In Brief | Nation & World | 1-11-16

Mexico: Sean Penn interview helped locate drug lord

MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials say Sean Penn’s contacts with drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman helped them track the fugitive down — even if he slipped away from an initial raid on the hideout where the Hollywood actor apparently met him.

Penn’s article on Guzman was published late Saturday by Rolling Stone magazine, a day after Mexican marines captured the world’s most wanted kingpin in a raid on the city of Los Mochis near the Gulf of California.

Penn wrote of elaborate security precautions, but also said that as he flew to Mexico on Oct 2 for the meeting, “I see no spying eyes, but I assume they are there.”

He was apparently right.

A Mexican federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to comment on the issue, told the Associated Press the Penn interview led authorities to Guzman in the area of Tamazula, a rural part of Durango state.

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Rolling Stone faces criticism over ‘El Chapo’ interview

NEW YORK — It was a big scoop, and one Rolling Stone may well regret.

The magazine made stunning news over the weekend by revealing that actor Sean Penn landed a rare interview last fall with the notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman while Guzman was on the run after escaping through a tunnel from a maximum-security Mexican prison. Guzman was recaptured Friday in Mexico after a shootout that killed five of his associates and wounded one marine.

Penn’s long and often rambling essay, widely mocked on social media, included comments from Guzman on everything from his childhood to his thoughts on the drug trade.

It also raised questions of ethics and judgment, namely whether Penn should have met secretly with one of the world’s most-wanted fugitives, whether the actor crossed the line by giving Guzman approval over the article before it was published, and whether Penn trivialized El Chapo’s murderous past by asking him such questions as “Do you have any dreams?” and “If you could change the world, would you?”

A Rolling Stone spokeswoman did not immediately return requests for comment.

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Powerball jackpot world’s largest at $1.3 billion

OMAHA, Neb. — Disappointed you didn’t win the Powerball jackpot this weekend? Don’t be.

Lottery officials say the prize has now swelled to an estimated $1.3 billion — the world’s largest. Ever.

“Biggest jackpot in the history of the world. Absolutely confirmed,” Texas Lottery executive director Gary Grief said.

The jackpot is so big that billboards in Texas and around the country have to advertise the price as $999 million because they’re not built to show billions. The lottery computers will handle the decimal point without a problem.

No one matched all six Powerball numbers Saturday night, leading to the astronomical prize. And that is all but certain to grow before the next drawing Wednesday, according to lottery officials.

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Cruz, Trump up in Iowa, but talk of ‘takedown’ effort fades

DES MOINES, Iowa — Three weeks before Iowa kicks off the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are generating overwhelming enthusiasm among Republican voters in the state, along with concern, though not panic, among the party professionals who believe both are unelectable in November against the Democratic nominee.

Despite such fears, talk of a “takedown” effort aimed at either Trump or Cruz appears to have faded as the Feb. 1 caucuses in Iowa near. For now, there is nervous acceptance that two of the Republican Party’s most divisive figures may stay at the top of the presidential pack well into the first month of voters’ getting their say.

“Cruz would not only cost us the general, he would cost the GOP the future. Trump is not a Republican and he is not a conservative,” said Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, who is not affiliated with a 2016 campaign. “The geometry is conflicting: If you limit one, you aid the other.

“At the end,” Castellanos said, “Republicans may face the devil’s bargain and have to settle for the lesser of two anti-establishment evils.”

That feeling is echoed by party officials across the country, who acknowledged they have few tools to stop Cruz or Trump. Instead, there is hope that voters ultimately settle on what they consider a more viable alternative from a group of candidates that includes Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

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Afghan forces struggle as ranks thinned by ‘ghost’ soldiers

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan forces are struggling to man the front lines against a resurgent Taliban, in part because of untold numbers of “ghost” troops who are paid salaries but only exist on paper.

The nationwide problem has been particularly severe in the southern Helmand province, where the Taliban have seized vast tracts of territory in the 12 months since the U.S. and NATO formally ended their combat mission and switched to training and support.

“At checkpoints where 20 soldiers should be present, there are only eight or 10,” said Karim Atal, head of Helmand’s provincial council. “It’s because some people are getting paid a salary but not doing the job because they are related to someone important, like a local warlord.”

In some cases, the “ghost” designation is more literal — dead soldiers and police remain on the books, with senior police or army officials pocketing their salaries without replacing them, Atal said.

