NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-26-2024 10AM EDT

Episode Date: October 26, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Joel Snyder. The Biden administration is warning Tehran against any further escalation in the Middle East after Israel launched strikes overnight against military targets in Iran. The hours-long assault was in response to Iran's October 1st ballistic missile

attack on Israel, which Iran said was retaliation for the Israeli killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi has more. In a statement released by the Israeli military, it said it had, quote, fulfilled its mission by conducting what it called targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran. It said it hit missile manufacturing facilities and Iranian aerial capabilities. The Iranian government said there was minimal damage. A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said that the U.S. did not take part in Israel's military action, calling it targeted and extensive.

The official said the U.S. was prepared to defend Israel should Iran choose to retaliate further but hoped that would not happen and this would be the end of direct military exchange between the two. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is urging Iran not to respond, as Villa Marx reports from London. At a press conference in Samoa, Starmer echoed his previous position ahead of these strikes, that Israel had a right to self-defense against Iranian aggression,

while reiterating that all warring parties need to quote, avoid further regional escalation. He said Britain would work with its allies to encourage de-escalation alongside his unambiguously clear call for Iran not to respond. Voters in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia are going to the polls on a parliamentary election today. The election is seen as a fight to determine whether Georgia moves closer to the European Union or leans back toward Russia. The election has been dominated by foreign policy and marked by

allegations of a smear campaign. With early voting underway in a race that's statistically tied, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are appealing to a shrinking pool of persuadable undecided voters 10 days before Election Day. NPR's Amy Held reports that both candidates are campaigning today in the swing state of Michigan. Amy Held, NPR News, News 8. Early voting goes statewide today in Michigan after beginning in Detroit last week, state officials say already a fifth of registered voters have cast their ballots.

Both Harris and Trump are appealing to Michigan's sizable Arab-American population, while polling shows some have turned away from Democrats over concern about the U.S. response to war in the Middle East. Trump is holding a rally in suburban Detroit, a city he's criticized. Harris referred to Trump's rhetoric Friday, saying the president should elevate the discourse, not demean. Former first lady Michelle Obama joins her at a rally in Kalamazoo. The spotlight turns next to Pennsylvania. The swing state with the most electoral votes, Trump, is at Penn State later today. Harris will be in Philadelphia tomorrow. Amy Held, NPR News. And from Washington, this is NPR News. President Biden is now the first sitting American president

to apologize over the federal government's use of boarding schools to forcibly assimilate Native American children. But the federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened until today. I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did. I formally apologize. Speaking to tribal leaders, survivors, and their families in Phoenix, Biden called the system one of the most horrific chapters in American history. A summit of former British colonies attended by Britain's King Charles has ended on the island nation of Samoa. Leaders agreed to

begin a dialogue about reparations for Britain's leading role in the slave trade, which ended in the 1800s. Vicki Barker reports from London. All 56 members of the British Commonwealth signed the agreement, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He has repeatedly insisted the UK will not pay financial reparations over its part in the transatlantic slave trade. But Bahamas foreign minister Frederick Mitchell says opening up a dialogue could be the crucial

first step towards an eventual payout, telling the BBC. You start from a position of I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to do it. And then things evolve. And so that's why the discussion at the beginning of the discussion is very important. That discussion will begin at a conference in London next March. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Parker in London. And I'm Joel Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington.