NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-21-2024 9AM EST

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

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What's good y'all? It's Gene Dembe from Code Switch. On Code Switch, we are deeply curious about race and identity and the way it shows up in the news headlines or in our personal lives. With the wide range of voices in front of and behind the mic, we see how race shows up all over the place. So come rock with us on the Code Switch podcast, only from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, on Korva Coleman, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for a Hamas leader. It's over the war in Gaza, Netanyahu's office condemned the warrant against him, calling it anti-Semitic. In Israel, a thousand draft notices have been sent out to members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. As NPR's Michael Leavitt reports from Jerusalem, the group has historically been exempt from conscription into the Israeli military.

Israel's Supreme Court struck down the exemption earlier this year, but less than 10 percent reported for duty in the first round of draft notices sent this summer. In response, the ultra-Orthodox quickly staged demonstrations, blocking a major highway near Tel Aviv on Sunday. Military service has long been mandatory for Jewish citizens of Israel, with the exception of the ultra-orthodox. Many see serving in the army as being in conflict with their ability to practice and study their faiths.

Israeli lawmaker Boaz Bismuth told NPR that it's time for that perspective to change. There is no contradiction between being ultra-orthodox or being religious and serving in the army. There is no contradiction between the M16 and the Kippah on your head. The latest round of draft notices aims to recruit 7,000 ultra-orthodox Israelis. Michael Levitt, NPR News, Jerusalem. The House Ethics Committee is not releasing its investigative report into former Congressman Matt Gaetz. He's been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump for attorney general.

The committee had been examining allegations that Gaetz had sex with an underage girl and engaged in sex trafficking. He has denied the allegations. Democratic Representative Susan Wild says the ethics panel is not in agreement on whether to release the report. There was no consensus on this issue. We did agree that we would reconvene as a committee on December 5th to further consider this matter. Gates was on Capitol Hill yesterday to meet with senators about his nomination ahead of confirmation hearings. Anti- poverty advocates are bracing for program cuts

under the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Trump has vowed to cut waste and slash budgets. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports advocates worry the social safety net is a likely target. Trump's first administration proposed deep cuts to aid for food, rent, health care, and more, calling such programs ineffective. Congress pushed back, but this time, Peggy Bailey, with the Center on Budget and Policy

Priorities says there will be fewer moderate Republicans, and there's Project 2025, with a detailed conservative plan to shrink the safety net. This is all part of an agenda that is much more organized than it was the first time. She and others also expect another push for tougher work requirements for those getting aid. Supporters say they help people become more self-sufficient. Critics say most who can work already do. Jennifer Lutton, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR. Ukraine says Russia has hit the east central city of Nipro with an intercontinental ballistic missile. If confirmed, this would be the first time Russia has used an ICBM in this war. It comes as the same week as Ukraine fired US-made long-range missiles

into Russian territory. The prospect of the incoming Trump administration is causing some foreign-born scientists in the U.S. to consider jobs in other countries, and PR's John Hamilton reports on expected changes to certain visas. John Hamilton, Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D.,

Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., Ph known as an H1B. These visas allow a limited number of highly skilled scientists and engineers to work in the U.S. for up to six years. But they're likely to become scarcer when Trump returns to office. That's bad news for scientists like Leili Murtazavi, who is in the final year of a doctoral program at Stanford University. I really like Stanford. People here are great. But I would have to see what kinds of changes happen under Trump. Samir Tazavi, who was born in Iran, is looking at jobs in Canada and the UK.

John Hamilton and PR News. Northern California and southern Oregon are under several types of weather warnings today. A powerful Pacific system is bringing heavy rain, life-threatening flooding, strong wind and mountain snow. The system is called an atmospheric river. The National Weather Service says an additional foot of rain could fall in California over the next few days. Two people died in accidents involving fallen trees in Washington state.

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