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Today’s top story
The U.S. Senate voted 60–40 last night to approve a continuing resolution to reopen the government. The measure must still pass the House before the president can sign it into law; Speaker Mike Johnson has called members back to Washington. The Senate also advanced three bipartisan annual appropriations bills that fund specific agencies, including the FDA.
The deal avoids an immediate shutdown, but because the funding is temporary there is still a risk of a partial lapse at the end of January. Programs such as SNAP would continue under the resolution. A provision to extend expiring health-care subsidies was not included; Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he will schedule a vote on subsidy extensions by mid-December. Democrats who support the subsidies will need to find language that can attract enough Republican votes to pass.
Seven Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans to reopen the government, a choice that drew criticism from the party’s left flank, which says Democrats have repeatedly conceded on key priorities. With affordability and the cost of living likely to remain top voter concerns, some strategists say Democrats could still benefit heading into next year’s midterms.
Climate negotiations
Delegates from nearly 200 countries have opened talks at COP30 in Brazil. As with past summits, negotiations began under the shadow of unmet pledges to curb emissions from burning fossil fuels. Current policies still put the world on track for roughly 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming — a level that would bring more extreme heatwaves and storms and endanger ecosystems such as coral reefs.
There are signs of progress: more than 90 percent of new power projects built last year were renewables, indicating the global electricity mix is getting cleaner. NPR is publishing ongoing COP30 coverage and a curated playlist of stories on its app.
G20 row in South Africa
Some white Afrikaners and Afrikaans groups have pushed back against recent U.S. administration statements, calling them lies and falsehoods made in their name. The backlash follows President Trump’s announcement that no U.S. officials will attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg later this month, citing human-rights concerns.
Living Better
Living Better is a special series about staying healthy in America.
Recent public-health efforts have focused on reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods, which now make up a large share of many Americans’ diets. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said such foods are ‘poisoning’ the country, but nutrition experts do not agree on a single definition of ultra-processed.
The term generally refers to how much industrial processing a product has undergone, on a spectrum from unprocessed or minimally processed foods to items with manufactured ingredients and additives. Some nutritionists argue that certain products often labeled ultra-processed — for example, some plant-based milks — can have health benefits. Ultra-processed foods are also often more affordable and widely available, so for many consumers they are practical choices. Those trying to eat healthier can look for lower-sugar options and make more informed choices within the category.
Behind the story
This essay was written by Quil Lawrence, NPR’s veterans correspondent.
It’s Veterans Day, and NPR remains the only mainstream national network with a reporter dedicated to veterans’ issues. Quil recently released a two-part podcast on The Sunday Story that follows Dave Carlson, an Iraq war veteran Quil has been reporting on for more than a decade.
While reporting in 2015, Quil learned that incarceration can strip people of veterans’ benefits, and he wanted to explore what it’s like to live with combat PTSD inside a prison system where you can’t let your guard down and access to services is limited. He found Carlson through his prison writing; Carlson’s mother helped him make contact.
A central, unresolved question from years embedded with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is: what do we owe service members who return with painful but often invisible wounds? The podcast doesn’t answer that fully, but it uses Carlson’s story to wrestle with the question and to remind listeners that most veterans are people much like the rest of us. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2 of the podcast on NPR.
3 things to know before you go
1. David Szalay’s novel Flesh won this year’s Booker Prize.
2. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a challenge to its 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
3. The Jacksonville Jaguars will play home games in Orlando in 2027 while their stadium undergoes a $1.4 billion renovation, an Orlando City Council member confirmed.
This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.