Final preparations begin for Trump-Kim high-stakes summit
SINGAPORE (AP) Final preparations are underway in Singapore for Tuesday's historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, including a plan for the leaders to kick things off by meeting with only their translators present, a U.S. official said.
With a handshake scheduled for 9 a.m., Trump and Kim and their translators will meet first in a session that could stretch up to two hours before they allow their respective advisers to join them, said the U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about internal deliberations and insisted on anonymity.
U.S. and North Korean officials met Monday at the Ritz Carlton in this island city-state to negotiate before the first sit-down between a U.S. president and a North Korean leader, which is meant to settle a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal.
Trump, who arrived Sunday night, tweeted Monday morning: "Great to be in Singapore, excitement in the air!"
Yet even as he turned his attention to the summit, Trump continued his blistering attacks on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, tweeting "Fair Trade is now to be called Fool Trade if it is not Reciprocal." Again accusing the longtime U.S. ally of unfair trade practices, Trump added: "Then Justin acts hurt when called out!"
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Analysis: Tactics Kim may use in US-North Korea summit
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) Dry wit. Disarming humility. An appreciation for wiggle room, and lots of it.
After six years of self-imposed isolation from the world stage, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has demonstrated a surprisingly well stocked toolbox of negotiating tactics in high-stakes summits with the presidents of South Korea and China over the past two months.
What might he try out in Tuesday's summit with President Donald Trump?
Here's a quick playbook of some of the tactics Kim might be expected to lean on and how they might play out when he sits down for his highest-stakes meeting yet.
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10 Things to Know for Monday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday:
1. TRUMP, KIM ARRIVE IN SINGAPORE FOR US-NKOREA SUMMIT
The two leaders converge on the island city-state ahead of a highly anticipated meeting set up to address Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal.
2. WHERE THEY'RE IN THE DARK ABOUT SUMMIT
North Korea's official state media gives only bare-bones reports on the historic meeting.
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Trump's tweets slam Canada and Trudeau anew from Singapore
QUEBEC CITY (AP) President Donald Trump took more swipes at Canada and its prime minister over trade issues as he settled in for a summit with North Korea in Singapore, contending that "Fair Trade is now to be called Fool Trade if it is not Reciprocal."
Trump roiled the Group of Seven meeting in Canada by first agreeing to a group statement on trade only to withdraw from it while complaining that he had been blindsided by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's criticism of Trump's tariff threats at a summit-ending news conference. As he flew from Canada to Singapore Saturday night, Trump displayed his ire via Twitter, which he also employed to insult Trudeau as "dishonest" and "weak."
The attack on a longtime ally and its leader drew sharp criticism. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also attended the summit, told German public television that she found Trump's tweet disavowing the G-7 statement "sobering" and "a little depressing." Merkel also said the European Union would "act" against the U.S. trade measures.
Unbowed, Trump tweeted anew Monday morning from Singapore: "Fair Trade is now to be called Fool Trade if it is not Reciprocal. According to a Canada release, they make almost 100 Billion Dollars in Trade with U.S. (guess they were bragging and got caught!). Minimum is 17B. Tax Dairy from us at 270%. Then Justin acts hurt when called out!"
He added: "Why should I, as President of the United States, allow countries to continue to make Massive Trade Surpluses, as they have for decades, while our Farmers, Workers & Taxpayers have such a big and unfair price to pay? Not fair to the PEOPLE of America! $800 Billion Trade Deficit...And add to that the fact that the U.S. pays close to the entire cost of NATO-protecting many of these same countries that rip us off on Trade (they pay only a fraction of the cost-and laugh!). The European Union had a $151 Billion Surplus-should pay much more for Military!"
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'The Band's Visit' dances away with a leading 10 Tony Awards
NEW YORK (AP) The American, grown-up musical "The Band's Visit" outmuscled the acclaimed and sprawling British import "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" for the most Tony Awards on Sunday, capturing 10 statuettes, including best musical, on a night where the theme of acceptance flowed through the telecast.
"The Band's Visit" is based on a 2007 Israeli film of the same name and centers on members of an Egyptian police orchestra booked to play a concert at an Israeli city who accidentally end up in the wrong town. Its embrace of foreign cultures working together found a sweet spot with Tony voters.
"In 'The Band's Visit,' music gives people hope and makes borders disappear," producer Orin Wolf said upon accepting the best new musical crown, saying it offers a message of unity in a world that "more and more seems bent on amplifying our differences."
Tony Shalhoub, the "Monk" star who won as best leading man in a musical for his work on "The Band's Visit," connected the win to his father's 1920 immigration from Lebanon to New York's Ellis Island at age 8. "Tonight, I celebrate him and all of those in his family who journeyed before him and with him and after him," he said.
The show's Katrina Lenk, who won best actress in a musical, said the production "filled her stupid little heart with so much joy." She dedicated her award in part to the iconic Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum.
