Trump NATO pick Matthew Whitaker; Google Chrome : NPR

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Immediately’s high tales

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Matthew Whitaker, who has no international coverage expertise, to symbolize America’s pursuits as his ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Group. Whitaker labored within the Justice Division throughout Trump’s first presidential time period, initially as chief of workers to Lawyer Basic Jeff Classes after which briefly as performing lawyer basic. NATO is likely one of the many nationwide and world establishments Trump has criticized over time. He has argued that the U.S. was shouldering an oversized burden whereas European allies didn’t pay their fair proportion.

• 🎧 Whitaker would come into the place with a clean slate that will instantly replenish with Trump’s mandate, NPR’s Stephen Fowler tells Up First. Anatol Lieven, with the Quincy Institute for Accountable Statecraft, tells Fowler that Trump’s international coverage priorities require allies from elsewhere. Michael O’Hanlon, with the Brookings Establishment, says a part of Trump’s assertion about strengthening relationships suggests he would not pull out of NATO and would as a substitute pull again America’s position in European geopolitics. O’Hanlon additionally notes that Whitaker might have one advantage when dealing with NATO: entry to the president.

The 2024 election turnout fee could possibly be the third highest in a century. Republicans did properly: They received management of the Home, Senate and the presidency, contradicting typical political knowledge that means excessive turnout favors Democrats.

• 🎧 NPR’s Miles Parks says this perception about excessive turnout is not a tough and quick rule. The concept facilities round low-propensity voters who solely forged ballots in presidential elections each infrequently. Analysis has discovered that these voters are normally poorer and fewer educated, and used to flock to the Democratic Social gathering, Miles says. Trump appears to have modified the sport. Exit polling shows he dominated among folks with out school levels and received individuals who say they’re first-time voters. Trump himself stated in 2020 that he thought increased voting ranges would harm Republican candidates. Nevertheless, this yr’s election outcomes might shift the GOP’s opinions.
• ➡️ A lot of the nation moved proper within the 2024 election in comparison with the place it was 4 years in the past. This map breaks down where political flips happened.

The Danish navy has stopped a Chinese language cargo ship named Yi Peng 3 as a part of an investigation right into a doable act of sabotage. Earlier this week, undersea cables carrying web site visitors throughout the Baltic Sea had been severed. Yi Peng 3 left a Russian port on the Baltic Sea six days in the past and handed over a cable connecting Sweden and Lithuania on Sunday. Shortly after that, the cable operator seen it had stopped working and later discovered that the cable was severed. On Monday, the identical ship handed over a cable connecting Finland and Germany. Two minutes later, that cable stopped working, and the operator additionally discovered it had been minimize. Moritz Brake, a marine safety skilled, advised German public media that over 90% of the world’s data traffic runs over sea cables like these, that means somebody is making an attempt to indicate they’ll destroy the connectivity inside our societies.

In search of frequent floor

Residents of Port Angeles, Washington fill a room within the Port Angeles Senior Middle for a weekly political dialogue the place they speak about each nationwide and native authorities, on October 10, 2024.

Grant Hindsley for NPR

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Grant Hindsley for NPR

Over the previous few years and thru this yr’s contentious marketing campaign season, there was a coarsening in the way in which folks discuss to one another. Reporters throughout the NPR Community are on the lookout for examples of people working through their differences. These tales discover how some persons are making an attempt to bridge divides.

In Port Angeles, the most important city in Clallam County, Wash., an off-the-cuff group of group members have met often for about 30 years to debate disagreements. Though their political beliefs usually differ, they respect the conversations that emerge from these discussions. Anybody locally is welcome to attend. Many members take pleasure in having a typical area the place they’ll have their concepts challenged, study from each other and interact in face-to-face interactions. Examine how this year’s election brought new strain — and new dedication — to group members.

Deep dive

An iceberg floats off the coast of Illulisat, Greenland. Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting quickly, and that soften will speed up because the Earth heats up. The melting of Greenland’s ice sheet is the second-largest contributor to world sea-level rise. (The biggest contributor is water increasing because it warms.)

Ryan Kellman/NPR

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Ryan Kellman/NPR

A lurking problem behind this week’s local weather change negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, is whether or not Earth has heated to close, or past, 1.5 Celsius above preindustrial temperatures. One of many foremost aims outlined within the 2015 Paris Settlement, which most nations accepted, is to restrict world warming to under this threshold. Nevertheless, new analyses, scientific research and worldwide experiences point out this aim is turning into troublesome to realize. The problem arises from nations delaying, reversing or failing to implement measures to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

• 🌡️ The World Meteorological Group reported that 2024 will probably common 1.55 C hotter than the late 1800s. If that is true, this is able to be the primary time a full-year common will go the 1.5 degree.
• 🌡️ To maintain warming under 1.5 C, world emissions would wish to fall 42% from 2019 ranges by 2030. To attain this, about 60% of the world’s electrical energy would wish to come back from renewable sources.
• 🌡️ The Paris Settlement does not outline how to measure the Earth’s growing temperature.
• 🌡️ Excessive climate like hurricanes and warmth waves are intensified by local weather change. At 2 levels Celsius of warming within the U.S., precipitation on the wettest days might improve by 20, 30 and even 40% in some elements of the nation.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

A Brooklyn priest allowed Sabrina Carpenter to movie a music video inside his church final yr. The following controversy kicked off an investigation that uncovered what the diocese calls a “sample of great violations” of its insurance policies.

YouTube/Screenshot by NPR

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YouTube/Screenshot by NPR

1. Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, a priest beforehand disciplined for permitting pop star Sabrina Carpenter to movie a racy music video inside his church, is now dealing with accusations of mishandling nearly $2 million in parish funds.
2. Final evening, the Justice Division requested the decide overseeing the antitrust case towards Google to order the company to sell its Chrome browser.
3. College of Connecticut girls’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma grew to become the winningest coach in NCAA historical past final evening after officially racking up 1,217 wins.

This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.