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A major winter blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures in the U.S. stirred dangerous travel conditions from central and southern states all the way to the East Coast early Monday, prompting schools and government offices in several states to close, The Associated Press reported. …
Rome — Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders. The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ aim to give women more leadership roles in governing the church. While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never has a woman been named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing organ of the Catholic Church. The historic nature of Brambilla’s appointment was confirmed by Vatican Media, which headlined its report “Sister Simona Brambilla is the first woman prefect in the Vatican.” The office is one of the most important in the Vatican. Known officially as the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, it is responsible for every religious order, from the Jesuits and Franciscans to smaller newer movements. In an indication of the novelty of the appointment, and the theological implications involved, Francis simultaneously named as a co-leader, or “pro-prefect,” a cardinal: Ángel Fernández Artime, a Salesian. But the appointment, announced in the Vatican daily bulletin, lists Brambilla first as “prefect” and Fernández second as her co-leader, which theologically is necessary since the prefect must be able to celebrate Mass and perform other sacramental functions that currently can only be done by men. Brambilla, 59, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and had served as the No. 2 in the religious orders department since last year. She takes over from the retiring Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 77. Francis made Brambilla’s appointment possible with his 2022 reform of the Holy See’s founding constitution, which allowed laypeople, including women, to head a dicastery and become prefects. Brambilla, a nurse, worked as a missionary in Mozambique and led her Consolata order as superior from 2011-2023, when Francis made her secretary of the religious orders department. Her appointment is the latest move by Francis to show by example how women can take leadership roles within the Catholic hierarchy, albeit without allowing them to be ordained as priests. Catholic women do much of the church’s work in schools, hospitals and passing down the faith to future generations. But they have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men. Francis has upheld … “Pope Francis names 1st woman to head major Vatican office” →
New Delhi — The United States is finalizing steps to lift barriers on civil nuclear cooperation with Indian firms, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in New Delhi on Monday, calling it a significant step in cementing the bilateral partnership between the two countries. A landmark deal signed in 2007 between India and the United States had ended three decades of sanctions imposed on New Delhi for conducting nuclear tests and opened the door for India to get civil nuclear technology. The agreement was expected to help India meet its burgeoning energy needs. But Indian rules which require the liability in the case of accidents to be met by the firm that sets up a nuclear power plant rather than the operator — which do not align with global norms — had posed a hurdle to U.S. companies establishing power plants in India. Saying that the “formal paperwork” to remove long-standing regulations on civil nuclear cooperation will be done soon, Sullivan said that “this will be an opportunity to turn the page on some of the frictions of the past and create opportunities for entities that have been on restricted list in the United States to come off those lists and enter into deep collaborations with our private sector, with our scientists and technologists.” Sullivan’s visit to India came two weeks before a new administration under incoming President-elect Donald Trump takes charge. Speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, he called India-U.S. collaboration crucial for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Analysts say the visit underlines the strong Indo-U.S. partnership built in recent years and the likely continuity in those ties amid common concerns over China and strong bipartisan support for the relationship. In an editorial, The Indian Express newspaper noted that an important common thread between Trump’s previous term and President Biden’s administration has been the U.S. policy to strengthen the strategic partnership with India. “These bilateral conversations during the final days of the transition between two administrations in Washington underline a growing strategic congruence,” the newspaper said. Sullivan said that an initiative launched by the two countries two years ago to bolster their strategic technology partnership was an important component of the relationship. Under the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, both countries are moving to deepen cooperation in areas like quantum computing, defense, artificial intelligence, 5G wireless networks and semiconductors — areas in which … “US to remove barriers to civil nuclear cooperation with India” →
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday moved to halt this week’s sentencing in his hush money case while he appeals a judge’s decision that upheld the historic verdict and put him on course to be the first president to take office convicted of felony crimes. Trump’s lawyers said they will ask a New York appeals court to reverse Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan’s ruling last week, which set the case for sentencing on Friday — a little more than a week before his inauguration. Merchan rejected Trump’s bid to throw out the May 30 verdict because of his impending return to the White House. Trump’s lawyers said they will also appeal a prior decision in which the judge refused to dismiss the case on presidential immunity grounds. In his decision last week, the judge signaled he is not likely to sentence Trump, a Republican, to any punishment for his historic conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has said that it “would be the end of the Presidency as we know it” if the ruling is allowed to stand. Trump’s lawyers argued Monday that their appeal to the Appellate Division of the state’s trial court should trigger what’s known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn’t happen, they said, Merchan should step in and halt Friday’s sentencing. They asked Merchan to inform them by Monday afternoon of his decision “to allow sufficient time for President Trump to seek an emergency appellate review.” “Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said. “The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed.” A message seeking comment was left for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case. Any delay in sentencing Trump could run out the clock on closing the case before his second term begins Jan. 20. As president, he will again be immune from criminal proceedings, making it unlikely he can be sentenced while in office. If sentencing doesn’t happen before Trump is sworn in, waiting until he leaves office in 2029 “may become the only viable option,” Merchan said last week. While Trump asserted that presidential immunity and his looming second term necessitated nixing the verdict, Merchan wrote in … “Trump’s lawyers ask judge to halt Friday’s hush money case sentencing while they appeal to block it” →
