Winter Is Coming; Brexit Moves Forward; RIP Bernardo Bertolucci

Plus, California firefighters are overworked and emotionally drained. [NPR] by Korva Coleman and Jill Hudson First Up Happy Monday, friends. Hope your Thanksgiving was stress-free and delicious. Here’s what we’re following today. There was trouble at the U.S.-Mexico border after U.S. agents fired tear gas at several hundred Central American migrants on Sunday. [The border crossing point at Tijuana was closed for some hours]( being reopened. A major snow storm crashed into the Midwest on Sunday, causing major airline cancellations for thousands of flights during the busiest travel weekend of the year. More treacherous travel is expected as [a blizzard is headed north]( to the Great Lakes and into New England this week. General Motors reported today that it plans to cut 15% of its workforce. [Five plants in North America will no longer be making smaller cars]( or transmissions for those smaller cars. About 5,901 hourly employees and 804 salaried employees are employed at these plants. Lawmakers in Ukraine are considering martial law after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships near Crimea on Sunday. The countries are trading blame over a maritime dispute that has [sparked Ukrainian protests]( and an international backlash. [Los Angeles City firefighters Omar Velasquez, center, sleeps as Cory Darrigo, left, and Sam Quan rest in the backyard of home they were protecting after fighting the Woolsey Fire on November 9, 2018 in Westlake Village, Calif.]( Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Firefighters across California are overworked and emotionally drained. As major wildfires increase in the Golden State, some [firefighters are being pushed to the point of exhaustion]( — and overtime costs are soaring. European leaders approve the Brexit plan, setting up the stage for a vote in British Parliament next month. The deal includes both a "withdrawal agreement," [spelling out the terms of the split]( and a "political declaration," with plans for the future relationship between the EU and the U.K. Charlottesville, Va., is bracing for the trial of the man accused of ramming his car into a crowd during a white supremacist rally in 2017. [The community wants accountability and healing]( from the incident in which one woman was killed and several others were injured. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Daily Good Making vegan moves. Erick Castro, 28, is the creator of [How To Be Vegan in the Hood]( an Instagram page that [shouts out plant-based restaurants around New York City's boroughs](. Castro’s posts dispel the idea that veganism is a diet for a certain kind of person — namely affluent, liberal-leaning, white Portlandia types. His feed is filled with appetizing photos of cheap, simple meals that followers can make or grab from nearby bodegas. --------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper High drama in Argentina over cancelled soccer matches. A highly anticipated meeting between longtime soccer rivals was set to take place in Buenos Aires over the weekend, but things turned ugly before players even made it to the pitch. The second leg of the final of the Copa Libertadores was billed as a glorious highlight in the tournament's history — [the first meeting of age-old rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate](. The match was called off Saturday after fans attacked the Boca team bus, shattering windows and injuring players. A rescheduled match was set for Sunday but that, too, was postponed, with no new date announced. Football fans are disappointed and furious, and questions have surfaced about Argentina's readiness to host the G20 summit of world leaders, which begins Friday. Today — just to make matters worse — nearly 400 flights have been cancelled because the national airline is on strike. --------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Listen Keeping it real — or artificial — during Christmas tree season. [Casey Grogan walks through some recently cut noble fir Christmas trees at his farm near Silverton, Ore. This year he plans to harvest 60,000 trees off his property.]( Anna King/Northwest News Network Christmas shopping season is officially underway, and one of the year's most competitive seasonal marketing wars is escalating between the real and artificial tree industries. The companies behind each kind of tree are going at it with ad campaigns online, trying to convince you theirs is better. (Listening time, 3:54) [▶ LISTEN]( --------------------------------------------------------------- The Picture Show Decades after clashing with the Klan, a Vietnamese community thrives in Texas. [Hien Tran, 66 and her dog Lucy at the Thai Xuan Village apartment complex in Houston October 29.]( Scott Dalton for NPR When Vietnamese immigrants first arrived in this small fishing village on the coast of Texas after the fall of Saigon, they received a hostile reception from locals. It culminated on Nov. 25, 1979, when the Ku Klux Klan came to Seadrift, Texas, and menaced the Vietnamese fishermen who were competing with native white fishermen. Forty years later, [the Vietnamese community is now a fixture along the U.S. Gulf Coast]( and their resettlement experience offers a lens through which to view current attitudes toward immigrants. --------------------------------------------------------------- Before You Go [An artist's depiction of InSight — short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. The spacecraft has been designed to give Mars its first thorough checkup since the red planet formed, about 4.5 billion years ago.]( NASA/JPL-Caltech - Mars is getting a new visitor from Earth today — [a NASA probe named InSight]( that is set to land near the Martian equator. - [Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci]( the cinema titan who won Oscars for The Last Emperor and Last Tango in Paris, has died at age 77. - A Chinese scientist says he's the [first to create genetically modified human babies](. - More than [200 sea turtles washed up on the shores of Cape Cod]( over the past several days after experiencing "cold-stunning.” - Find out why [this small newspaper in rural Oregon]( is thriving. --------------------------------------------------------------- ✏️ What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [dailynewsletter@npr.org](mailto:dailynewsletter@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) 📬 Enjoying this newsletter? 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