NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-23-2024 12PM EST

Episode Date: November 23, 2024

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Hey, it's Aisha Harris from Pop Culture Happy Hour. If you love NPR podcasts, you'll want the new NPR Plus podcast bundle. Enjoy an all-you-can-eat selection of NPR Plus podcasts with sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes. Plus, you'll be supporting public radio. Check it out at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. President-elect Donald Trump has announced more of his choices to work in his next administration. He selected Scott Besson for Treasury Secretary and Russ Vogt to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Vogt was a key architect of Project 2025 to overhaul the federal government. Trump's choice for Housing Secretary is former Texas state representative Scott Turner. Trump has made his pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration. NPR's Will Stone reports on Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty McCary. McCary is a surgical oncologist who worked with the first Trump administration

and had been floated as a likely candidate for the top job at FDA. A frequent guest on Fox News, McCary has authored several books and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He gained visibility for his writing and research on the high cost of health care and medical errors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he also emerged as a vocal critic of certain aspects of the federal government's public health response, including vaccine mandates. More recently, he has indicated his support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's choice

to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and his focus on addressing what he calls the chronic disease epidemic in the U.S. Will Stone, NPR News. The Texas Board of Education voted yesterday to allow the teaching of the Bible in public elementary schools. Proponents say the Bible has been recognized as literature for many years in the Western world and will improve education.

Some parents, such as Sharon Vane, says it doesn't belong in school. As a Jewish parent, of course, we taught our kids our faith at home, and I think no matter your faith, the parents are the ones who need to be teaching those lessons. The Bible curriculum will be optional, but schools who teach it will receive extra money

from the state. There was an airstrike in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon's capital, early this morning. Israeli reports say it was targeting a Hezbollah leader in an area of central Beirut, away from the group's base of operations in the city's southern suburbs. Lebanon's civil defense said at least 15 people were killed and dozens were injured. NPR's Lauren Freire reports from Beirut. The Israeli military often issues evacuation orders before it strikes.

But this one came without warning. At 4 a.m. local time, a series of huge blasts that leveled an eight-story building and shook people in their beds a mile away. Beirut still smells of explosives hours later. Local TV shows a massive crater, one building collapsed and others on fire all around it. For blocks, balconies are blown out and buildings covered in soot.

Lebanon's national news agency says Israel used bunker buster bombs in this strike. Israel says its airstrike's target has Bola militants. They've primarily hit across Lebanon's south and east where the group has strongholds. But strikes like this in central parts of the capital are becoming more frequent. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, Beirut. This is NPR News in Washington. The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke today with his Israeli counterpart. A statement said Austin reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Israel's security and to a diplomatic

resolution in Lebanon. A team in the U.K. says it's approximated King Richard III's voice with 90% accuracy. Catherine Fink reports. Catherine Fink, U.S. Defense Secretary, The Pentagon It all started 12 years ago when Richard III's skeleton was found underneath a parking lot in England. Turns out, a person's skeleton can tell us a lot about what they sounded like. We can predict the likely pitch range of a voice from a skeleton. Vocal coach Yvonne Morley Chisholm assembled a team of doctors, linguists, actors, and

forensic psychologists to recreate Richard III's voice. It's a tall order for someone who's been dead for over five centuries, but they found clues everywhere. His upbringing, his spelling, even his scoliosis. And now a digital avatar is on display in England where you can hear the king in his own words and his own voice or something close to it. Catherine Fink, NPR News. Security has been heightened for the President of the Philippines after Ferdinand Marcos

was threatened by his vice president. In an online news conference today, Vice President Sara Duterte said if she is killed, she's already instructed an assassin to kill Marcus, his wife, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. She said this was not a joke. Duterte and Marcus were running mates in the presidential election two years ago on a platform of national unity. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.