Paris — A trial of France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy and 11 co-defendants started Monday over alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, did not speak to the press at arrival. He has denied any wrongdoing. He faces charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of embezzlement of public funds and criminal association, punished by up to 10 years in prison. The trial is scheduled to run until April 10. The Libyan case, the biggest and possibly most shocking of several scandals involving Sarkozy, is scheduled to run until April 10, with a verdict expected at a later date. The trial involves 11 other defendants, including three former ministers. Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, accused of having played the role of intermediary, has fled in Lebanon and is not expected to appear at the Paris court. Sarkozy is looking forward to the hearings “with determination,” his lawyer Christophe Ingrain said in a statement. “There is no Libyan financing of the campaign,” the statement said. “We want to believe the court will have the courage to examine the facts objectively, without being guided by the nebulous theory that poisoned the investigation.” Gadhafi’s alleged agreement The case emerged in March 2011, when a Libyan news agency reported that the Gadhafi government had financed Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. In an interview, Gadhafi himself said “it’s thanks to us that he reached the presidency. We provided him with the funds that allowed him to win,” without providing any amount or other details. Sarkozy, who had welcomed Gadhafi to Paris with great honors in 2007, became one of the first Western leaders to push for a military intervention in Libya in March 2011, when Arab Spring pro-democracy protests swept the Arab world. Gadhafi was killed by opposition fighters in October that same year, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country. The next year, French online news site Mediapart published a document said to be a note from the Libyan secret services, mentioning Gadhafi’s agreement to provide Sarkozy’s campaign 50 million euros in financing. Sarkozy strongly rejected the accusations, calling the document a “blatant fake” and filing complaints for forgery, concealment and spreading false news. However, French investigative magistrates eventually said in 2016 the document has all the characteristics of an authentic one, although there is no definitive … “France’s former President Sarkozy standing trial over alleged campaign funding by Libya’s Gadhafi “ →
Washington — Japan’s Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel are filing a federal lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s decision to block a proposed nearly $15 billion deal for Nippon to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. The suit, filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, alleges that it was a political decision and violated the companies’ due process. Nippon Steel had promised to invest $2.7 billion in U.S. Steel’s aging blast furnace operations in Gary, Indiana, and Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley. It also vowed not to reduce production capacity in the United States over the next decade without first getting U.S. government approval. Biden on Friday decided to stop the Nippon takeover — after federal regulators deadlocked on whether to approve it — because “a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority. … Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure,” he said in a statement. While administration officials have said the move is unrelated to Japan’s relationship with the U.S. — this is the first time a U.S. president has blocked a merger between a U.S. and Japanese firm. Biden departs the White House in just a few weeks. The president’s decision to block the deal comes after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of the deal last month, and sent a long-awaited report on the merger to Biden. He had 15 days to reach a final decision. …
Washington — President Joe Biden is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, a last-minute effort to block possible action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling. Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, said he is using authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas leasing. “My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs,” Biden said in a statement. “As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren,” he said. Biden’s orders would not affect large swaths of the Gulf of Mexico, where most U.S. offshore drilling occurs, but it would protect coastlines along California, Florida and other states from future drilling. Biden’s actions, which protect more than 625 million acres of federal waters, could be difficult for President-elect Donald Trump to unwind, since they would likely require an act of Congress to repeal. Trump himself has a complicated history on offshore drilling. He signed a memorandum in 2020 directing the Interior secretary to prohibit drilling in the waters off both Florida coasts, and off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina until 2032. The action came after Trump initially moved to vastly expand offshore drilling, before retreating amid widespread opposition in Florida and other coastal states. Trump has vowed to establish what he calls American “energy dominance” around the world as he seeks to boost U.S. oil and gas drilling and move away from Biden’s focus on climate change. Environmental advocates hailed Biden’s action, saying new oil and gas drilling must be sharply curtailed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history. “This is an epic ocean victory!” said Joseph Gordon, campaign director for the environmental group Oceana. Gordon thanked Biden “for listening to the voices from coastal communities” that oppose drilling and “contributing to the bipartisan tradition of protecting our coasts.” Biden’s actions build on the … “Biden, in 11th hour action, bans new offshore oil and gas drilling in most federal waters “ →
A major winter blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures in the U.S. stirred dangerous travel conditions from central and southern states all the way to the East Coast early Monday, prompting schools and government offices in several states to close. Snow and ice blanketed major roads across Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the state’s National Guard was activated to help stranded motorists. At least 20 centimeters of snow was expected, along with gusting winds up to 72 kph. The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings from Kansas and Missouri all the way to New Jersey. “For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said. Gary Wright wore a parka as he and his husband chipped away at thick ice coating his SUV in a slippery apartment parking lot in Missouri. Wright said he will work remotely Monday, but wanted to scrape off his vehicle as an excuse to spend a little time in the snow. He also is seeking boots for their two older dogs that “won’t budge at all” when their paws hit the cold ground. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole. People in the U.S., Europe and Asia experience its intense cold when the vortex escapes and plunges southward. Studies show a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its icy grip. Classes canceled School closings are expected to be widespread Monday. Districts in Indiana, Virginia and Kentucky began announcing cancellations and delays on Sunday afternoon. Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools canceled classes, extracurricular activities and athletics for its nearly 100,000 students. Classes also have been cancelled in Maryland, where Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Sunday and announced the state government would be closed Monday. “Keeping Marylanders safe is our top priority. Please stay off the roads during this storm. Prepare your home and family and charge your communications devices in case you lose power,” Moore said in a statement. …
PLAINS, GEORGIA — When Jimmy Carter chose branding designs for his presidential campaign, he passed on the usual red, white and blue. He wanted green. Emphasizing how much the Georgia Democrat enjoyed nature and prioritized environmental policy, the color became ubiquitous. On buttons, bumper stickers, brochures, the sign rechristening the old Plains train depot as his campaign headquarters. Even the hometown Election Night party. “The minute it was announced, we all had the shirts to put on — and they were green, too,” said LeAnne Smith, Carter’s niece, recalling the 1976 victory celebration. Nearly a half-century later, environmental advocates are remembering Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, as a president who elevated environmental stewardship, energy conservation and discussions about the global threat of rising carbon dioxide levels. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to abandon the renewable energy investments that President Joe Biden included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, echoing how President Ronald Reagan dismantled the solar panels Carter installed on the White House roof. But politics aside, the scientific consensus has settled where Carter stood two generations earlier. “President Carter was four decades ahead of his time,” said Manish Bapna, who leads the Natural Resources Defense Council. Carter called for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions well before “climate change” was part of the American lexicon, he said. Wearing cardigans and setting standards Former Vice President Al Gore, whose climate advocacy earned him the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, called Carter “a lifelong role model for the entire environmental movement.” As president, Carter implemented the first U.S. efficiency standards for passenger vehicles and household appliances. He created the U.S. Department of Energy, which streamlined energy research, and more than doubled the wilderness area under National Park Service protection. Inviting ridicule, Carter asked Americans to conserve energy through personal sacrifice, including driving less and turning down thermostats in winter amid global fuel shortages. He pushed renewable energy to lessen dependence on fossil fuels, calling for 20% of U.S. energy to come from alternative sources by 2000. But laments linger about what 39th president could not get done or did not try before his landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. Addressing climate change Carter left office in 1981 shortly after receiving a West Wing report linking fossil fuels to rising carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere. Carter’s top environmental advisers urged “immediate” cutbacks on the burning of fossil fuels … “Jimmy Carter raised climate change concerns 35 years before the Paris Accords” →
MANILA, Philippines — A group of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines on Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the United States, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington. The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a U.S. immigrant visa processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in America. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said the Afghan nationals who landed in the Philippines on Monday were provided entry visas. She said they had completed extensive security vetting and undergone full medical screenings prior to their arrival. The U.S. government will cover the costs for the Afghan nationals’ stay in the Philippines, including their food, housing, security, medical and transportation expenses, she said. She didn’t specify how many Afghans arrived or how long the visa processing will take. Under the Philippines’ rules, visa applicants can stay for no longer than 59 days. A senior Philippine official told The Associated Press last year that only 150 to 300 applicants would be accommodated in the Philippines under the “one-time” deal. The official who had knowledge of the negotiations agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to speak publicly. The Afghan nationals seeking resettlement primarily worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan or were deemed eligible for U.S. special immigrant visas but were left behind when Washington withdrew from the country and Taliban militants took back power in a chaotic period in 2021. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken first relayed the request to his Philippines counterpart in 2022, and President Joe Biden discussed the request with Philippines leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. when he visited the U.S. last year, Philippine officials said. Marcos has rekindled relations with the U.S. since winning the presidency by a landslide margin two years ago. In February last year, he allowed an expansion of the American military presence under a 2014 defense agreement in a decision that upset China. …
