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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized proposed budget cuts by President Donald Trump to programs that foster international diplomacy. (March 31) AP

Hillary Clinton delivers remarks at Georgetown University on March 31, 2017.(Photo: Win McNamee, Getty Images)

WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton criticized President Trumps proposed cuts to the State Department and U.S. aidprograms that benefit women and children in developing nations, warning of a shift that should alarm us all in attention around the globe towomens rights and health.

Speaking at an awards ceremony in her name at Georgetown University, Clinton called the fight to elevate the rights of women and girls across the globe the great unfinished business of the 21st century.

She took aim specifically at the Trump administration for its proposed cuts in international aidand diplomatic programs that help promote peace and stability. I know weve seen positive results in the advancement of womens rights over the past couple decades, Clinton said. But Im here also to say we are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all.

This administrations proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country, she said. Turning our back on diplomacy wont make our country safer. It will undermine our security and our understanding in the world, said Clinton.

Trumps proposed fiscal 2018 budget would cut spending on international programs including the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development by 28.5% to $27.1 billion. During her speech, Clinton also cited a February letter from more than 120 retired generals and admirals urging Congress to block Trumps State Department and USAID cuts, saying they save the U.S. from spending military dollars on wars.

Its part of a series of recent speeches in which Clinton'sbeen openly critical of the Trump administration. That includes a speech last week in San Francisco in which she slammed White House press secretary Sean Spicer for his treatment of an African-American female journalist during a press briefing and disparaged the low percentage of women serving in the current White House.

At Georgetown, Clinton cited the important role women have played around the globe in promoting peace, from women whove helped heal sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland to those who ended a bloody civil war in Liberia and women from the Democratic Republican of Congo whove endured unimaginable abuse and cruelty.

The ceremony itself payed tribute to individuals whove been pivotal in a Colombian peace agreement, including Jineth Bedoya, a journalist and advocate for victims of sexual abuse who was abducted and raped while reporting in Colombia and Elena Ambrosi, a key member of the Colombian governments negotiating team in Havana.

On Wednesday, first lady Melania Trump gave a keynote speech on womens empowerment at the State Department. Yet, in an earlier speech in San Francisco, Clinton pointed out that the ratio of women to men employed by Trumps White House is the lowest in a generation.

At Georgetown, without using any names, Clinton said: If we are to build more just free and peaceful countries and a just world its not enough to just pay lip service to empowering women, she said.

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Hillary Clinton knocks Trump's proposed diplomacy cuts for hurting women around world - USA TODAY

March 31, 2017, 8:29 a.m.

Hillary Clinton stepped back into the spotlight this week after laying relatively low since the election, and she had some advice for PresidentTrump: Tear up the White House budget plan.

Clinton was at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security to bestow an award named in her honor to Colombian leaders who helped bring an end to war in that country and elevate the role of women in the peace process.

She spoke of the progress the world has made in advancing womens rights since she spoke forcefully on the issue two decades ago when the U.N. gathered world leaders to address it in Beijing. But she warned that progress is threatened by Trump.

We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all, Clinton said. This administrations proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country.

Clinton then raised the letter signed by 120 former generals and admirals beseeching the Trump administration not to make the cuts.

These distinguished men and women who have served in uniform recognize that turning our back on diplomacy wont make our country safer. It will undermine our security and our standing in the world.

A lot has changed since Clinton was on the campaign trail, but some things about her style on the stump havent. She pulled out a favorite line from last year as she began to talk about a study that backed up her point about the damage Trumps budget plan could do.

Here I go again, Clinton said to whooping and cheering from an audience of mostly female students, talking about research evidence and facts.

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Back in the spotlight, Hillary Clinton takes aim at Trump's budget - Los Angeles Times

Russia poked fun at allegations it interfered in the vote with a jokey phone message

THE Russians have been poking fun at claims they interfered with the US election in a hilarious April Fools Day prank.

The Russian Foreign Ministry decided to get in on the annual joke by posting an audio recording of a new automated phone service which offers to direct callers to hackers and election interference.

AP:Associated Press

The recording, posted on its Facebook page this morning, said it would be the new answering message for Russian diplomats calling from abroad.

It comes a day after a US senator claimed Russia hired 1,000 trolls to deliberately create fake news about Hillary Clinton in the lead-up to the US election in November.

The jokey message said:To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponent, press one.

To use the services of Russian hackers, press two and to request election interference, press three.

Reuters

A spokesman for the ministry confirmed the post was an official joke as part of April Fools Day, reports the Daily Mail.

On Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin fiercely denied interfering in the US elections by quoting former US President George H.W. Bush.

Speaking at the International Arctic Forum on a panel moderated by CNBC, he said: Watch my lips, no. All those things are fictional, illusory and provocations, lies.

All these are used for domestic American political agendas.

"The anti-Russian card is played by different political forces inside the United States to trade on that and consolidate their positions inside.

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"We said on numerous occasions and I reiterate that we are confident And know for sure that opinion polls in the Unites States show that very many people are friendly towards the Russian Federation and I'd like to tell these people that we perceive and regard the United States as a great power with which we want to establish good partnership relations."

