Who is Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat poised to become House speaker?

With Democrats’ decisive victory in the United States’ midterm elections on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is on the verge of making history as the first Black speaker of the US House of Representatives.For the 56-year-old congressman, it would be the culmination of almost two decades in office, giving him a central role in Democrats’ efforts to rein in Republican US President Donald Trump in the final two years of his presidency.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Could the US midterms further isolate Israel in Washington?list 2 of 3Division among US Democrats over Schumer’s leadership rolelist 3 of 3Nithya Raman wins LA mayoral race, becoming city’s first South Asian mayorend of listBut as Jeffries celebrated the “blue tsunami” that swept Democrats back into power the day after the election, some within the party were not convinced that the congressman, known for his cautious approach to politics and longstanding support for Israel, was the right man for the moment.An online petition on Change.org calling on lawmakers to choose another speaker had collected more than 980,000 signatures by Saturday morning, while several newly elected progress...