News Headlines - 03 January 2018

▽Michael Wolff’s ‘Fire and Fury’: Inside Trump’s White House

Shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, when the unexpected trend — Trump might actually win — seemed confirmed, Don Jr. told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears — and not of joy.
There was, in the space of little more than an hour, in Steve Bannon’s not unamused observation, a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump. But still to come was the final transformation: Suddenly, Donald Trump became a man who believed that he deserved to be, and was wholly capable of being, the president of the United States.

▽Hatch announces retirement, Romney likely to run - POLITICO

Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator, announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection in November. The move sets the stage for a likely run for his Utah seat by former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney... President Donald Trump tried aggressively to persuade Hatch to seek another term, orchestrating a visit to Utah in which the president lavished praise on Hatch and had the senator accompanty him on Air Force One.
Trump’s move was aimed in no small part at keeping Romney out of the Senate. During the 2016 campaign, Romney emerged as a de facto leader of the “Never Trump” movement, calling then-candidate Trump a “fraud” and “phony” who was unfit to serve.

▽North Korea to open hotline with South to discuss Winter Olympics - CNN

North Korea says it will open its hotline to South Korea for the first time in almost two years on Wednesday, a major diplomatic breakthrough following a year of escalating hostility that could path the way for future talks.

▽'My button is much bigger': Trump threatens North Korea with nuclear war

In a tweet on Wednesday, the US President responded to a speech made by the North Korea leader in which he said "a nuclear button is always on my desk"... "Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"

▽UK looks to join Pacific trade group after Brexit

Britain has held informal talks about joining a flagship Pacific trade group, in an audacious bid to kick-start exports after Brexit.
The proposal, being developed by Liam Fox’s Department for International Trade, would make the UK the first member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership that does not border the Pacific Ocean or the South China Sea.