Despite his insistence, the US intelligence community believes there was an interference in October last year.

A probe into Donald Trump's alleged links with Russian associates will be launched on Wednesday.

Spy expert Clinton Watts has urged US lawmakers to follow the trail of dead Russians to uncover what really happened during the presidential election.

And sacked Trump adviser Michael Flynn's lawyer said he has "a story to tell" and will testify over the Presidents alleged Russia links in exchange for immunity from prosecution, his lawyer has said.

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Kremlin makes April Fools jibe at Hillary Clinton over claims Russia hacked the US election - The Sun

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Fox News Channel Justice host Judge Jeanine Pirro had a message Saturday for members of the left who refuse to accept President Donald Trump won the election, including newly elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez who said Friday at a rally that Trump did not win the election.

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I have a prediction to make, Pirro said in her opening statement. While the left acts like children who just cant get over the fact that Hillary lost the election and simply wont stop their abusive invectives against the man who was constitutionally elected, calling him not legitimate, and his cabinet scum bags, that man is doing the job we hired him to do.

She continued, He is building up and modernizing the military, as well as strengthening law enforcement.

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Judge Jeanine: The Left Acts Like Children Who Can't Get Over the Fact Hillary Clinton Lost the Election - Breitbart News

Hillary Clinton is playing to form as she edges her way back into the spotlight, choosing venues cautiously, picking words deliberately and all but ignoring President Trumps ongoing Twitter attacks against her, months after he beat the Democratic presidential nominee.

But just like Donald Trump, the rest of the nation still appears preoccupied with the former secretary of State.

Her bolder wardrobe and new coiffure rated a Vanity Fair analysis. A new indie film has been inspired by stories the Clintons told during the campaign of her gap year in Alaska, where she said she worked in a cannery scooping eggs out of slimy fish. (Like all flattering Clinton anecdotes, the veracity of this one has its challengers on the right.)

Films, TV shows and books inspired by Clintons historic electoral meltdown will roll out in the coming months.

With all that, Clinton herself is gingerly stepping back into public view, emerging from the woods near her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., where for a while after the election, selfies snapped by fellow hikers who bumped into Clintons entourage were her only public sightings.

On Friday, Clinton took center stage at Georgetown University. Much has changed since the campaign, but Clintons style hasnt. She even used one of her favorite punchlines from the stump while forcefully offering Trump some unsolicited advice on the White House budget plan.

The remarks came as Clinton was invited by the universitys Institute for Women, Peace and Security to bestow an award named in her honor to Colombian leaders who helped bring an end to war in that country and elevate the role of women in the peace process.

Clinton spoke of the progress the world has made in advancing womens rights since she addressed world leaders on that issue two decades ago at the historic U.N. gathering in Beijing. But she warned that progress is threatened by Trump.

We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all, Clinton said. This administrations proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children, and a grave mistake for our country.

Clinton then raised the letter signed by 120 former generals and admirals beseeching the Trump administration not to make the cuts.

These distinguished men and women who have served in uniform recognize that turning our back on diplomacy wont make our country safer. It will undermine our security and our standing in the world.

As Clinton began to discuss the details of a study in order to back up her point about the damage Trumps budget plan could do, she turned to a familiar line from the campaign.

Here I go again, Clinton said to whooping and cheering from an audience of mostly female students, talking about research, evidence and facts.

The Georgetown talk came days after an address to the Professional BusinessWomen of California San Francisco, where Clinton prodded the Trump administration for its treatment of women. She chastised White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer for scolding journalist April Ryan, an African American, to stop shaking her head during an exchange in the White House briefing room.

She expressed outrage at the photo that went viral on Twitter showing not a single woman represented at the White House meeting where Vice President Mike Pence strategized how to cut womens care as part of their failed plan to salvage the Obamacare repeal.

And she took aim at Trump without naming him for having fewer women in Cabinet-level posts than any White House in a generation.

But even with the weight of the campaign gone, Clinton prefers to stay on script. If her many fans in the audience at Georgetown some of whom lined up as early as 4:30 a.m. to get a seat were hoping to hear more than a prepared speech, they left disappointed. Clinton did not participate in the question-and-answer session that followed the awards ceremony.

When 700 people crowded into the ballroom and overflow room at a Hilton in Scranton, Pa., to hear Clinton address a womens group on St. Patricks Day, they didnt hear much about politics. Clinton spoke mostly about her familys connection to Scranton and spending summers there as a child. At the end she promised she would be making herself more visible and talking about issues in the weeks to come.

She is certainly not doing it on Trumps timetable. His tweet Monday night, that the House Intelligence Committee probing his campaigns ties to Russian meddling in the election should instead be looking at the Clintons, merited no response on Clintons Twitter account.

But while Trump cant get Clinton to engage, one of his least favorite news organizations is apparently having more success. On Thursday, Clinton will be on stage at Lincoln Center in New York for Tina Brown's Women in the World summit, held in association with the New York Times. There, she will be in conversation with columnist Nicholas Kristof. Presumably that involves answering unscripted questions.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Follow me: @evanhalper

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Hillary Clinton returns to the spotlight in signature style with caution - Los Angeles Times