NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-26-2024 2PM EST

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

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The marketing for the movie Wicked has been inescapable. There's all the green and pink merch and Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been everywhere, but does the movie live up to the hype? We know you've been waiting for this one. We've seen Wicked and we have thoughts and we'll get to them all, including some weirdly heated opinions on defying gravity. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Hours after his country launched extensive airstrikes on Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he supports a ceasefire deal with Lebanon's Hezbollah. I will bring an agreement for the cabinet.

The duration of it will depend on what happens in Lebanon. Netanyahu has heard through an interpreter on CNN delivered a televised speech a short time ago. Netanyahu says his country has dismantled Hezbollah's fighting capabilities. In addition to Israel's conflict with Hezbollah, it has also been fighting a war with Hamas in Gaza more than a year after Hamas attacked southern Israel. Iran backs both Hamas and Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump is promising big cuts in government spending.

NPR's Frank Ordonez reports Trump plans to challenge a 1970s law to do this. Trump plans to challenge the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. It requires the sitting president to spend money as Congress directs. He and his allies argue a president has the right to not spend those funds. And that's raising alarm bells that Trump may be trying to overstep his power. Here's Georgetown law professor, Eloise Pasikoff, who says the statute is part of the system's checks and balances. I'm cautiously optimistic because I think that this is the way the system is supposed

to work. I'm also worried because these are complicated times. Conservative legal scholars, though, have expressed confidence that Trump could win in court. They point to recent rulings by the Supreme Court in favor of Trump's use of executive power. Franco, Ordonez, NPR News. Walmart is rolling back its efforts to address generations of disparity experienced by historically marginalized people in the U.S. The nation's largest employer and retailer has decided to end significant diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and policies. Here's NPR's Kristen Wright. Walmart is making sweeping changes to its DEI efforts.

It's ending its Center for Racial Equity, started in 2020, after the murder of George Floyd. Walmart established the center by making a five-year commitment to address the root causes of systemic disparities among black people. Walmart will also no longer consider race and gender in making decisions on supplier contracts. And the retailer is ending participation in the Human Rights Campaign's index that measures the workplace inclusion of LGBTQ plus employees. Walmart's rollback of DEI promises follows similar changes by a growing list of big corporations, including Lowe's, Ford, and John Deere.

Kristin Wright, NPR News. In a statement, Walmart tells NPR its decisions are meant to foster belonging and create opportunities for all associates, customers, and suppliers. From Washington, this is NPR News. Sales of new homes dropped considerably in October. NPR's Laura Wamsley reports both hurricanes and mortgage rates likely drove the slump. Sales of new single-family homes were more than 9 percent lower than they were a year ago, according to October data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing

and Urban Development. Sales dropped more than 17 percent from a month earlier. Analysts said sales figures were much lower than expected and showed Hurricanes Helene and Milton taking a large toll in the south. High mortgage rates have hurt affordability, though many large home builders offer buyer incentives to bring down the cost. The median sales price of new houses sold last month was about $437,000. Economists are predicting a small decline in mortgage rates over the next year. Laurel Wamslee and PR News. Dictionary.com is not being reserved, modest, or shy about its 2024 award of the year. It's demure. Dictionary.com says the word demure experienced a meteoric rise in usage this year, up nearly 1200% in digital web media alone, largely because of TikToker Jules Lebron's popularization of

the phrase, very demure, very mindful. In several videos like this one about one's makeup at the office, A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma, not Demure. Dictionary.com writes the increased focus on public appearance and behavior comes at a time when employees are increasingly returning to offices from hybrid remote work following the COVID pandemic. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.