NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-16-2024 4PM EST

Episode Date: November 16, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Both Democrats and Republicans are increasing the pressure on the House Ethics Committee to release the details of a probe into former Congressman Matt Gaetz. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the Florida Republican was under investigation on allegations of sex trafficking and drug use. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican of Texas, says the Senate should gain access to all relevant information by whatever means necessary.

But Republican Congressman Tom Emmer of Minnesota says he doesn't believe anything substantial would be revealed. When it comes to the ethics committee, that is a committee that is nonpartisan. It has the same number of Republicans and Democrats on it. They will make that decision and it doesn't matter what the speaker says or what I say. Speaker Mike Johnson says he'll strongly request that the House Ethics Committee withhold its report. Gates resigned from Congress this week after President-elect Donald Trump

nominated him to serve as the nation's next Attorney General. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is laying out his vision for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia once Trump takes office. NPR's Hanna Palmarenko reports. In an interview with the Ukrainian public broadcaster, Volodymyr Zelensky said he believes the war will end faster under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, citing unspecified policies. And Zelensky added the war should end through diplomatic means. Zelensky said Saturday he and Trump had a constructive interaction in September, and

the Ukrainian side had the opportunity to present its position on the vision of peace. A just peace is important for us so that there is no feeling that we have lost the best for the sake of injustice that was imposed on us, Zelensky said. Hanna Polomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. The annual United Nations climate meeting called COP29 is now at the halfway point in Baku, Azerbaijan. Representatives from around the world are discussing how best to reduce global warming. Countries had agreed on goals in Paris almost 10 years ago.

NPR's Jeff Brady reports it's not likely they'll meet the target. The Paris goal is to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, that's 2.7 Fahrenheit, over pre-industrial temperatures. And scientists tell us that's what's needed to avoid some really bad climate effects. We're already experiencing some of them, more severe storms, you know, flooding, extreme heat. Wealthy countries agreed to cut greenhouse gases first, but the world is not on track to meet that Paris Agreement goal and will likely push past that goal. NPR's Jeff Brady, at this halfway point climate change activists are demonstrating demanding

more be done to fight climate change. This is NPR News. Climate change is expected to come up in Peru shortly, where President Biden is meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a global summit. The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade issues. In the UK, a Yorkshire village has been overrun by bird watchers after a rare American songbird was spotted there. Vicki Barker reports from London.

The song of the scarlet tanager normally heard only in the deciduous eastern forests of North America or in its winter grounds of lowland South America. So when a scarlet tanager was spotted in West Yorkshire, it didn't take long for hundreds of bird watchers or twitchers, as they're called in Britain, to converge on an unremarkable suburban street in the town of Shelf. While some locals are complaining about the resulting disruption to daily life, others say they're excited to see their village put on the map and made a footnote to history with what's believed to be the first such

sighting in the UK in 10 years and only the eighth in recorded history. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. McDonald says it will spend 100 million dollars to persuade customers to buy its hamburgers again after a multi-state E. coli outbreak. More than 100 people fell ill between September 12th and October 21st. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say slivered onions on the quarter-pounders were the likely source.

I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.