Today's Headlines: Trump Offers No Apology for Claim on British Spying

[Betsy DeVos’s Hiring of For-Profit College Official Raises Impartiality Issues]( | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. | [Unsubscribe]( [The New York Times]( [Most Popular]( | [Video]( | [Today's Headlines]( Saturday, March 18, 2017 IN THIS EMAIL [NYT] [World](#worldNews) | [U.S.](#nationalNews) | [Politics](#politicsNews) | [Business](#businessNews) | [Technology](#technologyNews) | [Sports](#sportsNews) | [Arts](#artsNews) | [N.Y./Region](#nyregionNews) | [Travel](#dailyFeatureNews) | [Today's Video](#videoNews) | [Obituaries](#obituaries) | [Editorials](#editorialsNews) | [Op-Ed](#opinionNews) | [On This Day](#onthisdayNews) | [CUSTOMIZE »]( Top News [President Trump and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, at their news conference at the White House on Friday.]( [Trump Offers No Apology for Claim on British Spying]( By PETER BAKER and STEVEN ERLANGER British officials were livid after the White House aired an unverified claim that Britain's spy agency had monitored Mr. Trump during last year's campaign at the behest of President Barack Obama. [The Ashford University campus in Clinton, Iowa, which closed last year. The university is operated by Bridgepoint Education Inc., which has faced scrutiny by federal and state watchdogs. A lawyer for Bridgepoint, Robert S. Eitel, is now an aide to the new education secretary, Betsy DeVos.]( [Betsy DeVos's Hiring of For-Profit College Official Raises Impartiality Issues]( By PATRICIA COHEN Robert S. Eitel, a lawyer for a for-profit college operator under repeated scrutiny, has taken an Education Department post while on unpaid leave. [Aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson during a South Korea-United States joint military exercise in seas east of the Korean Peninsula this month. China had proposed that the United States suspend military exercises with South Korea in exchange for a suspension of the North's missile and nuclear programs, to establish a basis for negotiations.]( [All Eyes on China as U.S. Signals New Tack on North Korea]( By JANE PERLEZ As Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson heads to Beijing, his interactions with his hosts, and whether he takes a hard line with China over its support for North Korea, will be closely watched. For more top news, go to [NYTimes.com »]( [Get the Morning Briefing in Your Inbox]( What you need to know to start your day, delivered Monday through Friday. [Sign up »]( ADVERTISEMENT Editors' Picks [Derek Walcott in 1986.]( BOOKS [Derek Walcott, Poet and Nobel Laureate of the Caribbean, Dies at 87]( By WILLIAM GRIMES Mr. Walcott's intricately metaphorical poetry captured the physical beauty of the Caribbean, the harsh legacy of colonialism and the complexities of living and writing in two cultural worlds. OPINION | Op-Ed Contributor [What to Ask About Russian Hacking]( By LOUISE MENSCH These are the questions the House Intelligence Committee must press. QUOTATION OF THE DAY "If I hear one more senator tell me that this bill is dead on arrival, I think my head is going to explode." [REPRESENTATIVE CHARLIE DENT]( a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania, on sentiment that the legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is headed for defeat in the Senate. [] Today's Videos [President Trump and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, at their news conference at the White House on Friday.]( [[Video] Video: Trump to Merkel: 'At Least We Have Something in Common']( President Trump held his first meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany at the White House on Friday. At a subsequent press briefing, he was asked about recent wiretapping claims and made a joke that seemingly referred to reports that the United States had bugged Ms. Merkel's phone during the Obama administration. [[Video] Video: Watch U.S. Nuclear Tests]( Thousands of films showing U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962 have been declassified. Scientists are studying them and posting them for all to see. [[Video] Video: Illustrated Interview | David Adjaye]( The Ghanaian-British architect, who will be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II this year and whose current projects include the new Studio Museum in Harlem, sketched his answers with a Paper Mate Flair felt-tip pen. [] World [An aerial photo of a pulverized building that the Pentagon said was hosting a meeting of Al Qaeda operatives when it was bombed. Local activists insisted that the building was part of a religious complex and that civilians were killed in the American airstrike.]( [Pentagon Releases Photo to Rebut Contention It Bombed a Mosque]( By MICHAEL R. GORDON and HWAIDA SAAD The Pentagon said the building in Syria was hosting Al Qaeda operatives when it was bombed. Activists insisted that civilians were killed in the strike. [Some of the Somali migrants who died, in the Red Sea port of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, on Friday.]( [Airstrike Kills Dozens of Somali Migrants Off Yemen's Coast]( By BEN HUBBARD and SHUAIB ALMOSAWA The boat was attacked before dawn on Friday by a Saudi-led military coalition, Yemeni officials said. [Egyptian workers excavate a statue in Cairo last week. The colossus, originally believed to represent Ramses II, is now thought to be a statue of Psamtik I.]