Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.
- The United States is hosting the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference this week for the first time since 2011, with leaders from the 21-member APEC economies gathering in San Francisco to talk about how to better spur trade and economic growth across the Pacific region; meanwhile the gatherings of world leaders and corporate CEOS has drawn protesters from across the country, who rallied in San Francisco Sunday and will try to shut down the APEC summit on Wednesday.
- Health officials say battles between Israel and Hamas around hospitals forced thousands of Palestinians to flee from some of the last perceived safe places in northern Gaza. Critically wounded patients, including newborns, and their caregivers have been stranded, officials say, with dwindling supplies and no electricity. U.S. President Joe Biden said today that Gaza City’s main hospital, Shifa, “must be protected.”
- Efforts to create a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution began today as most of the world’s nations, along with petrochemical companies, environmentalists, and other stakeholders affected by the pollution, gathered to discuss draft language for the first time.
- Current government funding expires on Nov. 17, 2023. While newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has not announced any new and specific proposals that stand a chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate, he has urged the public to “trust us.”
- The Supreme Court says it is adopting a code of ethics, though the new rules have no means of enforcement.
- Donald Trump Jr. returned to the witness stand to laud his father’s real estate exploits as the ex-president’s civil fraud trial began its defense.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom says arson caused a massive fire that has indefinitely closed a vital section of a freeway in Los Angeles.
Protestors against APEC rally in San Francisco on Sunday, Nov. 12. (KPFA Photo / Aileen Alfandary)