New England Patriots, Rex Tillerson: Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/briefing/new-england-patriots-rex-tillerson.html

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. Republicans used the muscle of their congressional majority to push forward some of President Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominees, a sign of the struggle ahead for Democrats.

The Senate confirmed Rex Tillerson as secretary of state in a narrow, contentious vote. Several more nominations cleared committees: Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary and Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

But Betsy DeVos, above, is in trouble, after two Republican senators said they would not back her for education secretary. Here’s our full coverage of the new administration.

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2. Mr. Trump pushed back against any Democratic slowdowns in confirming his pick for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, above left, suggesting that the Senate majority leader could “go nuclear” in terms of floor procedures.

Later in the day, Mr. Trump flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to honor the remains of the Navy commando killed in a raid on Al Qaeda forces in Yemen on Sunday, the first combat casualty of his presidency.

In our new podcast, The Daily, our reporter Michael Barbaro covers the day’s big stories and ideas in 15 minutes, five days a week. Today: making sense of the Gorsuch pick. Listen here.

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3. The administration is beginning to confront knotty foreign policy issues.

Iran argued that it had not violated a U.N. Security Council resolution with its recent missile test. The U.S. called for a Security Council meeting to discuss the matter.

Michael Flynn, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, said Iran was “on notice.” Above left, President Hassan Rouhani at an exhibition on Iran’s achievements in space technology.

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4. Israeli security forces clashed with settlers defying a court order to evacuate the unauthorized settlement outpost of Amona in the West Bank.

Hundreds of young activists burned tires, blocked roads and barricaded themselves at the site. Amona is a flash point for the settler movement, and the case had gone through the courts for years.

But hours before the police entered Amona, the Israeli government made a major pro-settler move, approving construction for 3,000 new homes in the West Bank and calling for a new settlement to be established.

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5. Ban Ki-moon, the former United Nations chief, said he would not run for the presidency of South Korea.

The surprise announcement deprives conservatives of their likeliest candidate to succeed the country’s embattled leader, Park Geun-hye, who is facing impeachment.

“I was deeply disappointed by outdated and narrow-minded egoism among some politicians,” Mr. Ban said bluntly. “I have determined that it is meaningless to try to work with them.”

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6. Men whose prostate cancer comes back after surgery are more likely to survive if, along with the usual radiation, they also take drugs to block male hormones.

The finding, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, comes from a long-running study that experts say will help clarify treatment for many patients.

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7. With user growth at an all-time high, Facebook’s fourth-quarter sales handily beat Wall Street estimates.

The company said its sales had totaled $8.8 billion for the fourth quarter of 2016, up about 51 percent from a year ago.

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8. Protect Alexa.

With the proliferation of “smart” home devices like Amazon’s personal assistant, we offer some security tips to ensure that your purchase doesn’t become a sci-fi-movie surveillance nightmare.

Experts advise doing some research: Make sure the device has security features built in. And put it on a guest Wi-Fi network, not the one for your computing devices, so it can’t be used to snoop through your data.

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9. Here’s what you need to know about Super Bowl LI.

It’s the New England Patriots vs. the Atlanta Falcons, playing in Houston. The Patriots are 4-4 in the big game. The Falcons have made it there only once before, and they lost.

It all starts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Lady Gaga is headlining the halftime show.

Demonstrators have vowed to protest Mr. Trump’s immigration ban during the game. The authorities say they have security measures in place to handle the crowds.

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10. Finally, Beyonce’s announcement that she’s pregnant — with twins — came in her signature style.

The singer posted a highly stylized portrait of herself on Instagram sporting lingerie, a gauzy veil and a noticeable baby bump.

“We have been blessed two times over,” she wrote. The statement was signed “The Carters.”

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Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.

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