He estimates that some 40 percent of registered forces don’t exist, and says the lack of manpower has helped the Taliban seize 65 percent of the province — Afghanistan’s largest — and threaten the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Those men who do serve face even greater danger because of the no-shows. In the last three months alone, some 700 police officers have been killed and 500 wounded, he said.

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Sean Penn drama adds surreal undercurrent to Golden Globes

As a lure for Hollywood stars, the Golden Globes Awards are nearly unmatched. But the 73rd annual show, where actors were streaming down the red carpet Sunday, may have already been upstaged by the surrealism of Sean Penn’s intrepid journalism.

There were plenty of story lines heading into the Globes in Beverly Hills, California: Can the Boston Globe drama “Spotlight” triumph as best picture? Will the nerdy science-fiction hit “The Martian” top the comedy nominees? How will Ricky Gervais do as host after a lauded three-year stint by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler?

But the revelation Saturday that Penn traveled clandestinely to Mexico to interview the drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman for Rolling Stone magazine was sure to be one of the night’s most buzzed-about topics. Penn was not in attendance Sunday, but surely had Gervais making last-minute changes to his opening monologue.

Early notable looks on the red carpet included “Jane the Virgin” star Gina Rodriguez in an off-the-shoulder gown. “Blindspot” star Jaimie Alexander somehow hid her own real tattoos in a green gown with a neckline that plunged all the way to the navel as the stars of film and TV arrived Sunday for the Golden Globe Awards.

Emmy Rossum wore a tight red dress and a twisting diamond necklace, Brie Larson shimmered in gold and Laverne Cox rocked a backless gown in ivory crepe with a fishtail train.

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Powerful US bomber flies over S. Korea as standoff deepens

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — A powerful U.S. B-52 bomber flew low over South Korea on Sunday, a clear show of force from the United States as a Cold War-style standoff deepened between its ally Seoul and North Korea following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test.

North Korea will read the fly-over of a bomber capable of delivering nuclear weapons — seen by an Associated Press photographer at Osan Air Base near Seoul — as a threat. Any hint of America’s nuclear power enrages Pyongyang, which links its own pursuit of atomic weapons to what it sees as past nuclear-backed moves by the United States to topple its authoritarian government.

The B-52 was joined by South Korean F-15 and U.S. F-16 fighters and returned to its base in Guam after the flight, the U.S. military said.

“This was a demonstration of the ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies in South Korea, in Japan, and to the defense of the American homeland,” said Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander U.S. Pacific Command, in a statement. “North Korea’s nuclear test is a blatant violation of its international obligations.”

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said the B-52 flight was intended to underscore to South Korean allies “the deep and enduring alliance that we have with them.” Interviewed on CNN’s “State of the Union,” McDonough said the United States would work with South Korea, Japan, China and Russia “to deeply isolate the North Koreans” and “squeeze” them until they live up to prior commitments to get rid of their nuclear weapons.

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Ranchers’ cause, not tactics, gains support in GOP circles

DENVER (AP) — Republicans have widely condemned the armed standoff by a group of ranchers to reclaim federal land in eastern Oregon, but their goal of taking back some of Washington’s vast holdings in the West has gained traction in the GOP.

The decades-old idea could garner even more momentum should the party recapture the White House this year.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has proposed preventing the federal government from owning more than 50 percent of the land in any state, which would require changes, for example, in Alaska, Nevada and other Western states.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has backed legislation to give states the ability to develop energy resources on federal land and told the Des Moines Register editorial board that “the federal government owns far too much land” in the West.

Both senators backed an amendment offered by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski last year that would make it easier for federal land to be returned to state control.

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‘Star Wars’ tops DiCaprio in ‘Revenant’ to stay No. 1

LOS ANGELES — “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” stayed on top of the North American box office for the fourth straight weekend, beating out Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant,” and becoming the third-largest grossing movie in the world ever.

According to studio estimates Sunday, the adventures of Rey, Finn and stalwarts from the previous “Star Wars” films raked in $41.6 million in the U.S. and Canada and $104.3 million overseas, led by a record-breaking opening in China.

Disney distribution Executive Vice President Dave Hollis said the expected $53 million debut weekend in China was “spectacular” given the film is the first “Star Wars” episode many Chinese people have ever seen. “We’re very encouraged,” he said.

In the U.S. and Canada, it is the biggest movie ever and the first to pass $800 million with $812 million so far.

Its global total now stands at $1.73 billion, according to The Walt Disney Co., passing “Jurassic World,” with $1.67 billion.