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Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. After more than a year of conflict, a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is holding. Shortly before the deadline, however, Israel carried out further airstrikes on the Lebanese capital. The BBC's Frank Gardner is in Jerusalem.
He says the 60-day ceasefire deal has been received with skepticism in some Israeli quarters. The deal has its critics, its detractors, who say, why on earth is Israel taking its foot off the pedal when Hezbollah is on the back foot? But the U.S. has put a lot of pressure on both sides to accept this. Israel, I think, is getting pretty much everything it wanted in this. It's seeing Hezbollah being moved north of the Latani River, which is what was supposed to happen after the 2006 war.
It reserves the right to have what it calls freedom of action in Lebanon. In other words, any sign that Hezbollah is planning to attack it again, they reserve the right to go in with more airstrikes. BBC's Frank Gardner reporting there from Jerusalem. President-elect Trump has named two more members of his economic team.
NPR's Scott Horsley reports both are veterans of Trump's first term in the White House. Trump has chosen Kevin Hassett to lead the National Economic Council, a kind of clearinghouse for economic policy throughout the administration. Hassett led the president's Council of Economic Advisors during Trump's first two years in the White House, and he helped make the case for the 2017 tax cuts. He briefly returned to the administration as a senior advisor during the pandemic.
Trump also announced plans to nominate Jameson Greer to serve as U.S. trade representative. He was chief of staff in that office during Trump's first White House term. If confirmed by the Senate, Greer will be charged with implementing Trump's bare-knuckle trade policies. News of his nomination came one day after the president-elect called for steep new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Trump has also chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to be director of the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya was an outspoken critic of the government's COVID policies during the pandemic.
Texas offering more borderland for the incoming administration's proposed mass deportation operation. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports. Standing near the Rio Grande with heavy machinery used for building a Texas-funded border wall, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham showed off the land she promised for a federal deportation camp. I have extended an offer to President Trump and incoming border czar
Buckingham said a facility built on the farmland recently bought by Texas will be the final stop for processing migrants before deportation.
and she's scouting out even more Texas land that could be used to facilitate a Trump administration deportation program. I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio. This is NPR News.
Australia is one step closer to enacting the world's first social media ban for children. As Christina Cuculio reports, the lower house of the federal parliament passed the legislation on Wednesday, despite growing concern about how it will be implemented. With support from the opposition coalition, the bill to ban children under the age of 16 from using social media passed the House of Representatives.
The Australian government wants to get the law to a Senate vote before the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday. X, Meta and TikTok are among those arguing the law shouldn't be enacted in its current form, echoing warnings from Australia's Human Rights Commission, freedom of expression advocates and technology experts about its implementation and effectiveness.
If passed, companies could face heavy fines for breaches under changes the government says will protect children from online harm. For NPR News, Christina Kukola in Melbourne, Australia. Also in Australia, a police officer who used a taser to subdue a 95-year-old woman with dementia symptoms has been found guilty of manslaughter. The jury in Sydney reached its verdict Wednesday after 20 hours of deliberation. Christian White discharged the taser in May 2023 at a
nursing home after Claire Nolan refused to put down a steak knife. She fell, hit her head, and died a week later. White faces up to 25 years in prison. Asian stocks mixed in Wednesday trading. A big concern about sweeping tariffs. President-elect Trump is threatening to impose on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China. Shares in Japan down eight-tenths of a percent, but stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong rebounded from early losses.
I'm Giles Snyder, NPR News. This message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify, the global commerce platform that helps you sell and show up exactly the way you want to. Customize your online store to your style. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash NPR.