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that North Korea and China are the “biggest ongoing drivers” allowing Russia to carry out its war in Ukraine, and that security assurances will need to be a part of potential future negotiations ending the conflict. Speaking during a visit to South Korea, Blinken said North Korean supplies of artillery, ammunition and troops, along with Chinese support for Russia’s military industrial base are giving the Russian military the backing it needs to continue carrying out the fight it started in February 2022. He said North Korea is already seeing a return on its involvement in the conflict in the form of Russian military equipment and training for North Korea troops. “We believe it has the intent to share space and satellite technology with the DPRK,” Blinken said. With only two weeks left in the Biden administration, the United States has been rushing to send remaining authorized aid to Ukraine amid uncertainty about how President-elect Donald Trump may approach the war. Blinken said Monday the U.S. has been trying to make sure Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself, and to have the “strongest possible hand” at a future negotiating table with Russia. “If there is going to be, at some point, a ceasefire, it’s not going to be, in Putin’s mind, ‘game over’,” Blinken said. “His imperial ambitions remain, and what he will seek to do is to rest, to refit, and eventually to re-attack.” Blinken said it is necessary to have an “adequate deterrent in place so that he doesn’t do that, so that he thinks twice – three times – before engaging in any re-aggression.” Ukraine’s military said Monday it shot down 79 of the 128 drones that Russian forces deployed overnight in attack targeting multiple Ukrainian regions. The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions, the Ukrainian air force said. Officials in Cherkasy reported damage to residential buildings and a grain warehouse from falling drone debris. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed 12 Ukrainian aerial drones, all in areas along the Russia-Ukraine border. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said the attacks injured three people and damaged several residential buildings. Some information for this report was provided by from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters …
The U.S. Congress is set to meet Monday to certify Donald Trump’s presidential election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The vice president is in charge of presiding over the count of results from each of the country’s 50 states, putting Harris in the position of certifying her own loss. The procedure was long a formality in the election process, but four years ago turned to chaos as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, injuring about 140 police officers, vandalizing the building and sending lawmakers rushing for safety. Similar scenes are not expected Monday, with Harris having conceded defeat and President Joe Biden highlighting the need for a peaceful process. Authorities have prepared just in case, erecting tall metal barriers around the Capitol complex. Speaking Sunday at the White House, Biden called what happened on Jan. 6, 2021 “one of the toughest days in American history.” “We’ve got to get back to the basic, normal transfer of power,” Biden said. He added that Trump’s conduct four years ago, which included repeated false claims that he won the election, “was a genuine threat to democracy.” “I’m hopeful we’re beyond that now,” Biden said. More than 1,500 people have been charged in connection with storming the Capitol. Trump has pledged to quickly issue pardons after he takes office on Jan. 20. …
Two wildly audacious films — Brady Corbet’s 215-minute postwar epic “The Brutalist” and Jacques Audiard’s Spanish language, genre-shifting trans musical “Emilia Perez” — won top honors at the 82nd Golden Globes on Sunday. The Globes, which are still finding their footing after years of scandal and makeover, scattered awards around to a number of films. But the awards group put its strongest support behind a pair of movies that sought to be unlike anything else. “The Brutalist” was crowned best film, drama, putting one of 2024’s most ambitious films on course to be a major contender at the Academy Awards. The film, shot in VistaVision and released with an intermission, also won best director for Corbet and best actor for Adrien Brody. “I was told that this film was un-distributable,” said Corbet. “No one was asking for a three-and-half-hour film about a mid-century designer in 70mm. But it works.” “Emilia Perez” won best film, comedy or musical, elevating the Oscar chances of Netflix’s top Oscar contender. It also won best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña, best song (“El Mal”) and best non-English language film. Karla Sofia Gascon, the film’s transgender star who plays a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery, spoke for the film. “The light always wins over darkness,” said Gascon, gesturing to her brightly orange dress. “You can maybe put us in jail. You can beat us up. But you never can take away our soul or existence or identity.” “I am who I am. Not who you want.” The night’s big actor winners included some surprises. One shocker was Moore’s win for best actress in a comedy or musical. Her comeback performance in “The Substance,” about a Hollywood star who resorts to an experimental process to regain her youth, landed the 62-year-old Moore her first Globe — a victory that came over the heavily favored Mikey Madison of “Anora.” “I’m just in shock right now. I’ve been doing this a long time, like over 45 years, and this is the first thing I’ve ever won as an actor,” said Moore, who was last nominated by the Globes for a film role in 1991 for “Ghost.” “Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress.” Best actress, in a drama film, was a surprise, too. The Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres won for her performance in “I’m Still Here,” a based-on-a-true-story drama … “‘The Brutalist,’ ‘Emilia Perez’ triumph at Golden Globes” →
