Wednesday's Headlines: Trump displays unorthodox style in how he made State Department pick

Tillerson's ties with Putin, other autocrats forged over decades ; Trump selects Rep. Ryan Zinke, who frequently votes against environmentalists, to lead Interior; Perry picked for Energy Dept., an agency he once vowed to abolish; Scientists are copying climate data, fearing it may vanish under Trump; Shelling resumes in Aleppo as evacuation deal stalls; Ohio governor vetoes 'heartbeat bill' but signs another abortion restriction into law;   The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories Trump displays unorthodox style in how he made State Department pick In reality-show-like fashion, names were floated, aides took sides, and Donald Trump grew increasingly disenchanted with his early options of a secretary of state nominee, according to those involved in the process. Then came an unexpected suggestion from former CIA director and former defense secretary Robert M. Gates. "I recommend Rex," Gates told Trump, referring to Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of ExxonMobil. By Michael Kranish, Anne Gearan, Dan Balz and Philip Rucker  •  Read more » Tillerson's ties with Putin, other autocrats forged over decades President-elect Donald Trump's choice of Rex Tillerson thrust the oil executive into the long-standing U.S. foreign-policy divide separating those who value pragmatism and dealmaking from those who attach greater importance to principles, human rights and democracy. By Steven Mufson  •  Read more »   Trump selects Rep. Ryan Zinke, who frequently votes against environmentalists, to lead Interior The Montana congressman sits on the House Natural Resources Committee as well as the Armed Services Committee. A lifelong hunter and fisherman, Zinke has defended public access to federal lands. By Juliet Eilperin  •  Read more »   Perry picked for Energy Dept., an agency he once vowed to abolish Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is likely to shift the department away from renewable energy and toward fossil fuels, the production of which he championed as Texas governor. By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Scientists are copying climate data, fearing it may vanish under Trump The efforts include a "guerrilla archiving event" in Toronto where experts will copy irreplaceable public data, and meetings at the University of Pennsylvania focused on how to download as much federal data as possible in the coming weeks. By Brady Dennis  •  Read more »   Shelling resumes in Aleppo as evacuation deal stalls Under a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey, a ceasefire was supposed to go into effect, allowing Syrian rebels and civilians to leave Aleppo. Instead, the buses meant to take them out of the city remained grounded as the violence resumed early Wednesday. By Louisa Loveluck  •  Read more »   Ohio governor vetoes 'heartbeat bill' but signs another abortion restriction into law Gov. John Kasich rejected a bill that would have banned abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy but signed a measure prohibiting the procedure later in pregnancy. By Sandhya Somashekhar  •  Read more »   Opinions   Trump is the star of his own movie. Here's a review. By Kathleen Parker  •  Read more »   What will be Trump's legacy? Who cares. By Garrison Keillor  •  Read more »   Trump is playing a risky spy game By David Ignatius  •  Read more »   One last deal Trump should make By Editorial Board  •  Read more »   Six presidents have failed to cut red tape. Here's how Trump could succeed. By Philip K. Howard  •  Read more »   A call to arms from Attorney General Loretta Lynch By Jonathan Capehart  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   Uncertainty about British economy forces U.K. firms to mull their own Brexits While the initial economic impact has been milder than many feared after June's vote to exit the European Union, there are signs of a gathering storm as businesses opt to shift operations overseas rather than stick it out. By Griff Witte  •  Read more » The places where opiates killed the most people in 2015 Federal data shows that America is in fact dealing with multiple opioid epidemics right now — each with a distinct geographic footprint. By Christopher Ingraham  •  Read more » YouTube blocks North Korean channel to avoid breaching sanctions The action was apparently taken not because of the content in the channel but because the North Korean regime could earn money from it through advertising. By Anna Fifield  •  Read more » ‘The Voice’ finale: What Sundance Head’s victory over Billy Gilman says about the show One theory is that viewers are finally starting to tire of "The Voice" hyping contestants who were already famous, or at the very least, appear to have an unfair advantage. By Emily Yahr  •  Read more » Alan Thicke, who portrayed the father on '80s sitcom 'Growing Pains,' dies at 69 The actor, who appeared in recent years on "How I Met Your Mother," "Fuller House" and other TV shows, reportedly had a heart attack. By Emily Yahr  •  Read more » Barry Svrluga | Columnist In college football, the rich get richer, and the poor look for new coaches The University of Houston provided a textbook example of the conundrum for college football programs not in one of the Power Five conferences: Either you're losing and trying to find a winner, or you're winning and someone is waiting to steal your coach. By Barry Svrluga  •  Read more » Why do dogs behave the way they do? Scientists want to study your pet's DNA. Researchers hope to collect thousands of dog DNA samples to understand why some breeds have better memories than others, what genes make Labs so good at retrieving, or even what drives some dogs to bark at the UPS guy. By Karin Brulliard  •  Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you are signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071