In this task, you are given news articles and you need to generate a highlight, i.e., a short summary, with a maximum length of 10 lines.

[Q]: JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel has expelled Venezuela's ambassador in response to Venezuela's expulsion of an Israeli envoy and the rupture of diplomatic relations earlier this month. A pro-Palestinian mural in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Venezuelan head of mission Roland Betancourt and two other diplomats were given until Friday to leave. "Due to the decision of Venezuela to cut relations with us a few weeks ago, we told the Venezuelan charge d'affaires that he and his staff should leave Israel," Foreign Ministry official Lior Hayat said. "We told them they are declared persona non grata in Israel." Venezuela expelled Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Cohen and staff on January 6 and broke off diplomatic relations on January 14 in protest of Israel's attack on Gaza. Bolivia also broke off relations with Israel that day. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro defended his country's actions, saying Israel violated basic human rights with its military action. "Our decisions were just, correct, aligned with and adjusted with the spirit of our constitution, which mandates that we seek international peace," Maduro said in a statement on the foreign ministry's Web site. Maduro said Venezuela's actions are compatible with its support for the creation of a Palestinian state. He has not spoken, he said, with any Israeli officials over this week's expulsion of the Venezuelan diplomats. "The response of the state of Israel is weak, late, and in any case for us it's an honor," Maduro told the Qatar-based television network Al-Jazeera. "We're proud that the state of Israel that exists today, led by these criminals, made this decision." Israel and Venezuela have had diplomatic tensions before. Israel recalled its ambassador to Venezuela in August 2006 "in protest against the one-sided policy of the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, in light of his outrageous defamatory remarks against the state of Israel, and in reaction to the recalling of the Venezuela ambassador to Israel," the foreign ministry said at the time. A January 21 cease-fire put an end to fighting between Hamas militants in Gaza and Israel, which had launched a three-week offensive, saying its goal was to stop missile strikes into southern Israel. More than 1,200 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed. Israel lost about 10 soldiers and three civilians.
[A]: Venezuelan ambassador to Israel and two others expelled .
Move in response to Venezuela breaking diplomatic relations over Gaza attack .
Venezuelan foreign minister says country is proud of the expulsion from Israel .


[Q]: Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN)New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dominates almost any room he enters but is suddenly facing questions about his relevance in the 2016 presidential race. The surprisingly fast-moving Republican presidential contest, kicked off by Jeb Bush shortly after the New Year and accelerated by the unexpected re-emergence of Mitt Romney, is putting pressure on Christie, who was once the Republican establishment's favorite. The big-check GOP contributors that were once assumed to be Christie's for the taking — in particular the Wall Street financiers just across the Hudson River from New Jersey — are now being courted aggressively by Bush and Romney as they ramp up their campaigns. "There is big advantage to moving first, and when you're a whale like both Jeb and Romney are, and you jump into that pool first, its hard for anyone else to squeeze in," said B. Wayne Hughes, a California billionaire and Republican donor who has not committed to supporting a candidate. "They have the same donor base, so they have to go after those guys." Bush has been a well-liked figure in the center-right donor set for years, thanks to his widespread family connections and the perks and ambassadorships doled out by two previous Bush White Houses. The former Florida governor has also been a champion of immigration reform, a precious issue for the business community and Republicans who want to grow the party's appeal among Hispanics, even as conservatives bristle at the idea. Romney, meanwhile, built an impressive financial network during his 2012 campaign, and many of those donors are waiting to see what he does before committing to another candidate. His surprising decision last week at a New York donor meeting to "show some 2016 leg," as one attendee put it, was designed to keep Bush at bay as he mulls a third presidential bid. But their moves are also complicating things for Christie, who is still expected to launch a presidential bid but is moving at a much slower place than Bush or Romney. All three Republicans will be competing for a similar slice of establishment-friendly financial backers and voters should they each seek the GOP nomination. Christie, already hamstrung on fundraising by strict pay-to-play laws that prohibit Wall Street employees from from contributing to governors seeking federal office, was further diminished in the eyes of some donors last year by the "Bridgegate" scandal and its subsequent investigations. Christie's record as governor has also been met with some skepticism by the business community: New Jersey has seen eight credit downgrades and continues to have some of the highest taxes in the country. His fading star opened the door last year for Bush to start making calls to potential supporters who might have previously been with with Christie. Christie's team insists the Romney and Bush developments