海角大神

2025
November
21
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

November 21, 2025
Loading the player...
Linda Feldmann
Washington Bureau Chief

Marjorie Taylor Greene is more than just a Republican member of Congress from Georgia. She鈥檚 an iconic character in the MAGA-sphere, once a close ally of President Donald Trump, who now calls her a 鈥渢raitor.鈥 Representative Greene helped lead the charge to force the Justice Department to release its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, legislation that President Trump resisted mightily 鈥 until he caved.

Patrik Jonsson went to Ms. Greene鈥檚 ruby-red district in exurban Atlanta and talked to voters of all stripes. 鈥淚 do think she鈥檚 a central character of our age,鈥 said one constituent. 鈥淚n that way, I hope the change in her is sincere.鈥


You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.

News briefs

Washington outlined a 28-point plan for peace in Ukraine that includes land concessions and an American security guarantee. Sanctions would be lifted from Russia, which could rejoin the G8 group of countries. Ukraine would be barred from joining NATO. While some critics have said the proposal favors Russia, officials stressed that the draft is still 鈥渋n flux鈥 and will evolve.

Democratic lawmakers made a video reminding U.S. service members they can 鈥渞efuse illegal orders,鈥 saying troops have expressed concern about the legality of strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats. President Trump said on social media that the video, made by six members of Congress who have served in the military or the CIA, was 鈥渟editious behavior鈥 that could be punished by death or prison. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president does not want to execute lawmakers.

A clash over the G20 summit in Johannesburg continued on the eve of the gathering of major world economies, as the Trump administration walked back a pledge to boycott. It will now send a low-level delegation to Sunday鈥檚 closing ceremony, where Pretoria will hand off the G20 presidency to Washington. But the U.S. will not participate in talks, which will foreground issues facing the developing world, such as climate change and ballooning sovereign debt.

President Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York, are set to meet in Washington today. Mr. Trump had criticized the self-proclaimed democratic socialist throughout his campaign, threatening to withhold federal funds if he was elected. Mr. Mamdani鈥檚 office said the meeting will focus on public safety, economic security, and affordability.

The largest Thanksgiving meal in Alabama has been called off because of rising costs and high demand. The long-running event has grown in recent years to feed 11,000 people in and around Etowah County, in northeast Alabama. 鈥淲e outgrew our britches,鈥 an organizer said. Local community groups and churches are offering free Thanksgiving meals to fill the gap.

Some birds are returning to France鈥檚 fields, four years after the European Union banned certain pesticides. Blackbirds, blackcaps, and chaffinches are some of the insect-eating bird populations that have made a comeback. One researcher told The Guardian he was 鈥渟urprised you could already see recovery.鈥

Astronomers may have discovered the universe鈥檚 first stars, more than 13 billion light-years away. The James Webb Space Telescope was built in part to locate these long-sought but elusive 鈥淧opulation III鈥 stars. Scientists say the unconfirmed find is the 鈥渃losest we are yet.鈥

鈥 Our staff writers around the world


Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Marjorie Taylor Greene arrives at a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Nov. 18, 2025

The public falling-out between U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and President Donald Trump has brought splits in the MAGA movement into the open. In Ms. Greene鈥檚 solidly Republican district, voters are weighing their populist allegiances.

Patterns

Tracing global connections

Israel has long stood unchallenged as Washington鈥檚 closest ally in the Middle East. Donald Trump seems to be giving the top spot now to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in an audacious reshuffle of U.S. priorities.

A central theme of President Donald Trump鈥檚 return to office has been his call to prosecute his perceived political enemies. In one of the most high-profile efforts, against a former FBI director, a series of government missteps means the case might collapse.

Lorraine Mallinder
A rainbow is seen over James Street, a tree-lined thoroughfare in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, Nov. 1, 2025.

The winds of reunification have been blowing more strongly recently in Northern Ireland. That's because members of traditionally unionist Protestant communities are starting to look toward the republic.

