NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-02-2024 12PM EDT

Episode Date: November 2, 2024

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We finally made it, election week. It's what this whole never-ending election cycle has been building up to. And what happens now will dictate the future of the country. Keep up with election news when it matters most with NPR's Consider This podcast. All this week, we are taking major stories from the election to help you make sense of them and what they mean for you in under 15 minutes. Listen now to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. The Justice Department says it plans to send monitors to polling places in 27 states for election day next week to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports.

Ryan Lucas The Justice Department enforces federal laws that protect the right to vote. As part of that mission, it regularly sends staff to monitor polling places. This year, the Department says it is sending monitors to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states. On Election Day itself, Justice Department personnel will be available to field questions and complaints about possible violations of federal voting rights laws that include statutes that prohibit voter intimidation and voter suppression, as well as laws that ensure access to the polls for people with disabilities.

It says complaints about violence, threats of violence, or intimidation at polling places should first be reported immediately to local authorities. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Texas has told the Justice Department it will not allow federal monitors at its polling places, saying the state has its own procedures to ensure free and fair elections. A federal jury in Louisville found former police detective Brett Hackinson guilty of violating

Breonna Taylor's rights when she was killed by police in 2020. Amina Elahi of Louisville Public Media reports. The decision came hours after jurors indicated they were deadlocked on the charge. Hankison was part of the raid in which police shot and killed Taylor in her home. Prosecutors say he fired into Taylor's apartment building through a covered door and window with no line of sight to the inside. Hankison faces a maximum of life in prison and will be sentenced in March. So far, it's the only conviction of an officer who executed the search warrant at Taylor's apartment. Her death fueled mass protests in 2020, calling for racial justice and police accountability. The jury also returned a not guilty verdict for a second count of civil rights

violations, which focused on Taylor's neighbors. For NPR News, I'm Amina Elahi in Louisville. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced the deployment of 10,000 more soldiers and police to join the rescue operation in Valencia after this week's flash flooding in landslides. He's heard here through a BBC interpreter. In total, we're talking about the biggest deployment of emergency services and the army that we have ever deployed in peacetime in our country. This deployment has already made 4,800 rescues and helped over 30,000 people, rescuing them

from homes, roads and flooded industrial estates. Unfortunately, the scope of this disaster means that this is not enough. We know that aid is taking time to reach certain locations. There are still garages and homes that are blocked, and people are still trapped. Two hundred eleven people are confirmed dead, dozens are still missing. This is NPR News in Washington. The Serbian government declared a day of mourning today. A roof collapsed at the entrance to a railway station in a northern city yesterday, killing

14 people. Officials are promising a thorough investigation. The station has been renovated twice in recent years. The Serbian opposition is calling for protests, accusing the government of corruption and excessive red tape. The World Health Organization is resuming its polio vaccine campaign today to bring a second dose to children in northern Gaza. It was postponed last week by health officials concerned about safety and the heavy Israeli bombardment in the area. NPR's Kat Lansdorf reports. The polio vaccine requires two doses to effectively stop transmission. When the

first dose was administered in the north back in September, Israel assured humanitarian pauses across the area. But this time there will only be a pause in Gaza City. Israeli officials say that's because other areas in the north have been mostly evacuated. But the WHO says around 15,000 children who need the second dose remain in northern areas that are inaccessible. Israeli forces have besieged parts of northern Gaza for weeks. Saint Hamas has regrouped there. The second dose of the vaccine was administered in other parts of Gaza last month. That campaign was largely successful. Kat Lansdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

Britain's Conservative Party elected a new leader today. Kemi Badenach is the first black woman to head a major British political party. She replaces Rishi Sunak. He stepped down after the Conservatives lost more than 200 seats in parliamentary elections in July. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.