have had little bearing on his decision-making process — or his ability to fund a potential campaign. "The last couple of weeks actually had no impact," said one Christie confidante, granted anonymity to discuss the 2016 machinations with some candor. "He is not changing his plans. He is not moving up any schedule. He is attending a bunch of inaugurals. He has a bunch of speeches coming up. He feels he is in good position and he feels like he has time to decide to want to do more." The adviser pointed out that Christie is fresh off an impressive tenure as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a post that put him in regular touch with some of the party's biggest contributors. He remains on the RGA's executive committee, and plans to connect with many of the same donors at February gathering of the RGA in Washington. No candidate — even ones with the names Bush and Romney — can take the donor world for granted, the Christie adviser insisted. "I think all three of them, Romney, Bush, Gov. Christie, have a leg up on donor world," the source said. "But you take those people for granted at your own peril. Everybody will be courting those folks, but I think the smart folks will take their time." To most Americans, the donor courtship now underway is hidden from view and largely meaningless. But in the early stages of a presidential primary, the whims of big donors have outsized importance, especially in a post-Citizens United world where a single rich person can prop up a candidate with a well-funded super PAC. As the costs of running a presidential campaign skyrocket, landing the support of a major bundler can bring instant credibility to a candidate even before the campaign begins in earnest. Early signals indicate that Christie might not be hard up for cash should he decide to run. Already he has secured the backing of Texas bundler Ray Washburne, a recently-departed Republican National Committee finance chairman, two GOP sources confirmed to CNN. And The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Ken Langone, the Home Depot founder and prominent Republican donor, is organizing a dinner for Christie and potential supporters in New York later this month. Once the donor primary ends and the actual primary begins, Christie may be on better footing in a race against Bush and Romney. "There is room in the primary for anyone who has enough resources," said Tom Rath, a longtime New Hampshire power broker and Romney ally. "Look, it's a little different talking about how you connect with voters, and it's another story talking about how you connect with the large scale fundraisers. But the fact is, New Hampshire will give every candidate a fair shot. There is not home court advantage here for anyone at all." Though both of Christie's potential rivals in the establishment lane have big networks and deep experience in national politics, both of them are older than than the 52-year old Christie. Romney is 67 and Bush is 61, and both could be tagged as stale emblems of the past. Christie, too, is a natural retail campaigner and perhaps the best political performer of anyone in the Republican field. The contrast could be stark against the buttoned-up, bespectacled Bush and the notoriously awkward Romney. "He is kind of a hell-raiser, and nobody is going to say that about Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney," said Leighton Lord, a South Carolina attorney who hosted a reception for Christie in the early primary state this week. "He is not like a lot of the other folks that are running that are more cautious and calculating. Folks are getting tired of that. They like his authenticity, which he has got all day long. That's sort of a counter to Romney. With Romney, you're never sure if you're getting the real Mitt Romney or the Romney he thinks you want." Though he's been slower than Bush or Romney when it comes to hiring staff and building out a campaign, Christie is still looking and sounding very much like a candidate-in-waiting. He is likely to launch a political action committee in the coming weeks, multiple GOP sources said, and he is heading to a big conservative gathering in Iowa after this week's excursion to South Carolina. Christie can afford to wait longer than other candidates, his supporters said, in part because of his fame. He doesn't need to introduce himself to voters in the way Bush will, for instance. "So much of politics these days is celebrity," Lord said. "We have got to find somebody who has the substance and the integrity, but is also a celebrity. And Chris has got that." In South Carolina, where he attended the inauguration of Gov. Nikki Haley, Christie posed for selfies with top elected officials, including the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, before dropping by a crowded GOP meet-and-greet arranged by Lord and other Republicans. The reception was a positive one. Christie's speech to the audience was "short on conservative red meat, but long on how he's the guy that can win," said one Republican who attended the afternoon session, held at a Columbia law firm. "He said something to the effect of, 'Today is Nikki Haley's day, but maybe it will be Chris Christie's day in South Carolina soon," the source told CNN. "You couldn't walk away from that thinking anything other than he's going to run." After the event, Matt Moore, the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, posted photos of the event on Facebook. "My honor to introduce Chris Christie in South Carolina today," he wrote. "The man tells it like it is...we like that in S.C.!"
[A]: Chris Christie was once the Republican establishment's favorite heading into 2016 .
But he could face challenges if Romney and Bush enter the race .


