NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-31-2024 12AM EDT

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from the NPR Wine Club, which has generated over $1.75 million to support NPR programming. Whether buying a few bottles or joining the club, you can learn more at nprwineclub.org slash podcast. Must be 21 or older to purchase. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Former President Donald Trump continues to spread baseless claims of large-scale election cheating in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

As NPR's Hansi Leung reports, many election observers say the Trump campaign is laying the groundwork for questioning Pennsylvania's election results. There's no evidence of large-scale levels of cheating in the swing state of Pennsylvania. There is an investigation into potentially fraudulent voter registration forms in two counties west of Philadelphia. Last week in Lancaster County, officials said they're looking into approximately 2,500 applications and in York County officials say they're looking into thousands. All were dropped off around Pennsylvania's deadline last week for registering to vote in this fall's election.

So far, officials have not named the sources of these forms. Lancaster County election officials stressed that their ability to flag this potential fraud shows that the, quote, systems worked. Local law enforcement say they're also part of the investigations. Anzila Wong, NPR News. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is campaigning in dozens of swing districts across the country. He's trying to boost the Republican Party's prospects of keeping the House majority. NPR's Deidre Walsh reports that Johnson's future is linked to the outcome.

Speaker Johnson has held the gavel for about a year, and out on the campaign trail, he talks about plans for another term. When we take control again, and we have unified government, when we have the White House, the Senate and the House, we're going gonna have the most aggressive first 100 days agenda that Congress you've ever seen. Johnson is touting his ties to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. He says border security is his top priority. Then Republicans will focus on extending Trump's tax cuts, passing legislation on energy and regulatory changes. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News. Biomedical researchers need to change

how they use race and ethnicity in research. NPR's Maria Godoy has more on a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Race and ethnicity are used widely in biomedical research. That in turn influences clinical guidelines and algorithms that help determine what kind of care patients get.

In the new report, the National Academy says sometimes racial and ethnic categories are used inappropriately as substitutes for factors like genetics or environmental exposures. And this can contribute to the mistaken notion that racial and ethnic groups are biologically distinct when they are not. It says this can also result in worse medical care for patients of color. The report offers recommendations for scientists, funders, and scientific publications to use race and ethnicity in a more ethical and scientifically sound way. It comes as part of a broader movement to root out bias in medicine.

Maria Godoy, NPR News. The Los Angeles Dodgers have won the World Series after beating the New York Yankees in Game 5. It is the eighth championship for the Dodgers. U.S. futures are lower in after-hours trading on Wall Street following Wednesday's losses. This is NPR. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his South Korean counterpart on Wednesday at the Pentagon.

The two officials are expressing concerns about the presence of North Korean troops in Russia. Austin suggested that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is using the North to obtain support for his war in Ukraine. Pyongyang has reportedly sent roughly 10,000 troops to Russia, some of them already moving toward the border with Ukraine. Meanwhile, North Korea says that it test-fired another intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday.

Federal health officials say they have pinpointed the source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened roughly 90 people who ate quarter-pounder hamburgers from McDonald's in multiple states. As NPR's Peng Wong reports, the culprit is fresh, slivered onions. At least 90 people have gotten sick and one person has died in an E. coli outbreak that originated in Colorado and spans 13 states. Federal health authorities say they've traced the problem to slivered onions sourced from a large produce supplier called Taylor Farms. The onions were processed in Colorado and sent out to 900 McDonald's restaurants, mostly in the West and Midwest. The onions were mostly

used on quarter-pounder hamburgers. McDonald's stopped serving the burger in several states during the investigation. Now, they say it's coming back this week, but without the onions in some places. Health authorities say the risk to the public is now very low, as the slivered onions have been removed from McDonald's supply chain and no other ingredients have been implicated. Ping Huang, NPR News. Again, U.S. futures are lower in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR News. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow.

Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family. For additional information, visit DignityMemorial.ca.