January 08, 2018 05:04 AM
UPDATED 2 MINUTES AGO
Trump allies defend him against book's claims
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration officials and allies are rallying to the president's defense, trying to contain the fallout from an explosive new book that questions Trump's fitness for office.
Chief policy adviser Stephen Miller, in a combative appearance Sunday on CNN, described the book as "nothing but a pile of trash through and through."
CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Trump was "completely fit" to lead the country.
"These are from people who just have not accepted the fact that President Trump is the United States president and I'm sorry for them in that," Pompeo, who gives Trump his regular intelligence briefings, said on "Fox News Sunday."
Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said she visits the White House once a week, and "no one questions the stability of the president."
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Men? A sideshow at a Golden Globes that celebrated women
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Oprah Winfrey gave a movement-defining speech. Natalie Portman threw shade at the all-male directing nominees — while presenting that award — and then Geena Davis did the same for the actors. Barbra Streisand scoffed at the bleak fact that she remains the only female director to win a Golden Globe — and that was 34 years ago. Some of the highest-profile actresses brought female activists as their dates. And nearly every soul wore black in support of the Time's Up movement and as a statement against sexual misconduct in Hollywood.
For once, everyone was listening to what the women of Hollywood had to say. And it all went down at — of all places — the Golden Globe Awards.
Yes, that boozy, questionable stepsister to the Academy Awards became the epicenter of a movement and the promise of a future where women are no longer content to be the industry's side show, the arm candy, the people sporting the barely there dresses to promote their barely their roles (and paychecks). From the red carpet to the winners table, men took a backseat.
"It's been a difficult year for our industry," Reese Witherspoon, one of the champions of the Time's Up initiative and the idea to wear black to the awards, said backstage with her "Big Little Lies" co-stars. "I think there was a collective feeling that it wouldn't be business as usual."
And indeed, the 75th Golden Globe Awards, held Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel wasn't business as usual. For one, it looked quite different from years past with attendees sporting all-black duds on the red carpet and speaking about issues that matter to them, to the unusually blunt skewering of an industry in flux by first-time host Seth Meyers.
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Oil tanker burning off China's coast at risk of exploding
BEIJING (AP) — An oil tanker that caught fire after colliding with a freighter off China's east coast is at risk of exploding and sinking, Chinese state media reported Monday, as authorities from three countries struggled to find its 32 missing crew members and contain oil spewing from the blazing wreck.
State broadcaster China Central Television, citing Chinese officials, said none of the 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis who have been missing since the collision late Saturday had been found as of 8 a.m. Monday. Search and cleanup efforts have been hampered by fierce fires and poisonous gases that have engulfed the tanker and surrounding waters, CCTV reported.
The Panama-registered tanker Sanchi was sailing from Iran to South Korea when it collided with the Hong Kong-registered freighter CF Crystal in the East China Sea, 257 kilometers (160 miles) off the coast of Shanghai, China's Ministry of Transport said.
China, South Korea and the U.S. have sent ships and planes to search for the Sanchi's crew, all of whom remain missing. The U.S. Navy, which sent a P-8A aircraft from Okinawa, Japan, to aid the search, said late Sunday that none of the missing crew had been found.
All 21 crew members of the Crystal, which was carrying grain from the United States to China, were rescued, the Chinese ministry said. The Crystal's crew members were all Chinese nationals.
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NAACP and anti-fascists plan to protest Trump in Atlanta
ATLANTA (AP) — The NAACP is urging people to wear white and hold anti-Trump signs on Monday. Another group says demonstrators will "take a knee" before the big game to protest President Donald Trump's visit to Atlanta.
Atlanta police and the U.S. Secret Service say they worked with the Secret Service on preparations for months before the College Football Championship game between Alabama and Georgia.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said Sunday that wearing white is meant to mock the "snowflake" label Trump's supporters use to describe their opponents.
Another group, Refuse Fascism ATL, says that before kickoff, they'll "take a knee against Trump" outside CNN's world headquarters, in solidarity with athletes who have knelt during the National Anthem to protest racial injustice.
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10 Things to Know for Today
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. PRESIDENT'S SUPPORTERS CIRCLE THE WAGONS
Trump administration officials and allies are rallying to the president's defense, trying to contain the fallout from an explosive new book that questions Trump's fitness for office.
2. WHAT DOMINATED THE GOLDEN GLOBES
Oprah Winfrey's speech, and actresses dressed in black in solidarity, transformed the awards into an A-list expression of female empowerment in the post-Harvey Weinstein era.