Jacob Turcotte/Staff
Peter Morrison/Reuters
Catherine Connolly reviews an honor guard after her inauguration as president of the Irish republic, in Dublin, Nov. 11, 2025.

With the election of President Catherine Connolly, the cause of a unified Ireland has more political momentum in the Irish Republic than its had in years. But just how realistic is reunification for the republic, both politically and practically?

Book review

Neal Preston
Then-music journalist Cameron Crowe (left) interviews Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant in 1973. Crowe wrote for Rolling Stone and Creem magazines in his teens.

Golden-era 1970s rock music forms the soundtrack for many people's lives. As a young man growing up in Southern California, Cameron Crowe carried that passion into interviews with rock's biggest names. When rock yielded to punk music, he switched to screenwriting and moviemaking.聽聽


The Monitor's View

Reuters
A farmer in Aceh Besar, Indonesia, pulls out his rice that failed to be harvested due to a prolonged drought last year.

Perhaps the biggest news out of this year鈥檚 global climate conference, which is finishing up in Brazil, is not a new paper promise among governments on reducing carbon emissions. Rather, it is a new survey by the ClimateWorks Foundation that highlights generosity at the heart of climate action.

Private donations to help people adapt to climate change more than doubled from 2021 to 2024, hitting a record $870 million, according to the survey. Meanwhile, the number of foundations making adaptation-related grants jumped by more than 50%.

During the two-week conference itself, more than 35 philanthropic institutions agreed to spend $300 million over three years on one narrow but necessary form of adaptation: meeting the health needs of those most vulnerable to droughts, floods, storms, or heat waves. And the Gates Foundation announced a $1.4 billion project to expand access to innovations that help farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The actual amount of all this new giving 鈥 which donors admit is far less than what is needed 鈥 is not really the focus. Instead, private donors are essential because they are more risk tolerant and creative in putting money into showcase climate projects than risk-averse leaders in business and government.

鈥淚n a time of accelerating climate impacts, shrinking civic space, and fragile global cooperation, philanthropy鈥檚 voice and support matter more than ever,鈥 wrote Nancy Lindborg, head of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Ms. Lindborg also states that there is no conflict between focusing on curbing emissions and helping communities adapt. We have found urgent and effective climate solutions that do both 鈥 they lower carbon while improving daily life and meeting the needs of local communities 鈥 whether that means access to clean, affordable energy, better livelihoods, or greater resilience in the face of ever more severe weather.鈥

Adaptation goals were first established at the 21st U.N. Climate Change Conference a decade ago in Paris. That same meeting also produced a global agreement to 鈥渓imit the temperature increase to 1.5掳C above pre-industrial levels.鈥 Since then, many of the world鈥檚 biggest private donors have been organizing around climate action.

鈥淧eople want to give money to help solve this problem but don鈥檛 know what to do, so they鈥檙e faced with decision paralysis,鈥 stated Dan Stein, executive director of Giving Green, an organization that helps individuals, businesses, and philanthropies make effective donations to combat climate change.

鈥淚n our mind, there was the need for an actionable resource for people looking to solve this problem,鈥 he told TriplePundit, which reports on sustainability in business. Private giving and public spending, he added, can complement each other.


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Is it possible to complete our tasks without a sense of pressure or stress?


Viewfinder

Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters
A worker prepares for the inauguration ceremony of 鈥淣oor Riyadh 2025鈥 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 19, 2025. The light-art festival is considered the largest of its kind in the world, drawing some 3 million visitors annually. This year鈥檚 exhibition, entitled 鈥淏link of an Eye,鈥 includes installations along the city鈥檚 sleek new metro system, according to Art Riyadh. Its 鈥渂old works capture Riyadh鈥檚 spirit of continuous transformation,鈥 the art site says, 鈥渆mbodying a city that is constantly in motion.鈥
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

More issues

2025
November
21
Friday

Give us your feedback

We want to hear, did we miss an angle we should have covered? Should we come back to this topic? Or just give us a rating for this story. We want to hear from you.