[Q]: Editor's note: Donna Rose is a speaker and advocate for transgender and transsexual issues. She is the author of a memoir, "Wrapped In Blue: A Journey of Self-Discovery." Her Web site is http://www.donnarose.com/ . Donna Rose says transgender people don't fit the stereotypes society often tries to impose. (CNN) -- It was only a matter of time. The real-life drama of being transsexual has come to Hollywood. Chastity Bono, the impossibly cute little blond girl who, for many of my generation, remains frozen in time as the sweet, chubby-faced cherub closing many a Sonny and Cher show in the arms of her doting parents, recently announced that he is transsexual and will be transitioning from female to male. He will go by the name of Chaz. As shocking as this news may be to some, it is yet another reminder that all is not necessarily as it appears and that each of us is more complicated than simply the skin and bones of our bodies. Rather, it is our heart and spirit that defines us. Transgender people -- that is, people who may not experience or express their gender in ways that are necessarily typical for the physical sex of their body -- have been part of the fabric of cultures for as long as history has been recorded. We're a cross-section of society -- pilots, engineers, doctors, factory workers, artisans and pretty much anything else you can imagine. It was only a matter of time before we came to Hollywood. Make no mistake -- Chaz isn't the first and certainly won't be the last. Despite what others choose to believe, transsexual people are no longer relegated to hiding in safe little shadows for fear that society will detect them and punish them. We are far more than traditional stereotypes of transpeople as hookers, drug-users, porn stars or social misfits relegated to the fringes of society. In a very real sense, transgender people are no one thing. We are everyone, everywhere. Whether you realize it or not, we go to your school, we are active in your communities of faith, we are your neighbors, your co-workers, your family members. We live in a world that tries to force all of us to conform to the expectations and roles established for our bodies at birth, yet our heart and our spirit often realize that we have been miscast in life. We are forced to ask questions of ourselves about things that few ever consider. The search for answers is indeed the pathway for overall happiness and fulfillment in life. This is a journey that each of us is on -- trans and not -- and the simple fact of the matter is that the transgender journey may appear unique, but the end goal is a universal one: Happiness. Needless to say, there are those who continue to live in a world where "different" somehow automatically means bad, or is a threat. These are people who would keep transgender people trapped in stigmas of mental illness, moral weakness, sexual perversion and general societal freakishness. Our defense is a simple one: We prove who we are, individually and collectively, not with words but with the courage to come out and the ability to live our lives with dignity and grace. It may come as a surprise for many people in this country to recognize that many of us who are transsexual are not embarrassed, ashamed or otherwise apologetic of who or what we are. We refuse to go back into the stifling closet of trying to be something we're not. We enjoy each and every day being unique, as men and women and everything in between, and we rejoice in our diversity rather than fear it. The ties that bind us are far more than the obvious connections of gender. They are bonds of courage, authenticity, integrity and pride. This is not a journey about surgery. It is not a journey about being "fixed." It's not about the clothes. It's not about sexuality, or hormones, or any other single thing. It is a journey of self, full of uplifting revelations and heartbreaking realizations. A major point on that journey is gaining a sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance. Chaz's recent announcement indicates that he has reached that point and is well on his way to be who he will become. Chaz will face hurdles. It may come as a surprise to some that it is still legal to fire someone in this country, or to deny housing simply because they come out as transgender. Transgender people are victimized by crime more frequently than the general population. Many of us find ourselves unemployed and unable to be hired for jobs for which we are well qualified simply because we are transgender. And, as harsh as this life can be for us, many previous generations had it even worse. Things are changing -- slowly but surely. Why are they changing? Because transgender people are here to stay. We've been here all along and we're finally acknowledging that our unique journey is part of who we are, but not ALL of who we are. Chaz is a courageous brother. He is a role model to others struggling with similar issues and questions. He is someone who has taken control of his life and intends to live it to the fullest. These are not things to fear. These are things to admire. The message here is not one of our bodies, but one of our spirits. It is not one of becoming something you're not; it is of accepting what you are. As French writer Andre Gide said: "It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not." Many of us have experienced these words first-hand and know them to be true. Chaz knows who and what he is. That is not something to fear. That is something to celebrate. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Rose.
[A]:
Donna Rose: Chastity Bono highlights transgender presence in Hollywood .
Rose says transgender people are in all walks of life .
She says they face obstacles to expressing their real identity .
Rose: Transgender people accept and celebrate who they are .


