2. An online debate erupted over a photo of Kellyanne Conway kneeling on a couch in the Oval Office as Mr. Trump met with leaders of historically black colleges and universities.
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3. Jeff Sessions, making his first official speech as U.S. attorney general, promised a get-tough approach to drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Mr. Trump is expected to emphasize the same theme, which forms the backbone of a vision of remaking America shared by Mr. Sessions and Stephen Bannon, the chief White House strategist.
Today’s episode of The Daily podcast explores the roles those men played in shaping Mr. Trump’s immigration policy, and also continues the story of a young Afghan refugee who made a dash for the U.S. Listen from a computer, on an iOS device or on an Android device.
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4. Before his speech, Mr. Trump signed an executive order aimed at rolling back one of Mr. Obama’s major environmental regulations to protect American waterways.
In the coming week, Mr. Trump is also expected to sign a similar order instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to begin the process of withdrawing and revising Mr. Obama’s signature 2015 climate-change regulation.
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5. Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria for dropping chlorine-filled barrel bombs on opposition-held areas.
The veto sparked a rare public clash with the Trump administration.
“It’s a sad day for the Security Council when members make excuses for other member states killing their own people,” said Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
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6. The leader of Samsung was indicted in the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of South Korea’s president, setting the stage for a trial that will test the traditional impunity of the family-owned conglomerates that dominate the economy.
Lee Jae-yong, one of the most prominent tycoons ever to face trial in the country, is accused of promising $38 million in bribes to a confidante of the president in return for political favors.
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7. Colorectal cancers, considered a disease of the aging, are on the rise in adults in their 20s and 30s.
The spike, at a time when rates of the disease are on the wane in older people, is both baffling and worrisome, scientists say.
Diagnosis is sometimes delayed as the disease advances, because doctors simply don’t suspect that a young patient with digestive complaints like diarrhea or constipation, cramping and abdominal pain, or bloody stool could have cancer.
Tara Anderson, above, was 38 when she was told she had colon cancer.
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8. France is infamous for its perennial obsession with Frenchness — and now with the fear of its demise.
In many towns, shoppers have been flocking to newly built shopping center, leaving the historic city centers decaying and pocked with commercial vacancies — much as U.S. main streets were hollowed out decades ago.
“We’ve lost that conviviality that was our signature,” a city councilman in southern France said. “Before, each little neighborhood had its own center, with its own cafe. All that has disappeared.”
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9. New York City expects the number of foreign visitors to decrease in 2017, the first such forecast in seven years.
Officials attribute the drop to White House policies and pronouncements that alter perceptions about U.S. hospitality.
A firm that forecasts international travel foresees an even larger decline in foreign tourism for the country.
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10. Did you hear about the selfie-taking museum visitor who tripped over an exhibit and broke an $800,000 sculpture?
Happily, the reality appears to be less dramatic. The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington confirmed that a visitor to “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” one of most popular in the museum’s history, accidentally damaged a glowing pumpkin.
But a replacement is on the way, and there was no confirmation of what the visitor was doing. “It was very much an accident,” a museum spokeswoman said.
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11. Finally, SpaceX, the rocket company led by Elon Musk, plans to send two tourists around the moon next year.
The passengers could be the first humans in more than 40 years to venture that far into space.
No price was mentioned, nor whether Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” would be on the soundtrack.
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