Donald Trump, President Obama, Dylann Roof: Your Wednesday Briefing
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Good morning.
Here’s what you need to know:
• Trump to hold news conference.
President-elect Donald J. Trump is scheduled to take questions from reporters this morning, his first formal news conference since July.
It would come a day after news that U.S. intelligence agencies presented Mr. Trump with unsubstantiated reports that Russia had collected salacious information about him.
“FAKE NEWS,” he responded on Twitter. On Wednesday, the Kremlin denied having any compromising material on the president-elect.
• What we know about the report.
Intelligence officials considered it so potentially explosive that President Obama and congressional leaders were also briefed on the matter.
The Times has checked on a number of the details in the memos — some titillating, others that would amount to extremely serious acts — but discounted them as unproven.
BuzzFeed posted online the full document with unverified claims, stirring a debate about the credibility of the news media. “Not an easy or simple call,” the site’s editor in chief said, “but publishing this dossier reflects how we see the job of reporters in 2017.”
• Senate hearings for Trump’s cabinet.
Rex W. Tillerson, the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state, headlines today’s proceedings. Up to six nominees were to face questions today, but many meetings have been rescheduled. Here’s what to watch for.
At his hearing on Tuesday, the pick for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, spoke out against the use of torture and a proposed ban on Muslim immigration. He also pledged to “say no” if Mr. Trump tries to go above the law.
• “Yes, we did.”
A tearful President Obama capped his farewell address on Tuesday night with a play on the phrase that swept him into office in 2008. He also warned Americans not to take democracy for granted.
“America is not a fragile thing,” the president said. “But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured.” Here is the full text and video of the speech.
• Dylann Roof receives death sentence.
Jurors unanimously condemned to death the white supremacist for killing nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015.
Federal law classifies the decision as a binding “recommendation,” and the case is likely to go through years of appeals.
• Ruling affecting religious freedom in Europe.
The European Court of Human Rights sided with Swiss school officials who ordered a Muslim couple in 2008 to enroll their daughters in a mandatory swimming class with boys.
The decision could set an important precedent for cases in which religious and secular values come into conflict.
• Beijing-Taipei tensions escalate.
China sent its sole aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Strait today, a provocative move that follows a phone call last month between Taiwan’s president and Mr. Trump.
Taiwan, considered by Beijing to be a Chinese province, has been governed separately since 1949.
Business
• Volkswagen is on the verge of pleading guilty to criminal charges in the U.S. and paying $4.3 billion in fines to resolve a federal investigation into its cheating on emissions tests.
• Fox News secretly settledsexual harassment accusations against Bill O’Reilly, the network’s top host, last summer, documents show.
• As many cities and states increase their minimum wages, two new studies raise questions about how effective such moves are in helping certain workers.
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Noteworthy
• She broke the news of World War II.
In 1939, Clare Hollingworth was less than a week into her first job as a newspaper correspondent when she spotted German troops and tanks concealed in a valley, ready to invade Poland. Her story was later deemed “probably the greatest scoop of modern times.” Ms. Hollingworth died on Tuesday at 105.
• Meet Breitbart’s man in Rome.
Thomas Williams, a former priest, is a new correspondent for Breitbart News, the populist, right-wing website that is looking to expand in Europe.
• The lights are on in Detroit.
With 65,000 new streetlights, the slowly recovering city is sending a message: It’s O.K. to go out after dark.
• A bird’s-eye view.
The Teleférico in La Paz, Bolivia, is one of the longest aerial cable car systems in the world. It transports an average of 60,000 passengers each day. Our 360 video takes you on a ride.
Click and drag your mouse to explore.
Traveling Through the Sky in Bolivia
The Teleférico in La Paz is one of the longest aerial cable car systems in the world. It transports 60,000 passengers on average each day.
By KASSIE BRACKEN, KAITLYN MULLIN and VEDA SHASTRI on January 11, 2017. Photo by Meridith Kohut for The New York Times. Technology by Samsung. . Watch in Times Video »Smarter Living: Morning Edition
(In this new section, we’ll help you start your day right.)
• We’ve all thought about it: Can we train ourselves to need less sleep? Sadly, the answer is a resounding no.
• She’s still Judith from the block: The story of a 65-year-old New Yorker who has been running laps around the same block since the 1980s.
• Recipe of the day: Want to go meatless tonight? Try miso-glazed tofu with wild mushrooms.
Back Story
Norway is trying to make audio history this week. The country is beginning an experiment to switch off its FM stations and replace them with digital radio.
If the plan succeeds, it could be the beginning of a change in how we listen to radio around the globe. Britain, Denmark and Switzerland are considering the same move.
Norway, where terrestrial radio remains quite popular, was among the first countries to adopt digital radio, in the 1990s. The government’s current effort is aimed at improving audio quality.
That was also a goal in the creation of FM radio, which offers staticless, high-fidelity broadcasting. Edwin Armstrong, an American inventor, is credited with figuring out how to transmit sound by modulating the frequency of electromagnetic waves (FM) instead of their amplitude (AM).
He later built his own FM station to prove its worth to skeptics, though his triumph was marred by legal battles over patents.
The Times called Mr. Armstrong one of the “great inventive geniuses in electrical engineering” after his death in 1954. “He always preferred to be the master of his own laboratory. That he was.”
Patrick Boehler contributed reporting.
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P.C: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/briefing/us-briefing-donald-trump-president-obama-dylann-roof.html
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