Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.WASHINGTON – President Obama has chosen former Hoosier congressman Tim Roemer to be ambassador to India, the world’s largest democracy.
Roemer is the head of the Center for National Policy, a Washington-based security think tank. He represented the South Bend area in the House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003.
In New Delhi, Roemer will be India’s premier contact with the Obama administration.
Although relations between the two countries have been friendly for more than a decade, that has not always been the case.
Relations began to improve late in the Clinton administration and through the Bush administration, which spent three years working on a nuclear cooperation agreement that makes civil nuclear trade possible with India.
In April, when Obama met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the G20 summit, he affirmed the strong relationship of the two countries.
Obama said they discussed terrorism, both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and how the U.S. and India can coordinate counterterrorism efforts.
“We also spoke about the fact that in a nuclear age, at a time when perhaps the greatest enemy of both India and Pakistan should be poverty, that it may make sense to create a more effective dialogue between India and Pakistan,” Obama said at a news conference in April.
The nomination of Roemer, 52, is subject to Senate approval. His confirmation hearing will be conducted by the Foreign Relations Committee, on which Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is the senior Republican.
Roemer was an early supporter of Obama’s candidacy and campaigned for him in Indiana.
The White House announced several other diplomatic appointments Wednesday:
•Louis Susman, a retired vice chairman of Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking, was chosen for the Great Britain ambassadorship.
•Miguel H. Diaz, an associate professor of theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., is the pick for the top job at the Vatican.
•Charles Rivkin, an outside homeland security adviser, will be nominated for the ambassadorship to France.
•John Roos, an Internet and biotechnology lawyer, is the choice as top diplomat to Japan.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
