NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-20-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: November 21, 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 in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The US has vetoed another UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. As NPR's Michelle Kalman explains, Council diplomat expressed frustration,

saying the United Nations needs to do more to stop a war they describe as catastrophic and uplifting. US Ambassador Robert Wood cast the lone no vote in the 15-member Security Council, saying the only way the war will end is if Hamas releases the hostages they took from Israel on Oct. 7 of last year. Hamas would have seen it as a vindication of its cynical strategy to hope and pray the international community forgets about the fate of more than 100 hostages from more than

20 member states who have been held for 410 days. U.S. officials say that Hamas has rejected recent offers for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for hostages. Qatar suspended its mediation efforts and there are no signs of any real diplomacy. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. The Biden administration is agreeing to send land mines to Ukraine in an attempt to stop advances by Russian ground troops.

As NPR's Greg Myer reports, this is the second time in recent days the U.S. has changed policy and given Ukraine greater freedom to use U.S. weapons. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the new policy as he spoke to reporters on a trip to Asia. He said Russia is sending waves of ground troops towards Ukrainian forces and Ukraine needs the landmines to quote slow down that effort. The mines will be for use in eastern Ukraine where Russian forces have been making incremental gains and are placing the greatest pressure on the Ukrainians.

The Biden administration had opposed landmines as part of a larger global trend to halt their deployment worldwide. In recent days, President Biden also agreed to let Ukraine fire U.S. ballistic missiles into Russian territory. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington. South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace is leading an effort to bar transgender women from using women's bathrooms and locker rooms. Mace says it's a push in response to incoming Congresswoman Sarah McBride of Delaware. McBride will be the first openly transgender person to serve in the House.

Here's NPR's Elena Moore. On Monday, Congresswoman Nancy Mace proposed a measure that would bar transgender women from entering women's bathrooms in the Capitol. Now she's put out legislation expanding it to all federal property. And though House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to a vote on either measure, he said in a statement that Capitol and House office buildings are, quote, reserved for individuals of that biological sex. Sarah McBride of Delaware calls the effort a distraction from policy, writing in a statement that she plans to follow Johnson's rules, though she

disagrees with them. Elena Moore, NPR News, The Capitol. On Wall Street, the Dow's up 139 points, the Nasdaq fell 21 points. This is NPR. Workers at a Ford battery plant in Kentucky have officially launched a campaign to join the United Auto Workers Union. The union says a super majority of workers signed union cards. As NPR's Camila Dominovski reports, it's part of the union's efforts to bring battery plants under their union umbrella. The plant in Kentucky, called Blue Oval SK, is a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and SKON, a South Korean battery maker. In a UAW video, employees there say battery workers are auto workers. We're the workers who will build batteries for Ford.

And just like Ford workers, we are standing up for good, safe union jobs. Unionizing these battery plants has been a major priority for the UAW, which sees more jobs shifting over time from building engines into building batteries. The UAW argues that unionizing would boost worker pay and improve safety standards. The joint venture's HR director said in a statement, in its entirety, we want to maintain a direct relationship with our employees. Camila Dominovski in BR News. Retailer Target is weighed in with lower than expected earnings numbers.

The Minneapolis-based retailer failing to meet Wall Street's expectations during its just-completed third quarter. Target in part blamed its slumping profits and reduced profit and sales outlook for the final three months of this year on costs related to a dock worker's strike in October. However, Target's weaker numbers also stand in contrast to earnings from Walmart, the world's largest retailer, which has released an upbeat projection for the upcoming holidays. Crude oil futures prices settled lower today after a larger than expected rise in crude and gas stockpiles. Oil was down 52 cents a barrel to settle at 68.87 a barrel in New York.

I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.