NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 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, I'm Dale Willman. President Joe Biden Sunday authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles in attacks on Russian territory. Until now, Ukraine has only been allowed to use the weapons outside of Ukraine to hit

targets including in Russian-controlled Crimea. Biden's decision comes as Russia has begun to deploy North Korean troops along the northern border of Ukraine. President-elect Donald Trump has now named more than 30 people he hopes to have in his administration when he becomes president in January. But first they need to make it through Senate confirmation. Unlike his first term of office, Trump is now choosing many people with little government experiences and in some cases little knowledge about the agency they may be running.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson says that's Trump's prerogative. This is what I'll say about the nominees that the president has put forward is that they are persons who will shake up the status quo. And I think what the American people have believe and what they've delivered with the mandate in this election is demand that we shake up the status quo. It's not working for the American people. So use the term in the opening about how these are disruptors. They are. I think that's by design. Any president has the right to name their own cabinet, to nominate persons that they

think will fulfill their agenda. Johnson was speaking Sunday on CNN. Palestinian officials say dozens of people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike this weekend on a residential building that housed at least six families in northern Gaza. NPR's Ruth Sherlock has more. With much of northern Gaza cut off by the Israeli offensive against Hamas, Palestinian rescue workers are mostly unable to operate there. So there's little help for the wounded and it's hard to get official figures of how many people died in the strike on this

residential building in Beit Lahye in northern Gaza. Gaza officials say more than 70 people, six families, were sheltering in the building when it was hit. Videos shared online of the site, not verified by NPR, show a gaping hole of broken concrete in a built-up area with damaged buildings all around. In a response to NPR, the Israeli military said overnight it conducted several strikes on what it called terrorist targets in the area. In a response to NPR, the Israeli military said overnight it conducted several strikes on what it called terrorist targets in the area. In recent weeks, fighting has intensified in North Gaza. As Israel says, Hamas has regrouped there. The Israeli military says it's made continuous efforts to evacuate the civilian population from the active war

zone. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Stock prices are starting the week in Asia mixed that's being driven after U.S. stocks Friday fell to their worst losses since election day. Japan's Nikkei index dropped 1.1 percent while South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.2 percent that after Samsung Electronics announced a share buyback plan. China's markets were also mixed with Hong Kong's Hang Seng closing up 0.8% and the Shanghai Composite finished the day down by 0.2%. You're listening to NPR News. New York officials have issued its first voluntary evacuation for

residents affected by the Jennings Creek fire burning on the state's border with New Jersey. The fire has burned some 5,000 acres over the past 10 days, and fire officials across the northeastern U.S. are expressing concern about the tinder dry and windy conditions there. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says tropical storm Sarah has now been downgraded to a tropical depression after it made landfall on Belize Sunday. Sarah is still expected to drop several inches of rain and cause major flooding and mudslides.

Sarah had already caused severe damage in Honduras where it stalled on Friday. President-elect Trump is promising that there will be mass deportations of undocumented immigrants when he takes office. And now Tom Homan, who Trump has picked to be border czar, is warning people to pack their bags. Boston is a sanctuary city. Mayor Michelle Wu says the city will not cooperate with any efforts that threaten people's safety. We are providing the spaces to reach out directly to our residents because the last thing we

want is for people who are part of our economy, part of our school system, part of our community and the fabric of our city to feel that all of a sudden they have to retreat into the shadows. Four of the top five slots in the AP College football rankings this week continue to be teams from the Big Ten. Oregon is still in the number one spot despite a close call Saturday in their game with Wisconsin while Ohio State remains at number two after easily handling Northwestern. Texas is in third, followed by Penn State and Indiana. Notre Dame rose to sixth, and Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Tennessee finish out the top ten. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.