5 things you need to know Tuesday
More Senate hearings on the agenda for Trump's Cabinet picks
As President Trump plans to meet with top auto industry executives Tuesday, his Cabinet nominees will face another round of Senate hearings on Capitol Hill. The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, California Sen. Diane Feinstein, plans to request a delay on the confirmation vote for Jeff Sessions’ nomination as attorney general Tuesday, just days after a new commercial, backed by a Republican non-profit group, called Sessions a “civil rights champion.” Other notable hearings include; Ben Carson, up for secretary of Housing and Urban Development; nominee for budget director for Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney; and Tom Price, Health secretary nominee. Betsy DeVos was supposed to be confirmed as secretary of Education on Tuesday, but a delay until Jan. 31 will allow her to answer written questions from lawmakers.
Oscar nominations announced in Los Angeles
There won't be a third year of #OscarsSoWhite complaints. After being shut out in 2015 and 2016, all four major acting categories as well as best director have at least one person of color, and three best picture contenders — Moonlight, Hidden Figures and Fences — feature mostly black casts. The nominees were announced Tuesday morning. The acclaimed Hollywood musical La La Land is singing pretty, tying All About Eve and Titanic for the most nominations ever — 14 total — at the 89th Academy Awards. Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting the ceremony live from Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre on ABC Feb. 26 (7 ET/4 PT).
Baseball world pays its final respects to Yordano Ventura
Family members and teammates are expected to attend Yordano Ventura's funeral service Tuesday, days after the hard-throwing and fearless right-hander's tragic car accident. The Kansas City Royals pitcher, 25, was killed in car crash in his native Dominican Republic, where he practiced with his former youth baseball team every time he visited the Caribbean country. Ventura's death comes more than two years after another promising young player, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras, was killed in a car accident with his girlfriend in the Dominican Republic. Authorities have not determined what caused the crash, but they suspect speeding as a cause.
Britain's Supreme Court to rule on Brexit case
Britain's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the government cannot start the process of leaving the European Union without an act of Parliament authorizing it to do so. The high court last year ruled that Parliament must approve triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty — which begins the divorce process from the 28-member bloc — despite Prime Minister Theresa May's insistence that she alone has the power to do so. May issued a wide-ranging speech on Brexit last week, and has vowed to trigger the official exit process by the end of March when she formally invokes Article 50. The process to negotiate leaving the EU is expected to take at least two years.
Gene Cernan, last man on the moon, to be laid to rest
When former Navy pilot Gene Cernan climbed the ladder into the Apollo 17 lunar module in December 1972, his were the last human footprints to be left on the moon. Cernan, who also took part in the Apollo 10 “dress rehearsal” mission in May 1969, died on January 16 at 82 and will be buried Tuesday at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. Cernan first went into space in 1966 with NASA’s Gemini program and was the second person to perform a spacewalk — during which he nearly died. His Apollo 17 stint was the longest moon landing and the furthest distance traveled on the lunar surface.
And the essentials:
Weather: Tuesday's forecast calls for snow in upstate New York to New England, while the Midwest will receive rain during the evening commute.
Stocks: Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as uncertainty mounted over President Trump’s trade and regulatory policies.
TV Tonight: Wondering what to watch tonight? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (CW) and This Is Us (NBC).
Be inspired: For his 90th birthday, this guy celebrated by jumping out of the sky.
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Source: The Associated Press
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