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Iran FM warns neighbors, says they seeking unrest in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's foreign minister on Monday warned neighboring countries over fomenting insecurity in Iran in a reference to anti-government protests that have roiled the country over the past two weeks.
The remarks by Mohammad Javad Zarif at a security conference in Tehran echoed the Iranian authorities' stance, which alleges that foreign powers — including regional rival Saudi Arabia — stirred up unrest linked to the protests.
"Some countries tried to misuse the recent incidents," Zarif said without blaming any specific country, and added that "no country can create a secure environment for itself at the expense of creating insecurity among its neighbors."
"Such efforts" will only backfire, the official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.
The anti-government demonstrations first broke out in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, on Dec. 28 and later spread to several other cities and towns. The protests were the largest seen in Iran since the disputed 2009 presidential election. They were sparked by a hike in food prices amid soaring unemployment but some demonstrators later called for the government's overthrow and chanted against the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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AP Explains: What to expect from North-South Korean talks
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's recent abrupt push to improve ties with South Korea wasn't totally unexpected, as the country has a history of launching provocations and then pursuing dialogue with rivals Seoul and Washington in an attempt to win concessions.
Still, Tuesday's planned talks between the Koreas, the first in about two years, have raised hopes of at least a temporary easing of tensions over North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests, which have ignited fears of a possible war.
A look at how the Korean talks were arranged and what to expect from them:
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KIM JONG UN'S OLIVE BRANCH
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Officials: Water pipe break at JFK Airport weather-related
NEW YORK (AP) — A water pipe break in one of the terminals at New York's Kennedy Airport on Sunday added to the delays at the beleaguered airport trying to recover from the aftermath of a snowstorm that has stranded thousands of passengers.
In a statement, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said a water pipe that feeds a sprinkler system in the privately operated Terminal 4 broke at about 2 p.m., causing water to flood the terminal and significantly disrupt operations.
"What happened at JFK Airport is unacceptable, and travelers expect and deserve better," said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. "While the water pipe break that occurred appears to be weather-related, we have launched an investigation into the incident to determine exactly what occurred and why an internal pipe was not weather protected and whether any other failures contributed to this disruption."
The pipe break sent about three inches of water gushing onto the floor of the terminal. Video shows streams cascading from a ceiling and people slogging through pools of water.
Power to the affected areas was temporarily shut off for safety reasons and additional staffing and busing operations were deployed to assist travelers, the Port Authority said.
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Oprah's barnstormer tops Golden Globes most notable moments
What president?
A year after politics — and the newly elected occupant of the White House — dominated the conversation and tone of the Golden Globes, there was barely a mention of such things at Sunday's ceremony. This year, it was all gender politics, and of course the #MeToo movement that has engulfed Hollywood and spread into the culture at large with astonishing speed. From the sea of glittering black gowns worn in solidarity on the usually multi-colored red carpet, to sly references to unequal pay and recognition for women, to Frances McDormand's salute to "a tectonic shift" in the Hollywood power structure, it was a night for reckoning — crowned by Oprah Winfrey's barn-raiser of a speech proclaiming "Their time is UP!"
Some key moments:
SERIOUS CARPET TALK:
Usually, red carpet interviews focus on the provenance of designer gowns and jewelry. This year, there was talk of working conditions for farmers and janitors, and demands for equal pay across society. Several actresses, including Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams and Emma Watson, brought social activists with them, to focus on real-life solutions to gritty problems far from Hollywood. "We feel emboldened in this particular moment," Streep said, "to stand together in a thick black line dividing then from now."
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Retail workers feel disruption from shifting shopper habits
NEW YORK (AP) — With new options and conveniences, there's never been a better time for shoppers. As for workers ... well, not always.
The retail industry is being radically reshaped by technology, and nobody feels that disruption more starkly than 16 million American shelf stockers, salespeople, cashiers and others. The shifts are driven, like much in retail, by the Amazon effect — the explosion of online shopping and the related changes in consumer behavior and preferences.
As mundane tasks like checkout and inventory are automated, employees are trying to deliver the kind of customer service the internet can't match.
So a Best Buy employee who used to sell electronics in the store is dispatched to customers' homes to help them choose just the right products. A Walmart worker dashes in and out of the grocery aisles, hand-picks products for online shoppers and brings them to people's cars.
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