NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-31-2024 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

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From poll numbers to talking points to all the drama, we get it. Election season can be a lot. That's why here at NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we're in the business of providing a little release from the squeeze of the political season. Try out any of our shows on the latest in TV, movies, and music to keep you grounded and bring you back to earth. New episodes every week on Pop Culture Happy Hour hour only from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Harris and Trump campaigns look to southwestern swing states today, notably Arizona and Nevada have some of the largest concentrations of Latino voters in the country. And as NPR's Ben Jals reports, former president Donald Trump will also be adding a stop in New Mexico.

Trump will host afternoon rallies in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Las Vegas suburbs before joining Tucker Carlson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Glendale, Arizona for an event billed as a benefit for hurricane relief. Vice president Kamala Harris will host a get out the vote rally and concert in Phoenix. Later this afternoon, she heads to Reno and then Las Vegas to rally support in Nevada.

With only days before the election, this may be the last chance for both Harris and Trump to deliver their closing arguments in two states that could help secure an electoral college victory on Tuesday. Ben Giles, NPR News. Northern Israel came under another wave of rocket attacks today, killing seven people. The Associated Press reports four were foreign workers. Meanwhile, the Israeli military is telling residents in southern Lebanon to evacuate as more strikes target Hezbollah militants.

A top Israeli military official says soldiers fighting multiple wars against Iran-backed militants are under strain and need more help. Here's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News

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NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR News Agency, NPR year in Gaza with longer and longer deployments for soldiers. Last month, Israel called up even more reservists as it began its invasion into southern Lebanon. And Israel has troops regularly operating in the Israeli occupied West Bank as well. Casualties on Israel's military are also mounting. October was one of the deadliest months for its troops in recent years. That's as, of course, civilian casualties in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank are mounting as well. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. A House subcommittee investigating the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic is urging the Justice Department to launch a criminal probe of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. NPR's Brian Mann reports a Republican-led panel alleges Cuomo a Democrat lied in testimony.

Cuomo has long faced criticism for his handling of nursing home residents hit hard by COVID-19. Republican members of the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic say the former governor made criminally false statements during an interview about his role with the panel back in June. They urged the DOJ to consider criminal charges. Cuomo denies any wrongdoing. His attorneys filed their own complaint with the DOJ, claiming the House panel's work is biased. This Republican effort to bring charges against Cuomo comes as former President Donald Trump

is promising to use the DOJ to prosecute political opponents if he wins next week's election. Brian Mann, NPR News. This is NPR. Secretary of State Ant Anthony Blinken says the U.S. expects about 8,000 North Korean troops deployed to the Kursk region bordering Ukraine will be sent into combat in the coming days. The administration has called North Korea's military support of Russia's war against Ukraine a dangerous development that could widen the war in the region. Halo is recalling about 60,000 Tumblers sold exclusively at Wawa stores.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission's website states, the products have metal straws that can cut a person's fingers or mouth. The products have been linked to at least four injuries. They're reusable plastic Tumblers branded as the mermaid, island surf, sailor breeze, and the galaxy. New research explains how parrots make the reds and yellows in their feathers. Reporter Ari Daniel explains how certain birds contributed

to that discovery. Researchers started with the dusky lorry, a black parrot ringed with red or yellow. They traced this either or coloration back to an enzyme that converts the parrot's red pigment into the yellow one by making a small change to the molecule. When the team looked at another kind of parrot, the rosy-faced lovebird, they found the enzyme at work there too.

So now we know definitely a little bit more about how one of the most colorful groups of animals in the world make their colors. Roberto Arbore is an evolutionary biologist at the University of Porto. Next up, they hope to examine the genes in parrots responsible for creating the color blue. The research appears in the journal Science. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, in Washington.