NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-26-2024 9AM EDT

Episode Date: October 26, 2024

NPR News: 10-26-2024 9AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jile Snyder 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. Giles Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Following the wave of retaliatory strikes, Israel launched against military targets in

Iran overnight. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari is warning Iran against further retaliation. If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond. Our message is clear. All those who threaten the State of Israel and seek to drag the region into wider escalation will pay a heavy price." Iran's Foreign Ministry is condemning the Israeli attacks, saying Iran is entitled and obligated to defend itself. The US and other Western countries have warned about the risks

of a wider war in the Middle East, but it remains unclear if the Israeli attacks will lead to a further escalation. A senior White House official says this should be the end of direct exchange of fire, but that the U.S. is prepared to defend Israel if Iran chooses to respond. U.S. officials say Russia manufactured a fake video that purports to show someone destroying ballots marked for former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. NPR's Shannon Bond reports that Russian propagandists have made other phony videos targeting the Democratic ticket.

Federal intelligence officials and the FBI say Russia is behind the video, which is spread widely on social media, including Elon Musk's ex. The video was quickly debunked by local election officials and the district attorney's office in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They say the envelopes and ballots shown are not what the county uses to vote. Federal officials say the fake video is part of Russia's efforts to undermine confidence in the integrity of the election and stoke division among Americans. The video was posted by an ex-account that previously shared another video making false

accusations against Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. Intelligence officials have said that was also a Russian fake. Shannon Bond, NPR News. The former Soviet Republic of Georgia is holding a closely watched parliamentary election today. The vote is seen as a key test of the country's prospects of joining the European Union or returning back into Russia's sphere of influence as Imperius Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.

With polls showing a vast majority of Georgians, some 80% in favor of joining the European Union, all parties competing formally endorse Eurointegration. Yet the government of the ruling Georgia Dream Party have implemented policies such as a controversial foreign agents law and anti-LGBT legislation that have put the country's EU accession talks on hold. Critics say the measures amount to democratic backsliding and echo Russian legislation. The Kremlin is used to crack down on political opponents and civil

society. The government argues such laws protect Georgian sovereignty and defend its more accommodating stance towards Moscow is both good for the economy and protection from being pulled into a wider conflict with Russia. Charles Maines, NPR News, Moscow. And you're listening to NPR News. Tributes are being paid to the groundbreaking, grateful dead bassist, Phil Lesh. Lesh's family announced his death on Instagram. He was 84 years old. A specific cause is unclear. Lesh was a critical founding member of the Grateful Dead whose bass playing helped establish a band sound,

as MPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports. Phil Lesh didn't know how to play bass when Jerry Garcia asked him to join his rock band. But the trumpet player said yes anyway. And in 1965, The Grateful Dead was born. The group's improvisational style fueled a counterculture scene that defined an era and a subculture that endured. The band amassed fans for decades, and Lesh found his footing not only as a bassist, but sometimes, a vocalist. Look out of any window, any morning. After Garcia's death in 1995, Lesh continued to play with his dead bandmates and eventually released several albums with his own group, Phil Lesh and Friends.

He played music with his sons, Brian and Graham, until the end of his life. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News. Federal health officials say an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's quarter pounders has sickened at least 75 people in 13 states. One person in Colorado has died. The Food and Drug Administration says onions used on the burgers are the likely source. Tonight's game two of Major League Baseball's World Series follows last night's dramatic game one finish. Los Angeles Dodgers were down to their final out when Freddie Freeman hit the first walk-off Grand Slam in World Series history, handing the Dodgers a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees. I'm Joel Snyder.

This is NPR News.