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif — “Emilia Perez” won best musical or comedy motion picture at the 82nd Golden Globes. “The Brutalist” won best motion picture drama, and Adrien Brody took home best actor for his role in the film. “Shogun” won best television drama, and “Hacks” won for TV comedy or musical. Emilia Perez” entered the night as the lead nominee, with 10 nods. Demi Moore, Sebastian Stan, Zoe Saldana, Kieran Culkin and Jean Smart were among the acting winners. Comedian Nikki Glaser hosted Sunday’s ceremony from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. At a gala dinner Friday, Viola Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and Ted Danson accepted the Carol Burnett Award. The Globes aired on CBS and streamed live for subscribers to Paramount+ with Showtime. Here’s a list of winners at Sunday’s Golden Globes: MoviesBest motion picture, drama “The Brutalist” Best motion picture, musical or comedy “Emilia Pérez” Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, drama Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here” Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture, drama Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist” Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy Demi Moore, “The Substance” Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy Sebastian Stan, “A Different Man” Best performance by a female actor in a supporting role, movie Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez” Best performance by a male actor in a supporting role, movie Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain” Cinematic and Box Office Achievement “Wicked” Best motion picture, non-English “Emilia Pérez” Best motion picture, animated “Flow” Best director Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist” Best screenplay Peter Straughan, “Conclave” Best original score Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “Challengers” Best original song “El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” music/lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard TelevisionBest television series, drama “Shōgun” Best television series, comedy or musical “Hacks” Best performance by a female actor, TV series, drama Anna Sawai, “Shōgun” Best performance by a male actor, TV series, drama Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shōgun” Best performance by a female actor TV series, musical or comedy Jean Smart, “Hacks” Best performance by a male actor, TV series, musical or comedy Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear” Best limited series, anthology series or movie made for television “Baby Reindeer” Best performance by a male actor in a limited series, anthology series or movie made for television Colin Farrell, “The Penguin” Best performance … “Complete list of Golden Globe winners” →
Podgorica, Montenegro — Several thousand people rallied in Montenegro on Sunday demanding the resignations of top security officials over the shooting earlier this week that left 12 people dead, including two children. Chanting “Resignations” and “Killers,” protesters outside the Interior Ministry building in the capital, Podgorica, demanded that Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic and Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Aleksa Becic step down. Milo Perovic, from a student-led group that helped organize the rally, told the crowd that innocent people died during their watch. “You failed to protect us, so resign!” Perovic said. Hours earlier, hundreds of people held 12 minutes of silence for the 12 victims at a rally in Cetinje, Montenegro’s historic capital where the shooting took place Wednesday. It was the second such massacre in the town in less than three years. Many residents of Cetinje and other Montenegrins believe that police mishandled the situation and haven’t done enough to boost security since the first massacre, which happened in August 2022. Wednesday’s shooting resulted from a bar brawl. A 45-year-old local man went home to get his gun before returning to the bar and opening fire. He killed four people there and eight more at various other locations before killing himself. The massacre fueled concerns about the level of violence in Montenegrin society, which is politically divided. It also raised questions about the readiness of state institutions to tackle the problems, including gun ownership. Police have said the shooting was impossible to predict and prevent, though the gunman, identified as Aco Martinovic, had been convicted for violent behavior and illegal weapons possession. His victims were mostly friends and family. Montenegrin authorities swiftly announced a new, strict gun law and other tough measures to curb illegal weapons, which are abundant in the Balkan nation of around 620,000 people. On Sunday, police said they raided several locations in the country and confiscated about 20 weapons, more than 500 rounds of ammunition and explosives. Protesters in Cetinje and Podgorica also demanded a “demilitarization” of the population through the destruction of illegal weapons, high taxes on gun ownership and a moratorium on new licenses while existing ones are reconsidered under strict criteria. The attacker in 2022 in Cetinje gunned down 10 people, including two children, before he was shot and killed by a passerby. Maja Gardasevic, a protest organizer, said during the rally in Cetinje that “we came here looking for … “Thousands in Montenegro demand ouster of security officials over mass shooting” →
Plains, Georgia — It never got old. No matter how many times one crammed into the modest sanctuary at Maranatha Baptist Church, there was always some wisdom to be gleaned from the measured, Bible-inspired words of Jimmy Carter. This was another side of the 39th president, a down-to-earth man of steadfast faith who somehow found time to teach Sunday school classes when he wasn’t building homes for the needy, or advocating for fair elections, or helping eradicate awful diseases. For young and old, straight and gay, believers and nonbelievers, Black and white and brown, Maranatha was a far-off-the-beaten path destination in southwest Georgia where Carter, well into his 90s, stayed connected with his fellow citizens of the world. Anyone willing to make the trek to his hometown of Plains, with its one blinking caution light and residents numbering in the hundreds, was rewarded with access to a white-haired man who once occupied the highest office in the land. Carter taught his Sunday school class roughly twice a month to accommodate crowds that sometimes swelled to more than 500. (On the other Sundays, no more than a couple dozen regulars and a handful of visitors usually attended services). Here, the former commander-in-chief and the onetime first lady, his wife of more than seven decades, were simply Mr. Jimmy and Ms. Rosalynn. And when it came to worshipping with them, all were welcome. Sundays with Mr. Jimmy Before