NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-26-2024 1PM EDT

Episode Date: October 26, 2024

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On the Code Switch podcast, we think about race and identity all the time. On a recent episode, we tried to make sense of the devastating violence in Gaza by turning to James Baldwin, the writer and intellectual who thought a lot about what was happening in Israel during his lifetime. His words speak to the present in unexpected ways. Hear how they might help you think through it too on the Code Switch podcast only from NPR. NORA RAM. only from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. The Israeli military carried out strikes against targets in Iran overnight in response to Iran's attacks on Israel on October 1st. Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hungari says it has completed the mission. We have concluded the Israeli response to Iran's attack against Israel. We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran thwarting immediate threats to the state of Israel. The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission.

President Biden said today he's been briefed on the strikes by the U.S. intelligence community and that it appears they didn't hit anything other than the military targets, adding, My hope is this is the end. One of three journalists killed by an Israeli airstrike yesterday in southern Lebanon was laid to rest today. He was buried in Hezbollah's cemetery in Beirut. NPR's Arzu Rabbani reports. Family, friends and colleagues stood before the shrouded body

of cameraman Ghassan Najjar Saturday morning. They recited prayers, kissed the body, and buried him in a cemetery that is mainly for Hezbollah's killed fighters. Though Najjar worked for a pro-Iran, pro-Palestinian news channel aligned with Hezbollah, he was not known to be a member of the Iran-backed political and militant group. Still, the family requested his body be wrapped in Hezbollah's green and yellow flag as a

symbol of resistance. Najar was killed Friday along with two other journalists. Others from international news organizations were wounded in the attack, even though their cars were clearly marked press and the town they were in was widely considered to be safe. Lebanon's information minister called the attack a war crime. Israel says it's reviewing the airstrike. Urzoo Rizvani and PR News, Beirut. 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. Both candidates are campaigning today in the swing state of Michigan. NPR's Amy Held has more in the story. 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. This is NPR News in Washington. A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that Mississippi cannot count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. A state law had provided a grace period for ballots postmarked by Election Day.

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that violates federal law. It did not stop the practice now, but sent the matter back to the lower court for further review. This likely means the grace period stays in effect for this election. One of the only complete collections of DC Comics is being auctioned off this weekend. As Vermont Public Radio's Liam Elder-Connors reports,

the collection features the first appearances of heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Christine Farrell started buying comics as a kid and spent decades amassing her collection of every DC comic. She even loaned her books to DC when they couldn't find copies to make reprints. She told Mountain Lake PBS in 1995 she collected the comics because she's a fan. I buy them because I want to read them, But not for resale, not at all. I do not intend to sell the collection. Farrell died in April, and now nearly 500 of the rarest comics in her collection will

go to the highest bidder this weekend. The sale could bring in $4 million. For NPR News, I'm Liam Elder-Connors in Burlington, Vermont. Taiwan held its 22nd annual Pride Parade today. in Burlington, Vermont.