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Today's top stories
President-elect Donald Trump announced several leadership nominees Friday evening, including who he wants to head the CDC and FDA. Many of these high-ranking positions require approval from the Republican-controlled Senate next year, and some picks may run into opposition. Here's everyone Trump has nominated so far, and who he has yet to name.
- 🎧 The cabinet nominees need a simple majority to be approved and NPR's Deirdre Walsh tells Up First she expects most will. Even if three Republicans vote against a nominee, Vice President-elect JD Vance, who would also serve as president of the Senate, can break the tie. If four Senate Republicans oppose a nominee they will fail. Walsh says the senators to keep an eye on include Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, John Curtis from Utah and Mitch McConnell, who stepped down from leadership but is still in the Senate. They have expressed that the president can nominate who he wants, but it's the Senate's job to advise and consent.
You may not know Leonard Leo's name, but you probably know his biggest achievement: During Trump's first term, he advised the president on the nominations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. This conservative supermajority eventually helped overturn abortion rights. On Morning Edition, Leo says he has plans to "crush liberal dominance" of American culture during Trump's second term. His plans involve the Teneo Network, which is described as a "talent pipeline" for the conservative movement. Here's what Leo said about the network's ambitions to influence Hollywood, Silicon Valley and other cultural power centers.
A woman or girl was killed every 10 minutes in 2023, according to a report on femicide released by the United Nations today. The report found the vast majority of killings were perpetrated by a partner or close relative.
- 🎧 One of the report's key takeaways is that femicide is happening at a high rate, with the highest numbers coming from Africa and Asia, NPR's Fatma Tanis says. Kalliopi Mingeirou, the chief of the Ending Violence Against Women Section at UN Women, says that for many women and girls, their homes are not a safe place. Even though there are laws in place to prevent femicide, researchers have noted a lack of enforcement. Though women in many countries might report violence from their partners, they are often dismissed by police or referred to social services. Many don't report incidents to police anymore because they don't trust the system.
Life advice
It can be a race against time to get everything prepared for Thanksgiving dinner. Dan Souza, chief content officer for America's Test Kitchen, says he has a controversial opinion that can help. Souza told Morning Edition's A Martínez the key to a stress-free holiday meal is cooking in advance. Many dishes can be made days, even weeks in advance, without sacrificing taste, texture and enjoyment.
- 🍗 Gravy can be made at least a week ahead. On Thanksgiving Day, you can add some drippings from your roasted turkey.
- 🍗 Dinner rolls can be cooked and then frozen up to six weeks in advance. When you're ready to eat them, pop them in the oven for 10 minutes and they brown up.
- 🍗 Instead of a traditional roast, try a turkey thigh confit, which can be prepared a week in advance. The meat cures for a day in salt before getting cooked and cooled in fat. It will continue to get better over the week.
Check out more of his tips and some recipes to try for holiday celebrations.
Picture show
Photojournalist Robert Nickelsberg documents how U.S. foreign policy fueled a violent, 13-year civil war in El Salvador in the book Legacy of Lies, El Salvador 1981-1984. It has black-and-white photographs and descriptive personal essays. The book seeks to establish a visual and contextual foundation for understanding the violent early years of the nation's civil war, which helps to explain the eventual migration of many El Salvadoran citizens to the U.S. Editor's note: This story contains graphic images of violence and death.
- 📷 See photos that document the devastating civil war.
3 things to know before you go
- Adultery is no longer a crime in New York after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed off on repealing a 1907 law prohibiting the act on Friday.
- Megan Atherton's life was falling apart 15 years ago after she was evicted from her home and her car broke down. That's until a stranger, her unsung hero, stepped in to help. Now, years later, the two have been reunited via a video call.
- The longtime owner of Campbell Island is selling the 97-acre private island in upstate New York for around $700,000. The undeveloped land has flowers, a cove and beach areas but it's a little complicated to access. (via Gothamist)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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