the former president entered the sanctuary, with a bomb-sniffing dog outside and Secret Service agents scattered around, a strict set of rules would be laid out by Ms. Jan — Jan Williams, a longtime church member and friend of the Carters. She would have made quite a drill sergeant. It felt like a good-cop, bad-cop routine. Ms. Jan barking out rules you knew had come straight from Mr. Jimmy, who studied nuclear physics and approached all things with an engineer’s orderly mind. Most important for those wanting a photo with the Carters — and nearly everyone did — you had to stay for the main 11 a.m. church service. Picture-taking began around noon. If you left the church grounds before that, there was no coming back. If you stayed, you followed rules. No autographs. No handshakes. No attempts at conversation beyond a brief “good morning” or “thank you.” Carter, consistently in sports jacket, slacks and bolo tie, would start his lesson by moving around the … “Sunday school class with Jimmy Carter: What it was like” →
Will TikTok in the U.S. be banned this month? That’s the pressing question keeping creators and small business owners in anxious limbo as they await a decision that could upend their livelihoods. The fate of the popular app will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on Jan. 10 over a law requiring TikTok to break ties with its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, or face a U.S. ban. At the heart of the case is whether the law violates the First Amendment with TikTok and its creator allies arguing that it does. The U.S. government, which sees the platform as a national security risk, says it does not. For creators, the TikTok doomsday scenarios are nothing new since President-elect Donald Trump first tried to ban the platform through executive order during his first term. But despite Trump’s recent statements indicating he now wants TikTok to stick around, the prospect of a ban has never been as immediate as it is now with the Supreme Court serving as the final arbiter. If the government prevails as it did in a lower court, TikTok says it would shut down its U.S. platform by Jan. 19, leaving creators scrambling to redefine their futures. “A lot of my other creative friends, we’re all like freaking out. But I’m staying calm,” said Gillian Johnson, who benefited financially from TikTok’s live feature and rewards program, which helped creators generate higher revenue potential by posting high-quality original content. The 22-year-old filmmaker and recent college graduate uses her TikTok earnings to help fund her equipment for projects such as camera lens and editing software for her short films “Gambit” and “Awaken! My Neighbor.” Johnson said the idea of TikTok going away is “hard to accept.” Many creators have taken to TikTok to voice their frustrations, grappling with the possibility that the platform they’ve invested so much in could soon disappear. Online communities risk being disrupted, and the economic fallout could especially be devastating for those who mainly depend on TikTok and have left full-time jobs to build careers and incomes around their content. For some, the uncertainty has led them to question whether to continue creating content at all, according to Johnson, who says she knows creators who have been thinking about quitting. But Nicla Bartoli, the vice president of sales at The Influencer Marketing Factory, said the creators she has interreacted with have … “TikTok creators in US left in limbo while awaiting decision on potential platform ban” →
London — Heavy snow and freezing rain brought widespread disruptions across Europe on Sunday, particularly in the U.K. and Germany, with several major airports forced to suspend flights. With the weather set to stay inclement on Sunday in the U.K., there are concerns that many rural communities, particularly in the north of England, could be cut off, with up to 40 centimeters (15 inches) of snow on the ground above 300 meters (985 feet). The National Grid, which oversees the country’s electricity network, said it had been working to restore power after outages across the country. Power cuts were reported in the English cities of Birmingham and Bristol, and Cardiff, Wales. Many sporting events have already been postponed, though the heavyweight Premier League fixture between rivals Liverpool and Manchester United is on, following an inspection at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium and of local conditions. Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport and Manchester Airport had to close runways overnight, but operations were returning back to normal Sunday. Leeds Bradford Airport took longer to get flights back in the air. The road network was heavily impacted too on what would have been a very busy day with many families returning home from the Christmas and New Year’s break, and students heading back to universities. Many roads had been preemptively closed by local authorities, but stranded vehicles and collisions have caused disruption elsewhere. Several U.K. train services were canceled, with National Rail warning of disruptions continuing into the workweek. Britain’s main weather forecaster, the Met Office, says sleet and snow will continue to push north Sunday and will be heaviest in northern England and into southern Scotland. After experiencing freezing rain, which occurs when super-cold rain freezes on impact, the south will turn milder. The Environment Agency has also issued eight flood warnings across southern England on the Taw and Avon rivers. Snow and ice were also causing havoc in Germany, where a bout of wintry weather is spreading from the southwest. Authorities have issued black ice warnings for drivers and pedestrians, advising people to stay home where possible. Frankfurt airport canceled 120 of its 1,090 planned takeoffs and landings Sunday, according to the Fraport press office. At Munich airport, only one runway was open while the other one was being cleared. In Baden-Wuerttemberg, eight people were injured when a bus skidded off the road near the town of Hemmingen. Long-distance train connections also experienced irregularities in … “Heavy snow brings widespread disruptions across UK, Germany” →
