NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-19-2024 12PM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

NPR News: 11-19-2024 12PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This is Ira Glass with This American Life. Each week on our show, we choose a theme, tell different stories on that theme. All right, I'm just going to stop right there. You're listening to an NPR podcast, chances are you know our show. So instead, I'm going to tell you, we've just been on a run of really good shows lately. Some big epic emotional stories, some weird funny stuff too. Download us, This American Life. weird, funny stuff too. Down with us, this American life. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. A US official confirms to NPR that Ukraine has fired

American-made Atacom's missiles into Russia for the first time. The Ukrainian attack came on the thousandth day since Russia first launched its full-scale invasion. From Moscow, NPR's Charles Maines has details. Russia's Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces fired six American-made Ataka missiles into Russia's western Bryansk region.

The ministry claimed Russian air defense systems destroyed five of the missiles mid-flight and damaged the six, whose fragments started a small fire at a military installation. No injuries were reported. The barrage would appear to be the result of the Biden administration's decision, which NPR and other news outlets have reported that it had lifted restrictions on Ukraine's use of sophisticated long-range Western weaponry to target inside Russia. The Kremlin has signaled it would see any such attacks as a major

escalation implying the direct U.S. involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Charles Maynes, NR News, Moscow. President-elect Donald Trump is tapping another Fox News contributor for his cabinet. NPR's Joel Rose reports Trump has chosen former GOP Congressman Sean Duffy to head the Department of Transportation. Duffy represented a district in his native Wisconsin in the House of Representatives for eight years. He's worked as a contributor at Fox News since 2020

and hosted the bottom line on the Fox Business Network since 2023. Duffy's roots in the television business run deep. He appeared on MTV's The Real World in 1997 before going on to serve as a district attorney in Northern Wisconsin and then in Congress where he sat on the House Financial Services Committee. This is the second time in as many weeks

that President-elect Trump has chosen a Fox host to serve in his cabinet. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. U.S. shoppers have been flocking to Walmart in search of bargains. NPR Scott Horsley reports on the retail giant's latest earnings report. The nation's biggest retailer reported better than expected sales and profits for the most recent quarter. More customers visited Walmart stores, and they spent more once they got there. The discount chain says much of the increase was driven by higher-income shoppers. Home-building activity slowed last month, partly as a result of back-to-back hurricanes.

Permits for future home construction were also down slightly. Still, a survey by the National Association of Home Builders shows growing confidence that market conditions will improve in the coming months despite persistently high mortgage rates. Scott Horsley in Pear News, Washington. British farmers have rallied around Parliament to protest a tax hike. They say we'll deal a quote, hammer blow to struggling family farms. The Associated Press reports an estimated 13,000 people packed the streets around Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office today. This comes a day after French farmers held a nationwide strike over a trade agreement

that they said would harm their livelihoods. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 145 points at 43,243. This is NPR News. Well, yesterday was a big day for residents in Asheville, North Carolina, where people finally have clean water running through their taps again. The city went weeks without any water and then several more weeks without safe drinking water after Hurricane Helene hit the region in late September. Lyle It's been over 50 days since Asheville residents have had clean drinking water. After Helene caused severe damage to its water system and completely muddied the reservoir, the city

struggled to put the pieces back together. They have used everything from chemicals to industrial curtains to clean up the water. And now finally, the wait is over. Dina Larson is one of the many Asheville residents who is rejoicing over the news that clean water has returned. There are definitely tears of happiness much sooner than anyone expected. Larson says she hopes that water will help Asheville enter its next chapter of recovery and lead to the city's economy bouncing back. For NPR News, I'm Laura Hackett in Asheville, North Carolina. Many travelers embark on new adventures with a Fromer guy tucked away in a backpack or

their luggage. Well, the man who helped revolutionize world travel on a budget, he's died. Arthur Fromer was 95 years old. He wrote and self-published Europe on $5 a day in 1957, and it was an instant hit right at the time transatlantic jet travel started. Fromer went on to establish an empire of guidebooks, tour packages, and a website devoted to the wonders of travel. This is NPR.