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Chapter 1: Who is Scott Besson and what role will he play?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate hedge fund manager Scott Besson to serve as Treasury Secretary. NPR's Scott Horsley reports that would make Besson a key player in the incoming administration's economic team.
Chapter 2: What economic agenda will Besson implement?
Besson, who runs the Key Square Group hedge fund, has been one of Trump's biggest cheerleaders in the financial world. He'll be tasked with carrying out the president-elect's economic agenda, including an extension of the 2017 tax cuts.
Those cuts are expected to get a friendly reception in the Republican-controlled Congress, though they'll likely add to the federal debt, which has just surpassed $36 trillion. Besson is a protege of billionaire Democratic donor George Soros. He's also a longtime friend of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.
In a social media post, Trump called Besson one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategist. Besant and his husband have two children and spend most of their time in South Carolina. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
Chapter 3: How will the new nominations affect the Biden administration?
Trump tonight has also chosen former Texas State Representative Scott Turner to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former Florida Representative Dr. Dave Weldon to help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With less than 60 days remaining in his final term, Joe Biden is a lame duck president, but that does not mean he has no power.
As White House correspondent Tamara Keith explains, Biden is telling his staff much work remains.
Chapter 4: What are the key legislative challenges facing Biden?
They need to pass a temporary government funding bill. There is a defense policy bill that comes up annually. And the White House has asked Congress to pass billions of dollars in additional funding for disaster relief because funds to help people recovering from hurricanes and wildfires are running low.
Perhaps the most significant push is in the Senate, where Democrats are trying to confirm as many of President Biden's judicial nominees as possible. This is something Republicans did at the end of Trump's term. These are lifetime appointments, and Biden doesn't want to give Trump the gift of judicial vacancies to fill.
Chapter 5: How are judicial nominations being prioritized?
NPR's Tamara Keith, like most presidents, Biden may also deliver a farewell address. The German company Bosch, the world's largest car parts supplier, says it plans to cut up to 5,500 jobs. It's just the latest sign of struggle in Germany's once-thriving auto sector. More MenPR's Rob Schmitz.
The auto parts giant says it's grappling with competition from cheaper Chinese rivals and weak demand for its products. Bosch says it's planning to cut 3,500 jobs by the end of 2027 in its cross-domain computer solutions division due to weak demand and intelligent driver assistance systems. Half of these jobs will be at German sites.
In all, the company plans to lay off 3,800 workers in Germany, many of those at its steering division plant near Stuttgart. Germany's auto sector slowdown has also impacted Volkswagen, where a plunge in earnings is forcing the automaker to consider shutting down German plants for the first time in its history. Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Berlin.
U.S. financial markets ended another trading week on an up note. The Dow rose 426 points. This is NPR. Japanese automaker Nissan has convinced a federal appeals court today to decertify 10 class action cases accusing the automaker of selling cars and SUVs with defective emergency braking systems.
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati saying it was improper to let drivers of 14 different Nissan models sue in groups under the laws of 10 individual states as classes. Drivers of the vehicles claim they experienced phantom activations of braking systems. Pop star and artist Bjork has created a new art installation in Paris featuring the sounds of endangered and extinct animals.
NPR's Chloe Veltman reports Nature Manifesto aims to highlight the impacts of human-caused climate change on the Earth.
Visitors can hear Björk's immersive, otherworldly soundscape over the next few weeks as they climb the long glass escalator that hugs the side of the Pompidou Centre in Paris. In a pioneering sound strata of mutant peacocks, bees and lemurs. There are orangutan, beluga whale and mosquito sounds among others.
Also in the mix are the sounds of extinct creatures like the Hawaiian crow, which can no longer be found in the wild. The creative team manipulated many of the samples using artificial intelligence. Björk is a long-time climate activist. She advocates for ecological issues, including her ongoing fight against intensive fish farming in her native Iceland. Chloe Veltman, NPR News.
Archaeologists say they've discovered a series of ancient canals in what is now Belize that appear to have been used even before the Mayans built temples on the Yucatan Peninsula. They used drones and Google Earth imagery to confirm their findings. The research published in the journal Science Advances. This is NPR.
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