( [So Many Pharaohs: A Possible Case of Mistaken Identity in Cairo]( By NOUR YOUSSEF A statue thought to be of Ramses II is now said to probably depict Psamtik I, who ruled Egypt for about 50 years six centuries after the time of Ramses. For more world news, go to [NYTimes.com/World »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] U.S. [Shawn Wylde, a Marine veteran, is fighting back on Facebook against groups that harass women.]( [With Their Leaders at a Loss, Marine Veterans Fight Abusers]( By DAVE PHILIPPS As the Marine Corps commissions a task force on a nude photo sharing scandal, veterans have been gathering intelligence and striking back online. [Lake Superior near the sea caves at Meyers Beach, Wis. The White House's 2018 budget proposal drastically cuts funds of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.]( [Canadians Fear Trump's Budget Will Devastate Great Lakes]( By DAN LEVIN The mayor of a city in Ontario was blunt: "What good is it having lower taxes when you can't drink the water?" [Legal Aid Services helped Joe and Paula Frye keep their home in Oklahoma. Now that program's federal funding may be in jeopardy.]( [Trump Budget Cuts Put Struggling Americans on Edge]( By SABRINA TAVERNISE and TRIP GABRIEL As news of Mr. Trump's budget begins to sink in, some Americans feel as if their country no longer has a place for them. For more U.S. news, go to [NYTimes.com/US »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Politics [President Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany in the Oval Office on Friday. ]( [Merkel Meets Trump, the Defender Versus the Disrupter]( By MARK LANDLER Mr. Trump and Ms. Merkel made a show of working together, but they could not disguise the gulf that separates them on many thorny issues. [President Trump met with House members of the Republican Study Committee on Friday to discuss the party's health care plan.]( [States Could Make Work a Medicaid Requirement Under G.O.P. Deal]( By THOMAS KAPLAN and ROBERT PEAR They also agreed to issue Medicaid funds to states as lump-sum block grants, making concessions to hard-liners balking at a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. [Judge Andrew Napolitano, the senior judicial analyst for Fox News, at Trump Tower in December.]( [Fox's Andrew Napolitano Stirred the Pot for Trump's British Tempest]( By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM Napolitano, the network's senior legal analyst, set off a global row by asserting that Britain's top spy agency had wiretapped Mr. Trump on behalf of Barack Obama. For more political news, go to [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [] Business [Francisca Hervis Reyes with her husband and grandchildren in her home in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. ]( [The Fed Acts. Workers in Mexico and Merchants in Malaysia Suffer.]( By PETER S. GOODMAN, KEITH BRADSHER and NEIL GOUGH Rising interest rates in the United States are driving money out of many developing countries, straining governments and pinching consumers around the globe. [A home in Henderson, Nev., that was foreclosed. Some deals by big banks to provide mortgage relief for borrowers have a built-in profit incentive.]( [How 'Consumer Relief' After Mortgage Crisis Can Enrich Big Banks]( By MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN In their settlements with the government, large financial institutions can actually earn money while also helping homeowners. Your Money [Navigating Our Shameful, Maddeningly Complex Student Aid System]( By RON LIEBER The removal of an online tool for importing tax data into a financial aid form has highlighted the enormous need for reforming the way we pay for college. For more business news, go to [NYTimes.com/Business »]( [] Technology [Brian Stretch, the United States attorney for the Northern District of California, announced criminal charges this week against four men officials say were responsible for a 2014 breach of Yahoo's systems.]( [One Billion Yahoo Accounts Still for Sale, Despite Hacking Indictments]( By VINDU GOEL Federal investigators continue to pursue the people behind a 2013 attack compromising user accounts, despite filing charges in a 2014 cyberattack. [The journalist Kurt Eichenwald at his home in Dallas, Tex., on Friday.]( [A Tweet to Kurt Eichenwald, a Strobe and a Seizure. Now, an Arrest.]( By CECILIA KANG A strobe-light image sent on Twitter to Mr. Eichenwald, a journalist who has epilepsy, has been compared to sending a bomb or anthrax in the mail. For more technology news, go to [NYTimes.com/Technology »]( [] Sports [Why Are Basketball Games So Squeaky? Consider the Spiny Lobster]( By JOHN BRANCH The sound of shoes skidding on hardwood can be explained by shoe designers, rubber scientists, mechanical engineers and a biologist. [U.S.C. players after the 11th-seeded Trojans, climbing back from another large deficit, edged Southern Methodist, 66-65.]