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Why Trump's combative trade stance toward allies poses risks
WASHINGTON (AP) Insulting the host, alienating allies and threatening to suspend business with other countries: President Donald Trump was in full trade-warrior form for the weekend summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies in Canada.
The president's acrimony raised the risk of a trade war that could spook financial markets, inflate prices of goods hit by tariffs, slow commerce, disrupt corporations that rely on global supply chains and jeopardize the healthiest expansion the world economy has enjoyed in a decade.
Leaving the conclave in Quebec on Saturday, Trump threatened to "stop trading" with America's allies if they defied his demands to lower trade barriers. And he shrugged off the risk that his combative stance would ignite escalating tariffs and counter-tariffs between the United States and its friends the European Union, Canada, Japan and Mexico.
"We win that war a thousand times out of a thousand," the president declared before jetting off to negotiate the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Later, he picked a Twitter fight with the host of the G-7 conclave. Calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada "very dishonest and weak," Trump said the U.S. was withdrawing its endorsement of the G-7's communique, in part over what he called Trudeau's "false statements" about U.S. tariffs at a news conference.
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Singapore Postcard: Summit a chance to showcase its food
SINGAPORE (AP) The tiny city-state of Singapore is hosting its largest media contingent ever for the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. They will be well fed, if nothing else.
A sprawling 2,100 square-meter (23,000-square-foot) facility built for an annual Formula One race has been refurbished to handle about 3,000 journalists expected to cover Tuesday's summit.
It is a good distance from the summit venue, and intrepid journalists will likely move out of the media center and try to get closer to the action. Hundreds of journalists gathered outside the hotels where Trump and Kim are staying and along the streets to capture their arrivals on Sunday.
The police, though, have stepped up checks and surveillance in designated "special event areas" around the Capella Singapore hotel, where the summit will be held, and the leaders' temporary residences, Kim's St. Regis Singapore and Trump's Shangri-La Hotel. The media center is part of Singapore's $15 million bill for the summit, the bulk of which is going to security.
And then there's the food.
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Immigration raid worries landscapers relying on foreign help
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) Already facing a severe labor shortage, landscaping businesses that can't keep up with booming demand for backyard patios and fire pits worry that an immigration raid that rounded up over 100 people last week will make it even tougher to persuade Congress to allow more foreign workers into America for seasonal jobs.
Owners of landscaping companies near Tuesday's sting in the Lake Erie resort city of Sandusky and nearby Castalia, which targeted workers with forged documents in one of the largest actions at a workplace in recent years, said it sent a shiver of apprehension through their industry.
"I believe most of us are doing things the right way, but every company is going to be worried that they're going to be raided," said Joe Drake, who runs JFD Landscapes in Chardon, also in northern Ohio.
Drake, who has been maintaining lawns for nearly 30 years, spent the past week in Chicago meeting with other seasonal employers to try crafting a strategy that would persuade Congress to ease restrictions on H2-B temporary visas, a type set aside for foreign workers who hold seasonal, nonagricultural jobs.
While many seasonal employers and tourism businesses were shut out of the program this year, landscapers were hit especially hard because they rely on the program more than many other industries to fill jobs they say nobody else wants.
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'Ocean's 8' opens with franchise-best $41.5M to top weekend
NEW YORK (AP) "Ocean's 8," the female-fronted overhaul of the starry heist franchise, opened with an estimated $41.5 million at the box office, taking the weekend's top spot from the fast-falling "Solo: A Star Wars Story."
At a lower price point and in less fanboy-guarded franchise, "Ocean's 8" despite ho-hum reviews found nothing like the stormy reception than the female-led "Ghostbusters" reboot did on the same weekend two years ago.
Made for approximately $70 million, "Ocean's 8" and its cast featuring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway, set an opening-weekend best for the franchise, not accounting for inflation. The three previous "Ocean's" films starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon, and based on the 1960 original "Ocean's 11," with Frank Sinatra all debuted with between $36-39 million in the last decade.
"Ocean's 8," also starring Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter, drew a largely female audience 69 percent for a result that slightly surpassed expectations.
"We thought we'd come in in the $35-40 (million) range," said Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein. "Number one, it's fun. Number two, it hits an underserved audience. Unfortunately, there is just a lack of stories that are aimed right at women."
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In eye of storm, North Koreans sees scant news of Kim's trip
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) With all the attention focused on Singapore and the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang must be buzzing with excitement, right?
Well, maybe, if anyone here knew it was happening.
Instead, North Korea's capital was like the calm in the center of a storm.
With few sources of information other than government-run media, gossip and word of mouth, North Koreans were largely in the dark about the momentous and potentially life-changing events taking place outside of their isolated nation.
Before Monday, official news outlets had reported only that the two leaders planned to meet, without saying where or when or offering any other specifics. Even as Kim arrived in Singapore on a special Air China flight Sunday, just hours before Trump, there was still no word in North Korea.