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Unknown Speaker 1
This message comes from the University of Kansas Cancer Center. How you receive cancer care is just as important as the care itself. Their experts know this and work to provide leading care with a compassionate human touch at every step.
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Giles Snyder
More@kucancercenter.org Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. With the war in Gaza in the backdrop, midnight Mass was celebrated early on Christmas Day at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, presided over by Cardinal Pier Batista Pizabala, the leader of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. He delivered a message for those in Gaza.
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Cardinal Pier Batista Pizabala
They are not alone. You are not alone. You are truly a visible sign of hope in the midst of a disaster, of a total destruction that surrounds you. Everything is destroyed, but you are not broken. You are still united, steadfast in hope. Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for your wonderful testimony of of strength and peace.
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Giles Snyder
Isabella spoke to hundreds in Manger Square. Under normal circumstances, tens of thousands would have gathered. A surge in violence in the west bank has greatly stalled tourism. More than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis have been killed in militant attacks. Protesters in Panama on Tuesday burned an image of President Elect Donald Trump following his threat to demand control of the country's interoceanic canal, that it be returned to Washington. It was built by the US but hand to Panama in 1999. The BBC's Hugh Morgan reports.
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Hugh Morgan
Dozens of noisy demonstrators gathered outside the US Embassy in Panama City on Tuesday, chanting that President Trump should leave the canal alone. Some held banners describing him as a public enemy of Panama. On Sunday, Mr. Trump complained about what he considers unfair fees paid by US Ships, which are the waterways main customer. Panama's President Jose Raul Molino has insisted his country's control of the canal was non negotiable.
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Giles Snyder
Donald Trump has also repeated his desire to purchase Greenland. He renewed the call after suggesting that Canadians want to become the 51st. State officials in Greenland have expressed dismay, with the prime minister saying Greenland is not for sale. Greenland in autonomous Danish territory. The Danish government has announced a budget increase for Greenland to protect the island. As 2024 comes to a close, it's certain to be the hottest year on record. NPR's Lauren Sommer reports that global temperatures were even warmer than scientists expected.
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Lauren Sommer
The current title holder for hottest year is 2023. Last year, average temperatures across the globe were the warmest since record keeping began in the mid-1800s. Now it's looking like 2024 will take the top spot. That's largely due to climate change. Burning fossil fuels is adding heat trapping gases to the atmosphere. There was also an El Nino, a natural pattern where the Pacific Ocean releases heat. But even after the El Nino faded, temperatures stayed warm. So scientists are determining if other things played a role, like a lack of cloud cover. No matter the title, it's part of a bigger Trend. The past 10 years have been the warmest 10 years on record. Lauren Sommer, NPR News.
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Giles Snyder
This is NPR Reports out of Haiti say two reporters and a police officer have been killed when armed men opened fire as journalists gathered to cover the region opening of Port au Prince's biggest public hospital. Street gangs had forced the hospital's closure earlier this year, but authorities have pledged to reopen it on Christmas Eve. The Haitian association of Journalists says seven reporters were wounded in the attack. Officials in Brazil say 163 Chinese nationals have been rescued. A task force led by Brazilian prosecutors says there were word they were working in slavery, like conditions at a construction site in northeastern Brazil where a Chinese electric vehicle company is building a factory. Authorities say the workers were hired in China and brought to Brazil. In the remote coastal communities of Northern California, there's a rivalry over who has the tallest living Christmas tree. NPR's Alice Wolfley reports.
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Jim Campbell Spickler
Jim Campbell Spickler is the director of the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka and kind of an expert when it comes to measuring tall trees.
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Unknown Speaker 2
I would consider the measurements that we've completed to be official.
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Jim Campbell Spickler
He says the coast redwood he strung with lights is 174ft, 9 inches. Tal the zoo announced that it had the tallest known living decorated tree. But soon after, Campbell Spickler got a call.
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Unknown Speaker 2
Well, hey, the folks down in Mendocino county at the skunk train claim to have a taller tree.
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Jim Campbell Spickler
The historic railroad in the town of Willits says it decorated a redwood nearly 50ft taller. After seeing video evidence, Campbell Spickler agrees the rivalry is taller. He's offered to do an official measurement before.
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Unknown Speaker 1
Next, this message comes from GiveWell. GiveWell provides rigorous, transparent research about the best giving opportunities so that donors can make informed decisions about high impact giving. To learn more, go to givewell.org and pick podcast and enter NPR at checkout.