NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2024 7AM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. For the first time, President Biden 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 the deployment of North Korean

troops who were 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 US 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. Brazil is hosting the summit of the group of 20 nations in Rio de Janeiro. President Biden is there. Before he arrived in Rio, Biden visited the Amazon rainforest, the first sitting U.S. president to do so. The G20 summit is focused on global governance, poverty and climate change. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says nations that are more wealthy must step up to help developing countries fight climate change. I will appeal to the sense of responsibility of all G20 countries. Now is the time for leadership by example from the world's largest economies

and emitters. Failure is not an option. The summit comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. Over the weekend, Trump named his choice for the next U.S. Energy Secretary. It is Chris Wright, the head of an oil and gas company. Wright has publicly said there is no global climate crisis. He has also claimed there is no increase in the intensity of weather disasters. That is not what climate scientists say, who point to evidence human activity is causing global warming. Nearly 40 people have become ill, and one person has died following an E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots. Several brands of carrots have since been recalled,

including some sold at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Walmart. And Pierce Juliana Kim reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday, it's investigating a multi-state E. coli outbreak tied to organic carrots. The cases have emerged in more than a dozen states, with the highest numbers reported in Washington, Minnesota, and New York.

But the CDC warns that the outbreak may have reached additional states, and the actual number of infections is likely much higher. Investigations indicate that Grimway Farms was the common supplier of the organic carrots consumed by individuals before they got sick. On Saturday, the company initiated a recall for some of its carrots that were sold at major retailers including Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Walmart. Juliana Kim, NPR News. It's NPR. The well-known polling expert with the Des Moines Register newspaper, Jay Ann Selzer, says she is ending her polling operations.

She says she's moving to other opportunities. Selzer has been looked to for years as a top polling expert. Her previous polls included then-Senator Barack Obama winning the Iowa caucuses in 2008. But this past election, Selzer had Vice President Kamala Harris, head of Donald Trump, in Iowa in the general election. Trump won Iowa. Health care workers who were on the job when COVID ripped through nursing homes and hospitals are still struggling many of symptoms of PTSD and long COVID. They've been asking for assistance but employers and the government have offered little in the way of support. Amy

Maxman of our partner KFF Health News has more. Deborah Ragunanan is a nursing assistant. She has panic attacks, brain fog, and recently suffered an aneurysm. She traces the problems back to a COVID outbreak in 2020 when she was caring for veterans at a long-term nursing facility. Ragunanan still works there today.

All of us have to go right back where the COVID started. So that's a double whammy. That's a double kick. At work, she relives the trauma of the outbreak. She and other nursing assistants have asked for help and compensation. As low wage caretakers, they can't easily change jobs or take time off to heal. That's Amy Maxman with our partner KFF Health News.

There's a state of emergency still in effect on part of the border between New Jersey and New York where the Jennings Creek wildfire is burning. It has scorched more than 2,200 acres. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.