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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon appears to be holding. NPR's Kat Lansdorff says the truce went into effect earlier today.
It's been an unusually quiet morning on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, which for nearly 14 months now have been bombarded as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire. But Israeli troops are still present in many towns in southern Lebanon, even as displaced residents there are clamoring to return. The agreement calls for a gradual withdrawal over many weeks. Israel has called on its northern residents to wait to return to their abandoned homes, saying reconstruction is necessary first.
Dozens of people were killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon on the eve of the truce in some of the heaviest bombardment in Beirut during the war. Sirens sounded throughout northern Israel late into the night as Hezbollah fired rockets, most of which were intercepted. Kat Lonsdorff, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza has been going on for more than 13 months with no ceasefire having been agreed to, despite repeated efforts by mediators including the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar.
A prominent critic of U.S. public health policies during the coronavirus pandemic is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the National Institutes of Health. Here's NPR's Rob Stein. Trump wants Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to be the next NIH director. During the pandemic, the Stanford University health researcher helped write the so-called Great Barrington Declaration.
The declaration criticized the use of measures like lockdowns and mask mandates. The declaration was dismissed by most leading public health experts as irresponsible and dangerous. But Bhattacharya and his supporters say that exemplified the groupthink that dominates medical research. His nomination requires confirmation by the Senate. Rob Stein, NPR News.
Donald Trump also says he's chosen Kevin Hassett to lead the National Economic Council. Hassett was in charge of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers during Trump's first two years in the White House. The president-elect is nominating Jameson Greer to serve as U.S. trade representative in his second term. Their names were announced after Trump threatened new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.
Wall Street is coming off another record high close for the Dow Jones Industrials. The Dow added 123 points yesterday to finish at 44,860. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also closed higher.
With inflation in the U.S. economy still elevated, it's unclear if the Federal Reserve will move to cut interest rates at its next policy meeting in December. Minutes from the Fed's meeting earlier this month show support for a gradual lowering of rates going forward. This is NPR News from Washington.
This is one of the busiest travel days of the year in the U.S., the day before the Thanksgiving holiday. NPR's Joel Rose says a shortage of air traffic controllers is causing ongoing flight delays at one airport in the Northeast. Hundreds of flights at Newark Liberty International Airport have been delayed in recent weeks because of an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers in the New York area.
Newark is a hub for United Airlines, which calls the disruptions there significant. United says the controller staffing shortages have led to delays and cancellations for more than 340,000 passengers.
The Federal Aviation Administration says it is trying to fix the long-standing staffing problems with Newark's airspace by relocating personnel from Long Island to Philadelphia. But the FAA acknowledges that staffing shortages in Newark may continue through the Thanksgiving holiday and beyond. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. AAA predicts a record number of Americans will be traveling over this year's Thanksgiving holiday period. Six million people are expected to crowd the nation's airports this week.
A police officer in Australia is facing up to 25 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in the death of a 95-year-old woman with dementia. The officer, Christian James Samuel White, used a taser on the elderly woman in May of last year when she refused to put down a knife she was holding in her nursing home.
The woman, Claire Nolan, fell backwards and hit her head on the floor after being shocked. She died a week later at a hospital. Officers ordered her to drop that knife 21 times before that taser was used. I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington.
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