NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-17-2024 7PM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

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The ocean floor is abundant with minerals needed to power electric cars and other green technologies, but mining those minerals may harm coastal communities. These metals that are going to be dig out of our ocean will not benefit anyone from here. On the Sunday story from Up First, a look at the opportunity and dangers of mining the ocean floor. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Hurst. 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 Atacams 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. President-elect Trump has announced more than two dozen names for his next administration. Few have been more polarizing than his choice of former representative Matt Gaetz for attorney general. And Pierce Luke Garrett has more.

Trump's pick for the nation's top cop was being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for various allegations, including sexual misconduct. Gaetz has since resigned from Congress, making it unclear whether the committee's investigation will be released. On Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson made his wishes clear on CNN. The report is not finished. It's in a rough draft form. It was not yet ready to be released. And since Matt Gates left the Congress, I don't think it's appropriate to do so. Speaker Johnson went on to say he has not discussed this with Trump.

The president and I have literally not discussed one word about the ethics report, not once. In the past, the House has at times released ethics reports on former members of Congress. And some Senate Republicans are now saying they want to see this report on Gates. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. Walmart and other big retailers will unveil their quarterly report cards this week. As NPR's Maria Aspin reports, investors will be closely watching for updates on consumer spending. Walmart is the world's largest retailer, so its earnings should provide a window into

how consumers are feeling about the U.S. economy and what they're willing to spend money on. Target, Lowe's, and TJ Maxx will round out the picture days after the Commerce Department said that retail sales rose more than expected in October. Shoppers are buying more big ticket items like cars and electronics. They're also spending more at home and garden shops after hurricanes swept through the Southeast.

That may help boost Lowe's results as homeowners rebuild and repair the damage. R may help boost Lowe's results as homeowners rebuild and repair the damage. Rival Home Depot last week reported better than expected earnings due in part to what it called hurricane demand. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. US futures contracts are trading in mixed territory. Dow futures down a fraction. NASDAQ futures up 0.3%. This is NPR News. Nearly three-quarters of all adults in the U.S. are now overweight or obese. And Piers Maria Godoy reports that's the conclusion of a broad new study that finds obesity rates

among adults and children have skyrocketed since 1990. The study found that rates of obesity among adults and adolescents ages 15 and up have at least doubled in the past three decades, and more than one in three children now have overweight or obesity. The researchers say that's alarming because obesity can trigger serious health conditions that are now occurring at younger ages, including type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, and cancer. They note that already the prevalence of childhood hypertension and diabetes is rising. The researchers warn that, without action to reverse these trends, more than 43 million kids and adolescents ages 5 and up will be overweight or obese

by 2050. The findings appear in the journal The Lancet. Maria Godoy, NPR News. An 18-carat Tiffany Gold pocket watch given to the ship captain who rescued 700 survivors from the Titanic sold at auction for nearly $2 million, a record for memorabilia from the shipwreck. The watch was given by the widow of John Jacob Astor, the richest man to die in the disaster, and the widow of two other wealthy businessmen who went down with the ship to Captain Arthur Rostrand. He diverted his passenger ship to rescue Titanic passengers after the ship hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage in 1912. It's the second time the watch sold in the past seven months. I'm Janene Herbst,

NPR News from Washington.