Washington — Dangerous wintry conditions descended Sunday on a large swath of the central United States as a severe storm system tracked eastward, prompting travel and work disruptions from Kansas City to Washington. Around a dozen states from Kansas to New Jersey were under winter storm warnings Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), while areas across the U.S. South faced possible tornado and cold weather threats. Nationwide, over 60 million people were under some sort of weather alert, according to broadcaster CNN, while air traffic monitoring site FlightAware showed almost 2,200 flight cancellations and over 25,000 delays. Gusty winds from the storm system, the first of the year, brought blizzard conditions to Kansas and Missouri, while states farther east were blanketed in multiple inches of snow. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear implored residents to “please stay home” after reporting multiple vehicle crashes had closed a major highway. The NWS also warned that accumulations of up to a half inch of ice in some areas — as well as widespread tree damage from powerful wind gusts — could lead to “prolonged power outages.” A mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow began hitting Kansas early Sunday morning. Storm chaser Brian Emfinger said on X that roads around Kansas City were “a skating rink.” Video posted by the Weather Channel showed cars skidding off ice-coated highways and tractor trailers jack-knifing in Kansas, where some areas were expecting more than 30 centimeters of snow. “Areas of heavy snow will spread eastward through the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians tonight, reaching the northern Mid-Atlantic by Monday morning,” the NWS said in an update. Areas around Washington could see up to 25 centimeters overnight from Sunday into Monday, making “hazardous travel and closings” likely, The Washington Post reported. That could complicate the task of U.S. lawmakers, who by constitutional mandate must meet on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 to certify the winner of last year’s presidential election. “Whether we’re in a blizzard or not,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News Sunday, “we cannot delay that certification… I hope we have full attendance.” A joint session is to convene at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Monday. Bitter cold With the jet stream diving southward, temperatures are expected to plunge, in some places to minus 18 degrees Celsius, while strong wind gusts compound the dangers. The mercury could sink tens of degrees below seasonal … “Central US pummeled by snow, ice as major storm heads east” →
NEW YORK — New York’s new toll for drivers entering the center of Manhattan debuted Sunday, meaning many people will pay $9 to access the busiest part of the Big Apple during peak hours. The toll, known as congestion pricing, is meant to reduce traffic gridlock in the densely packed city while also raising money to help fix its ailing public transit infrastructure. Drivers of most passenger cars will pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. During off hours, the toll will be $2.25 for most vehicles. After years of studies, delays and a last-ditch bid by New Jersey to halt the toll, the program launched without major hiccups early Sunday. But transit officials cautioned the first-in-the-nation scheme could require adjustments — and likely would not get its first true test until the workweek. “This is a toll system that has never been tried before in terms of complexity,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said at a news conference held at Grand Central Terminal Sunday. “We don’t expect New Yorkers to overnight change their behavior. Everybody’s going to have to adjust to this.” The fee — which varies for motorcyclists, truck drivers and ride-share apps — will be collected by electronic toll collection systems at over 100 detection sites now scattered across the lower half of Manhattan. It comes on top of tolls drivers pay for crossing various bridges and tunnels to get to the city in the first place, although there will be a credit of up to $3 for those who have already paid to enter Manhattan via certain tunnels during peak hours. On Sunday morning, hours after the toll went live, traffic moved briskly along the northern edge of the congestion zone at 60th Street and 2nd Avenue. Many motorists appeared unaware that the newly activated cameras, set along the arm of a steel gantry above the street, would soon send a new charge to their E-Z Passes. “Are you kidding me?” said Chris Smith, a realtor from Somerville, New Jersey, as he drove against traffic beneath the cameras, circumventing the charge. “Whose idea was this? Kathy Hochul? She should be arrested for being ignorant.” Some residents and transit riders, meanwhile, said they were hopeful the program would lessen the bottlenecks and frequent honking in their … “Driving into Manhattan? It’ll cost you; new congestion toll starts Sunday” →
Six days of official funeral ceremonies marking the life and legacy of the 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter are underway in his home state of Georgia, where VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more. …
The Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa” claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025. The photorealistic “Lion King” prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn’t far behind. “Sonic 3” stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. “Mufasa’s” running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million. In third place, Focus Features’ “Nosferatu” remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable. “Nosferatu,” which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses. No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, “Moana 2,” claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million. The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it’s Searchlight’s highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in 2019. A24’s erotic drama “Babygirl,” which added 49 locations, held steady at $4.5 million. Another Thanksgiving leftover, “Wicked,” rounded out the top five. Universal’s movie musical was made available to purchase on VOD on Jan. 31, but still earned another $10.2 million from theaters. The movie is up for several awards at Sunday’s Golden Globes, including nominations for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, best motion picture musical or comedy and “cinematic and box office achievement,” which last year went to “Barbie.” Also in theaters this weekend was the IMAX re-release of David Fincher’s 4K restoration of “Seven,” which earned just over $1 million from 200 locations. The 2025 box office year is already off to a better start than 2024, up around 20% from the same … “‘Mufasa’ and ‘Sonic 3’ rule first box office weekend of 2025” →