( [A Comeback, a Controversial Call and Some Crackle at the N.C.A.A.s]( By BEN SHPIGEL and ZACH SCHONBRUN U.S.C., in yet another comeback from double digits down, upset sixth-seeded Southern Methodist, while Arkansas beat Seton Hall thanks to a key foul call. [Steve Penny in London for the Olympics in August 2012. He resigned Thursday as president of U.S.A. Gymnastics, the sport's national governing body, after repeated sexual abuse allegations against a former team doctor.]( Sports of The Times [Ex-Gymnastics Chief's Career: Swift Success Marred by Years of Scandal]( By JULIET MACUR Steve Penny had an accomplished career before resigning from U.S.A. Gymnastics, but protecting gymnasts was not a highlight. For more sports news, go to [NYTimes.com/Sports »]( [] Arts [Dave Chappelle]( A Word With [Dave Chappelle on Trump, Cosby and His Netflix Deal]( By DAN HYMAN The comedian also says that he turned to Louis C.K. for advice after he grew concerned that his postelection "S.N.L." appearance would fall flat. [Republican legislators who have expressed support for the arts endowment, from left, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Representative Mark Amodei, Senator Susan Collins and Representative Leonard Lance.]( [Republicans Start Lining Up to Fight for the N.E.A. and N.E.H.]( By MICHAEL COOPER and SOPAN DEB The fates of the arts endowment are far from sealed, given the support they are getting from key lawmakers in President Trump's party. [An advertisement for Thinx underwear. Since the presidential election, the company has moved its branding from vaguely political to outright partisan.]( Critic's Notebook [The Trump Resistance Will Be Commercialized]( By AMANDA HESS Since the election, several companies have amped up their marketing strategies to pitch their products using outright partisan messages. For more arts news, go to [NYTimes.com/Arts »]( [] New York [Emergency medical workers shouted and cried after the arraignment for Jose Gonzalez on Friday. Mr. Gonzalez is charged with running over Yadira Arroyo with an ambulance and killing her.]( [Man Charged With Murder in Death of Emergency Worker in the Bronx]( By BENJAMIN MUELLER, EMILY PALMER and AL BAKER The police said Jose Gonzalez, 25, got into an ambulance and drove over an emergency medical worker, killing her and injuring another. [Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill, left, and Mayor Bill de Blasio marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York on Friday. Mr. de Blasio said an inquiry into his fund-raising proved that his actions were ]( [Questioning Whether de Blasio Will Learn From a Teachable Moment]( By WILLIAM NEUMAN and J. DAVID GOODMAN The mayor says the decision by prosecutors not to charge him means he can continue his fund-raising practices as before. Some onlookers in and outside of government aren't so sure. [An animal care manager at the Wild Bird Fund tended to an American woodcock on Friday. ]( [An Early Bird Gets Caught in the Snowstorm]( By ELI ROSENBERG American woodcocks were migrating north when the blizzard hit and many ended up injured in New York. For more New York news, go to [NYTimes.com/NewYork »]( []Obituaries [George Braziller in an undated photograph. He was known for prioritizing literary quality over profits.]( [George Braziller, Publisher of Fresh Literary Voices, Dies at 101]( By ROBERT D. McFADDEN Mr. Braziller searched the world for promising writers - bringing the work of Jean-Paul Sartre to America - and gave new life to historic manuscripts. For more obituaries, go to [NYTimes.com/Obituaries »]( [] Editorial Editorial [London Ridicules the Ridiculous]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD President Trump has managed to anger British officials with his claims about spying. [An election worker setting up voting booths in Houston in 2014.]( Editorial [Texas Needs a Remedial Lesson on Voting Rights]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Texas has discriminated against minority voters once again. It's past time to put the state back under federal oversight. For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] Op-Ed [President Trump at the White House on Thursday.]( Op-Ed Columnist [Trump Stays Buggy]( By GAIL COLLINS Let's blame British spies, Fox News and - oh, did you know he used to have a TV show? [Cherry blossoms in early bloom, in Washington.]( Op-Ed | Arthur C. Brooks [Depressed by Politics? Just Let Go]( By ARTHUR C. BROOKS Stop obsessively checking the latest news on Twitter, CNN and Facebook and you'll be happier. [President Trump and Paul Ryan at the Capitol on Thursday.]( Op-Ed Contributor [Trump's Budget Expands the G.O.P.'s War on Math]( By JACKIE CALMES Taking the Republican Party's transformation to fiscal irresponsibility to a whole new level. For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] ON THIS DAY On March 18, 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether. [See this Front Page]( | [Buy this Front Page]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook] [Facebook]( | [Twitter] [@NYTimes]( | [Pinterest] [Pinterest]( | [Instagram] [Instagram]( [NYT]( Access The New York Times from anywhere with our suite of apps: [iPhone®]( | [iPad®]( | [Android]( | [All]( [.] Save 15% at [The NYTimes Store »]( [.] Have questions? 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