NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-16-2024 9PM EST

Episode Date: November 17, 2024

NPR News: 11-16-2024 9PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwali Sikowtow. President-elect Trump is filling out his cabinet quickly, and NPR's Domenico in Montenegro reports that Trump's picks are very different than the ones he made eight years ago for his first term. When Trump took office in 2016, he was a political outsider. He didn't have many friends in Washington, so he relied on Republicans that he was getting to know. But he clashed with many of the traditionalists that he appointed—generals who later called

him a fascist and a threat to the Constitution, a senator who pushed back against directives at the Justice Department. This time around, it's a team of loyalists and campaign allies. And with control over Congress, that could mean more sweeping changes done more quickly. Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington. At a sideline meeting of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit taking place this weekend in Peru, Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met with reporters before going into what some say might be their official last talks before President-elect Trump returns

to the White House. Here's Biden on where U.S.-China relations stand. We haven't always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank. We have never kidded one another. We've been level with one another. Speaking through an interpreter, Xi had this to say about U.S.-China relations under the Biden administration. Under our joint stewardship, the two sides have also been engaged in fruitful dialogue

and cooperation, and the relationship has been kept stable on the whole. A minister in the far-right Dutch government has resigned over what she says have been racist comments made by other officials. Terry Schultz reports. The Dutch government was on the edge of collapse Friday night amid the possibility that several ministers would quit over what they say are Islamophobic reactions to violence against supporters of an Israeli soccer team on November 8. After crisis consultations, only one junior minister from an opposition party, Nora Achaabar,

decided to leave. She was born in Morocco and says positions in the government have become so polarized, particularly against migrants, that she can no longer carry out her duties in the finance ministry. The government in the Netherlands is the most right-wing in the country's history, dominated by the far-right Party for Freedom. The party wants to deport any dual nationals who were involved in the soccer violence. For NPR News, I'm Terri Schultz. President-elect Donald Trump is possibly going to make an appearance at Madison Square Garden

tonight for the UFC 309 fight for the World Heavyweight Championship between John Jones and Stipe Miocic. Trump's deputy communications director Margot Martin shared a social media post hours ago, saying Trump is off to UFC 309. If confirmed, Trump is likely to meet one of his biggest supporters, MMA promoter Dana White. This is NPR News. New research finds that acute stress reduces a mouse's ability to form precise memories, and Piers John Hamilton has more on a study in the journal Cell.

Usually, mice are very good at learning that one tone means a mild shock while another poses no threat. But researchers found that stressed mice had trouble remembering which tone was which. In an experiment, mice were physically restrained for 30 minutes, something that causes acute stress. Then they were exposed to both the harmless tone and the tone paired with a shock. Afterward, these mice would freeze in response to either tone. That suggests stress had impaired their ability to form precise memories. Instead, they had formed a generalized memory that associated any tone with

a threat. The finding could explain why people with post-traumatic stress disorder tend to mistake harmless signals in the environment for signals that indicate danger. John Hamilton, NPR News. Videos of Maori lawmakers staging a traditional haka dance to oppose a controversial New Zealand bill that questions race relations with Indigenous people continue to go viral on social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok and X. The lawmaker who led the dance protest in Parliament, Hanna Rāpiti Maipi-Clark of the Tupati Māori Maori Party has been suspended. On Friday, hundreds of Maori demonstrators began a march aiming to walk 660 miles from a North Island city

to Parliament, arriving this Tuesday. I'm Dwali Saikal Tau, NPR News in New York.