NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-17-2024 4PM EST

Episode Date: November 17, 2024

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Hey, it's Aisha Harris from Pop Culture Happy Hour. If you love NPR podcasts, you'll want the new NPR Plus podcast bundle. Enjoy an all-you-can-eat selection of NPR Plus podcasts with sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes. Plus, you'll be supporting public radio. Check it out at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Aram. President Biden for the first time is allowing Ukraine to fire U.S.-made long-range missiles into Russia. A U.S. official tells NPR the change in policy was spurred by North Korean troops sent to

help Russia in its war against Ukraine. NPR's Tom Bowman has more. The missiles are called a tachems and have a range of some 190 miles. Ukrainian officials and their supporters in the U.S. have long pushed for their use. But the Biden administration refused, fearing Russian escalation. Now with thousands of North Korean troops fighting Ukrainian forces, who have seized portions of the Kursk region of Russia, the administration has allowed the Atacams to strike targets there.

The policy change could lead other countries, especially Britain, to allow their long-range missiles to be used as well. Tom Bowman, NPR News. The head of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party says the chief spokesman for the militant group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli airstrike today while he was visiting the party's offices in central Beirut. It was the latest targeted tilling of a senior Hezbollah official. The attack came as Lebanese officials are considering a U.S.-led ceasefire proposal

for Lebanon. Today, President Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in the Amazon rainforest. He first toured parts of the world's largest tropical rainforest by helicopter, met with local and indigenous leaders in Brazil, and visited a museum. He declared November 17th to be International Conservation Day. We all know there's much more we can do and must do at home and abroad. That's why today I issued an official proclamation to support the conservation of nature around the world.

Because the fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity for generations to come. The administration announced today it's providing another $50 million to the Amazon Fund, an international effort to preserve the rainforest. The Amazon is important in the fight against climate change because it absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide. President-elect Donald Trump has wasted no time in announcing his choices for his next administration. NPR's

Mara Liason reports, some are considered questionable, including Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence, Matt Gaetz for attorney general and Pete Hegseth for defense. None of these three people has experience running large organizations like the Department of Defense or Justice or specific knowledge in these fields. And Tulsi Gabbard, for instance, is a Putin apologist. Matt Gaetz is someone who's been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for drug abuse and having sex with underage women. Pete Hegseth is a veteran and a Fox News Weekend host.

NPR's Mara Lyson, this is NPR News. Montgomery County, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., is the most religiously diverse county in the country. That's according to data from the Public Religion Research Institute. NPR's Sarah Ventry paid a visit. Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church sits on New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland, along with other churches, mosquesques and temples, all within a couple miles of each other.

The Public Religion Research Institute conducted the survey, which found that Montgomery County, Maryland is the country's most religiously diverse. The Institute's Melissa Deckman says the counties at the top of the list have some common denominators. The most populated counties in the country, but they're also the most racially and ethically diverse. Other counties in the top 10 include Kings County, New York, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and San Francisco County, California.

Sarah Ventry, NPR News. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced from their homes in the Philippines by a powerful typhoon. It was the sixth major storm to hit the Southeast Asian country in less than a month. It knocked down trees and destroyed houses. The country's weather agency warns of potentially catastrophic and life-threatening conditions. In the Caribbean, Sarra has weakened to a tropical depression after making landfall in Belize today.

Forecasters expect its heavy rain will cause flash floods and mudslides. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects Sara will continue to lose strength as it moves further inland over the Yucatan Peninsula. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News.