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NPR News

Up First briefing: COP28 fossil fuel deal; House impeachment vote

NPR | By Suzanne Nuyen
Published December 13, 2023 at 8:08 AM EST
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 24.
Justin Sullivan
/
Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 24.

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today's top news

House Republicans are expected to vote today on their resolution to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. House Republicans allege Biden benefited from his son Hunter's foreign business dealings when he was vice president. So far, they have not found hard evidence Biden was directly involved or benefited from the practices.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says this is about "legal leverage," according to NPR's Eric McDaniel on Up First. The White House has not turned over requested records, citing a lack of a formal vote. McDaniel adds Johnson is under "tremendous political pressure" from Republican hardliners.

  • Since Oct. 7, Biden has been strongly supportive of Israel's military response to the Hamas attacks. But at a campaign fundraiser event yesterday, he warned that Israel was losing international support because of its "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza. 

    • While Biden and his officials have been careful not to give an evaluation of how Israel's military campaign is doing, NPR's Franco Ordoñez calls his recent statement "pretty blunt.

    The United Nations climate conference known as COP28 ended early this morning with a first-ever agreement calling on nations to transition away from fossil fuels, the main cause of climate change. COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber called the plan a "historic package to accelerate climate action." But some countries say it doesn't go far enough to address the threats climate change poses, especially to developing countries.

    Deep dive

    People look out from a rooftop last week as displaced Palestinians who fled Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip set up camp in Rafah, farther south, near Gaza's border with Egypt.
    Mohammed Abed / AFP via Getty Images
    /
    AFP via Getty Images
    People look out from a rooftop last week as displaced Palestinians who fled Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip set up camp in Rafah, farther south, near Gaza's border with Egypt.

    Some 85% of the 2.3 million people in Gaza have been internally displaced since the start of the war, according to the U.N. Despite telling Palestinians to move south, Israel has repeatedly carried out airstrikes in the Rafah area. An Israeli intelligence "concept paper" proposes moving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to tent encampments in Egypt's northern Sinai and then building permanent cities. But Egypt, which already hosts 9 million refugees, has several reasons to resist letting them in.

  • Transferring Gazans to Egypt would violate international humanitarian law, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

  • There are security concerns. If Hamas or other militants were to attack Israel from Sinai, there are fears Israel could retaliate with strikes in Egypt.

  • There's no guarantee that Palestinians who fled to Egypt would ever be able to return to Gaza, according to Imad Harb, director of research and analysis at the Arab Center Washington DC.

    • Life advice

    This child does not have appendicitis. But if you suspect yours might, ask them to jump. If they can't without major pain, it's time to call the doctor and maybe head to the hospital.
    Kentaroo Tryman / Getty Images/Maskot
    /
    Getty Images/Maskot
    This child does not have appendicitis. But if you suspect yours might, ask them to jump. If they can't without major pain, it's time to call the doctor and maybe head to the hospital.

    It can be anxiety-inducing when a young child has stomach pain and can't articulate how bad it is and where it hurts. Parents worried about appendicitis can ask their children to do a simple jump test to determine how serious their condition is.

  • If your child can jump without doubling up in pain, you don't need to worry.

  • If jumping does cause pain, it could be a sign of inflammation in the peritoneum, the lining of the abdominal cavity. 

  • Another test you could try is pressing down on the lower-left quadrant of your child's stomach while they're lying down. If the lower right quadrant hurts, it's another sign of inflammation. 

    • 3 things to know before you go

    The hens hatch a plan to save their flock in <em>Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget</em> premiering on Netflix on December 15.
    / Aardman / Netflix
    /
    Aardman / Netflix
    The hens hatch a plan to save their flock in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget premiering on Netflix on December 15.

  • Fans of the beloved claymation film Chicken Run are in for a treat. The sequel Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget premieres on Netflix this Friday

  • Ellen Butterfield and her husband, Chas Eisner, were stopped at the border on their way home to Los Angeles from Tijuana during a trip to get chemotherapy drugs for Eisner's colon cancer. An empathetic border agent eased their fears and became their unsung hero.

  • VR headsets and mini robots are some of the top items on children's wish lists this year. But, some parent and consumer groups say these tech toys may not be safe for kids.

    • This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.

    Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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