Athens, Greece — The head of the Albanian Orthodox Church, who was airlifted to a hospital in Athens due to complications from a virus, is in a critical condition, the Evangelismos hospital said Sunday. Archbishop Anastasios, 95, was taken to the Greek capital Friday evening, four days after being admitted to hospital in Tirana with what Church officials called a “seasonal virus.” “His Beatitude’s condition is assessed as critical by the attending physicians,” the medical report from the hospital stated. On Saturday, his condition was assessed as “stable despite his already complicated medical history.” Anastasios is credited with having revived the Orthodox Church in Muslim-majority Albania. He led the Church there for three decades. He was airlifted to Athens on a C-27 Greek air force plane following a request from Greek emergency services, the defense ministry said. Greek public television ERT reported that he was also suffering from gastric bleeding. In November 2020, he was hospitalized in Athens for 12 days with COVID-19. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Sunday afternoon the hospital where Archbishop Anastasios of Albania is being treated and was informed for the ailing archbishop’s health condition. …
Paris — Convoys of farmers set off Sunday to try to block roads around Paris in protest of what they say is unfair competition from overseas and excessive regulation. Farmers from France, the European Union’s biggest agricultural producer, led European-wide protests at the start of 2024, but demonstrations fizzled out as the year went on. However, a move last month by the EU and South American nations in the Mercosur bloc to announce an agreement in principle on a free trade deal has given new impetus to French farmers opposed to the Mercosur deal. French farmers also remain unhappy about regulation which they say is hitting their profits. Farming trade union officials are due to meet French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Jan. 13 to express their concerns. “They don’t understand the level of misery and distress that farmers are going through at the moment,” Amelie Rebiere, vice-president of the Coordination Rurale farming trade union, told BFM TV. Those who back the EU’s Mercosur deal, such as Germany, say it offers a way to reduce reliance on trade with China, and insulates EU nations from the impact of trade tariffs being threatened by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Nevertheless, many European farmers — often led by those from France — have repeatedly protested the EU-Mercosur deal, arguing it would lead to cheap imports of South American commodities, notably beef, that do not meet EU safety standards. …
Russia said Sunday that Ukraine has launched a new counterattack in the western Kursk region aimed at repelling Russian and North Korean troops trying to retake territory that Kyiv’s forces captured last August. The Russian defense ministry said Kyiv deployed “an assault group consisting of two tanks, a mine clearing vehicle, and twelve armored combat vehicles with paratroops towards Berdin village.” Moscow said its “artillery and aviation of the North group of (Russian) forces defeated the assault group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” although news accounts said the outcome of the fighting was uncertain. “Russia is getting what it deserves,” Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said commenting on the recent reports. The head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that “defense forces are working” in the area. “In the Kursk region, the Russians are very worried because they were attacked from several directions, and it was a surprise for them,” he said. Ukrainian and Western accounts say that Russia has deployed about 11,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk region, although Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied their presence. Ukraine took the land August 6 and has held on since then even as Russia has gained territory in Ukraine’s eastern region and currently holds about a fifth of the country as the war nears the three-year mark next month. If Ukraine can hold on to the Kursk territory, it could give Kyiv a bargaining chip in any eventual peace talks with Russia. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said he would resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict before he is inaugurated on January 20, but he has not said how and there is no indication of any settlement in the coming days. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russian and North Korean forces had suffered heavy losses in the Kursk fighting. “In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops,” Zelenskyy said. “This is significant.” Zelenskyy provided no specific details. A battalion can vary in size but is generally made up of several hundred troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in response to a question at his marathon annual phone-in last month, said that Russia would force Ukrainian forces out of Kursk but declined to set a date for when this would happen. On the battlefront … “Russia: Ukraine launches new Kursk region offensive” →
Vienna — Austrian People’s Party on Sunday nominated its General Secretary Christian Stocker as interim leader after the expected resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Austrian news agency APA reported. Nehammer announced Saturday he would resign in the next few days after coalition talks with the Social Democrats collapsed. Stocker, a lawyer and member of the Austrian Parliament, has served as general secretary of the People’s Party since 2022. He is seen as an experienced and calm crisis communicator who has frequently appeared in Austrian media to defend controversial decisions. It is not clear yet who will become acting chancellor until a new government is formed. Protected by special police forces, Nehammer walked across the square from the Chancellery toward the president’s office in Vienna. “What is important for me is that the way of stability and the center can be continued,” he said. Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen will make a public statement to announce the next steps once the meeting with Nehammer is over. The 52-year-old Nehammer became chancellor and conservative party leader in 2021, after his predecessor Sebastian Kurz was forced to stand down following allegations of corruption. In April 2022, Nehammer became the first European leader to visit Moscow and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine in February that year. Before going to Moscow, he also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Austria was thrown into political turmoil on Friday after the liberal party NEOS pulled out of coalition talks with the center-left Social Democrats and the conservative People’s Party. On Saturday the two remaining parties, who have a razor-thin majority in Parliament, made another attempt to negotiate and form a government — but this effort also ended in failure after a few hours, with negotiators saying they were unable to agree on how to repair the budget deficit. …