NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-25-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: November 25, 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. A DHL cargo plane has crashed into a home near the capital of Lithuania. Media reports say two people were taken to a hospital and one of them has since died. The cargo plane was arriving from the German city of Leipzig and crashed less than a mile from the end of the runway.

Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles from Lebanon into Israel Sunday, wounding seven people. But as the fighting continues there, efforts are now underway to try and arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. And European Union Foreign Policy Chief Joseph Borrell says such a deal is now close at hand. The Israeli government maintained the pressure in Hezbollah to accept the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire. This was agreed. This proposal is pending with the final agreement with the Israeli government.

Tensions remain high between the U.S. and Russia after President Joe Biden approved Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles in Russia earlier this month. As MPR's Luke Garrett reports, that stress comes during a delicate transition between Biden and President-elect Donald Trump. Incoming National Security Advisor, Representative Mike Waltz, gave a warning on Fox News this Sunday. For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity, that they can play one administration off the other, they're wrong. Waltz stressed the cooperation between himself and current national security advisor Jake Sullivan.

Despite this, Walt says he will bring about significant change to American policy under a second Trump presidency. I'm going to conform the system to the best I can to his style, to his decisions, and to his mandate. And topping his national security list is one, securing the U.S. border, and two, quote, imposing costs on Hamas for holding American hostages. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. Service workers at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina are expected to go on strike in less than an hour. They say they're protesting unlivable wages and a lack of respect for their work.

The workers clean airplane interiors and escort passengers needing a wheelchair. NATO member countries are getting a new warning that they may be targeted by Russian cyber attacks. Vicki Barker is more from London. British national security official Pat McFadden says hackers aligned with the Russian state have already carried out at least nine separate cyber attacks against NATO countries, including assaults on critical national infrastructure. And he'll tell a NATO cybersecurity conference in London Monday that Russia is now prepared to launch a new wave of attacks capable of, in his words, turning the lights off for millions in Britain alone.

With Russia increasingly able to penetrate and disable national power grids, McFadden's message will be, no one should underestimate the Russian cyber threat to NATO. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. I'm Dale Willman and you're listening to NPR News. There's new research out on the benefits that come when child care workers are paid better. As NPR's Andrea Shue reports, the data come from a program that aims to pay child care workers wages comparable to public school teachers. Through a tax hike on the wealthy, the District of Columbia has been supplementing the wages

of early childhood educators. On average, child care teachers got a pay raise of $10,000 last year. And that's not all. Owen Shoshay, a researcher at Mathematica, found the program led to a nearly 7% increase in childcare employment. More teachers mean more slots, more children served. And the quality of care has improved as turnover has fallen and experienced teachers have stayed on the job.

They're a considerable benefit to society. Shoshay acknowledges the cost of the program is high at $54 million last year, but working with an economist, he found the return on investment was also high at 23%. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. The AAA says this year's Thanksgiving travel rush is expected to be bigger than ever this year. The association says almost 80 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between this Tuesday and next Monday, and most of those trips will be by car.

The TSA, meanwhile, says it could screen a record number of U.S. air travelers next Sunday. A final round of talks aimed at reducing the use of plastic is underway in South Korea this weekend. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says plastic's production is expected to increase by 70 percent over 2020 production by 2040. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.