Legendary musician David Bowie dies of cancer at 69
NEW YORK — David Bowie, the chameleon-like star who transformed the sound — and the look — of rock with his audacious creativity and his sexually ambiguous makeup and costumes, died of cancer Sunday.
Bowie, whose hits included “Space Oddity,” ”Fame,” ”Heroes” and “Let’s Dance,” died surrounded by family, representative Steve Martin said early Monday. The singer, who was 69, had fought cancer for 18 months.
Long before alter egos and wild outfits became commonplace in pop, Bowie turned the music world upside down with the release of the 1972 album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” which introduced one of music’s most famous personas. “Ziggy Stardust” was a concept album that imagined a rock star from outer space trying to make his way in the music world. The persona — the red-headed, eyeliner wearing Stardust — would become an enduring part of Bowie’s legacy, and a touchstone for the way entertainers packaged themselves for years to come.
Bowie’s birthday was Friday, the same day as he released his new album, “Blackstar.”
A statement on social media asked fan’s to respect the family’s privacy. No more details were provided.
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Sean Penn: Nothing to hide over drug lord interview
MEXICO CITY — Actor Sean Penn said he has “nothin’ to hide,” after images published Monday indicated he was under surveillance when he met with the Mexican actress who led him to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman — and the pair was apparently followed and photographed as they set out for the supposedly secret meeting with the drug lord.
In a brief email exchange with The Associated Press, Penn also dismissed criticism over his interview with the fugitive, who was captured on Friday, a day before Penn’s 10,000-word story was published in Rolling Stone magazine.
Mexican officials have said that contacts between Guzman’s lawyers and Penn and actress Kate del Castillo helped them track down the fugitive and they raided his hideout in rural Durango state a few days after their Oct. 2 meeting. Guzman evaded authorities then, but was finally captured after a shootout Friday in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa.
Penn wrote in the Rolling Stone article of elaborate security precautions, including switching phones. As he flew to Mexico for the meeting, he wrote, “I see no spying eyes, but I assume they are there.”
He was right — and they had apparently been following del Castillo for months based on contacts with Guzman’s lawyers.
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Clinton confronts rival Sanders as Iowa polls tighten
WATERLOO, Iowa — Hillary Clinton has spent much of her presidential campaign looking past Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, focusing instead on Republicans and the November general election. No longer.
Three weeks before the lead-off Iowa caucuses and with polls suggesting a tightening race, she now is confronting the Vermont senator more directly, attempting to undermine his liberal credentials on gun control, health care and even the Wall Street regulations that have been the core of his insurgent campaign.
“It’s time for us to have the kind of spirited debate that you deserve us to have,” Clinton told voters on Monday. “We do have differences.”
After months with a comfortable edge in most Iowa polls, the former secretary of state finds herself battling an underdog rival in a state that has a history of rewarding anti-establishment campaigns — a situation that brings back echoes of her 2008 loss to Barack Obama.
While she has locked up the vast majority of support from party leaders and large donors, Sanders has captured the hearts of many in the Democratic base with his unapologetically liberal economic message.
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Obama’s State of the Union address seeks to frame 2016 race
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address will unmistakably attempt to frame the choice facing Americans as they select his successor, doling out an optimistic vision of the country’s future in contrast with what he sees as the pessimism that’s pervasive in the Republican primary.
Obama won’t directly appeal for Americans to keep the Democratic Party in the White House for a third straight term. And he won’t endorse a specific candidate in the 2016 race.
But he will outline domestic and international priorities that build on steps he’s taken during his two terms in office, a vision certain to be more in line with Hillary Clinton and other Democrats than the GOP presidential candidates.
“He feels very optimistic about this future,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said. “That, by the way, is something that’s a little different than some of the doom and gloom that we hear from the Republican candidates out there every day.”
Tuesday’s prime-time address marks a transition for Obama — his last high-profile opportunity to speak to the public before voting begins on Feb. 1. While Obama has so far succeeded in staving off lame duck status — largely through a series of aggressive executive actions — the nation’s attention has been drawn inevitably to the presidential contest. Still, Obama’s reliance on executive powers means many of his actions could be erased by a Republican president. He’s vowed to campaign aggressively for the Democratic nominee, and his administration is seen as favoring Clinton, though the president won’t formally back a candidate during his party’s primary.
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Aid convoys reach 3 Syria communities besieged for months
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Aid convoys delivered long-awaited food, medicine and other supplies to three besieged communities Monday, part of a U.N.-supported operation to help tens of thousands of civilians cut off for months by the war in Syria.
Reports of starvation and images of emaciated children have raised global concerns and underscored the urgency for new peace talks that the U.N. is hoping to host in Geneva on Jan. 25.
Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the U.N. reported at a closed-door briefing of the Security Council that more than 400 people in the besieged town of Madaya “are on the brink of death and in need of immediate medical evacuation.”
The U.N. says 4.5 million Syrians are living in besieged or hard-to-reach areas and desperately need humanitarian aid, with civilians prevented from leaving and aid workers blocked from bringing in food, medicine, fuel and other supplies.
It will take several days to distribute the aid in Madaya, near Damascus, and the Shiite villages of Foua and Kfarya in northern Syria, and the supplies are probably enough to last for a month, aid agencies said.
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Task force: Mammograms an option at 40, do more good at 50
WASHINGTON — Mammograms do the most good later in life, a government task force declared Monday in recommending that women get one every other year starting at age 50. It said 40-somethings should make their own choice after weighing the pros and cons.
When to start routine mammograms and how frequently to get them has long been controversial. The latest guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stick with its advice that women should one every two years between ages 50 and 74. But they also make clear that it’s an option for younger women even though they’re less likely to benefit.
Some health groups urge mammograms every year starting at 40 — although last year the American Cancer Society upped its starting age to 45.
There is some common ground emerging, that mammography advice shouldn’t always be one-size-fits all. “Age 50 isn’t magic,” said task force past chairman Dr. Michael LeFevre of the University of Missouri.
Here are some things to know about mammograms.
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High court seems ready to scrap mandatory public union fees
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court appears ready to deliver a major setback to American unions as it considers scrapping a four-decade precedent that lets public-sector labor organizations collect fees from workers who decline to join.
During more than an hour of oral arguments Monday, the high court’s conservative justices seemed likely to side with a group of California teachers who say those mandatory fees violate the free-speech rights of workers who disagree with a union’s positions.
Labor officials fear unions’ very existence could be threatened if workers are allowed to get all the benefits of representation without at least paying fees to cover the costs of collective bargaining. The case affects more than 5 million workers in 23 states and Washington, D.C.
But Justice Anthony Kennedy rejected arguments by lawyers for the state of California and the California Teachers Association that the current fee system is needed to prevent non-members from becoming “free riders” — workers who reap the rewards of union bargaining and grievance procedures without paying for it.
“The union basically is making these teachers compelled riders for issues on which they strongly disagree,” Kennedy said, noting the political nature of bargaining issues like teacher salaries, merit promotions and class size.