NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-17-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all on the web at theschmidt.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. President Biden is allowing Ukraine for the first time to fire U.S.-made long-range missiles into Russia. A U.S. official tells NPR the change in policy was spurred by the thousands of North Korean troops sent to Russia to help in its war against Ukraine. MP Tom Bowman has more. Ukraine doesn't have many of these long-range missiles, so they'll likely have to pick their targets wisely. Things like oil depots, stocks of munitions, missile launchers and such.

Here's the other thing, Great Britain and France also have these long-range missiles and they were prevented from using them because they have U.S. components and the Biden administration had to give its approval. So, you know, we could see those countries now get the go-ahead from the U.S. And here's Tom Bowman. A senior Hezbollah official, the head of its media operations, has been killed in an airstrike in Beirut. The attack on the Arab Socialist Bath Party followed a wave of Israeli airstrikes in the

Lebanese capital today. And Piers Jane Arraff has more from Beirut. The airstrike, one of several Sunday morning, hit the office of a Hezbollah-aligned political party in a densely populated Beirut neighborhood Lebanon's Health Ministry said one person was killed and others wounded It did not identify the fatality but the head of the Arab Socialist Bath Party Ali Hezazi Said in a social media post that Mohammed Afif the Hezbollah media chief had been killed in its offices

that Mohammed Afif, the Hezbollah media chief, had been killed in its offices. Afif had been media advisor to the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut in late September. In his last press conference earlier in November, Afif said that the militant group was prepared for a long war against Israel. Jane Araf and Peer News, Beirut. Some of President-elect Trump's choices to work in his administration have raised questions, including former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, his pick for attorney general. Gaetz briefly worked as an attorney, but has spent most of his career as a politician. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports Gaetz is a fierce critic of the Justice Department. Trump during the campaign talked about retribution against his perceived political enemies, including

folks at the Justice Department. And so putting a partisan political guy like Gates at the helm of the department and its enormous powers is adding to concerns that Trump will follow through with that. Until Gates resigned his seats, the House Ethics Committee was investigating him over allegations of sexual misconduct. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says he hopes climate change is a priority when the world's major economies meet in Rio de Janeiro tomorrow at the G20 summit. I will appeal to the sense of responsibility of all G20 countries. Now is the time for

leadership by example from the world's largest economies and emitters. Failure is not an option. The UN chief also reiterated the need for peace and conflicts around the world. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Hurricanes can have a long-lasting eroding effect on coastlines. Gabriel Dawkins of Houston Public Media spoke with a geologist who's been monitoring the Texas coast for several years. 80% of the coast is eroding, 80%. And the average rate for that is 1.27 meter per year. Shuhab Khan, professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at the University of Houston, shared

year-over-year statistics. He says keeping a keen eye on the coast is a must, especially after hurricanes like Barrel earlier this year. Follett Island and from there on all the way to Sargent, there were a lot of damages. And then you go towards Metagodai, Decrees, and finally Mustang and North Padre. We had minimal changes, if any. Khan says data being collected will help to quantify coastal erosion, track recovery process, and improve predictive models for storm damage.

I'm Gabrielle Dawkins in Houston. An 18-karat Tiffany Gold pocket watch given to the ship captain who rescued 700 survivors from the Titanic, sold at auction for nearly $2 million, a record for memorabilia from the shipwreck. The watch was given by the video of John Jacob Astor, the richest man to die in the disaster, and the widows of two other wealthy businessmen who went down with the ship to Captain Rostron. He diverted his passenger ship to rescue Titanic passengers after it hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage in 1912.

It's the second time the watch was sold in the past seven months. This is NPR News. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow. Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family. For additional information, visit DignityMemorial.com.