NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-27-2024 1PM EST

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

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Thanksgiving was a national holiday created in the middle of the Civil War to unify a country that was split in two. Learn about the origins of Thanksgiving and how the unity and division that we see at our Thanksgiving tables was there from the very beginning. Listen to the Throughline podcast from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Celebratory gunfire in Beirut as thousands of people returned to their homes in Lebanon hours after ceasefire took effect between Hezbollah militants and Israel. Reporting from Tel Aviv, NPR's Scott Newman says the 60-day truce calls for a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces as Hezbollah militants move away from the border.

The truce, aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, was welcomed by Iran's foreign ministry, which praised the end of what it calls Israel's aggression against Lebanon. The truce, which went into effect at 4 a.m. local time, was brokered by the U.S. and France. It comes eight weeks after Israeli forces entered southern Lebanon. Egypt expressed hope that the deal would be the start of a broader de-escalation in the region while Jordan's foreign ministry called the ceasefire an important step, but also said Israel's, quote, aggression in Gaza must be

stopped. French President Emmanuel Macron also said he hopes the deal will quote, open the path for ending the war in Gaza. Scott Newman, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Three Americans have been freed from prisons in China in a deal brokered by the Biden administration. A State Department spokesman says all wrongfully detained U.S. citizens in China are now home. Politico reports they were exchanged for Chinese citizens, though there are few details about them. The State Department has now revised its travel advisory for China for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. NPR's John Rewich has the latest.

The travel advisory was lowered to level two, which advises Americans to exercise increased caution when traveling to China. It had been one notch higher at level three, advising would-be travelers to reconsider trips to China. The level three warning was put in place early in the pandemic when the virus was spreading and China started imposing lockdowns. It was kept in place, though, after Beijing dropped COVID controls in late 2022. The State Department cited arbitrary enforcement of laws and wrongful detentions in China. The Level 2 advisory still says arbitrary enforcement of local laws is a problem, including in relation to exit bans. But the change is significant. China had been struggling to attract visitors, and this may make it easier for American students and others to travel to China. John Ruech, NPR News.

A new law in Ohio says that on school grounds, a transgender man or woman must use a multi-person bathroom that corresponds to their sex at birth, not gender identity. Republican Governor Mike DeWine signed the legislation today. It applies to bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations on all school grounds. Teachers' unions and civil rights groups objected the ACLU of Ohio said that the measure would make LGBTQ Ohio residents less safe. From Washington, this is NPR News. People bring entire turkeys to the checkpoint.

So obviously that was what they were assigned for the meal and they're bringing it through. It is allowed. That's TSA spokesperson Lori Danker saying there are rules on how much of that Thanksgiving meal you can bring through a checkpoint with holiday travel in full swing across the U.S. on this Thanksgiving Eve. AAA estimates roughly 80 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home during the holiday week. People socked away a little more money in October as incomes rose faster than expenses and Pierre Scott Horsley reports on the

latest figures from the Commerce Department. Personal income rose 6 tenth6% last month while personal spending increased 0.4%. People managed to save nearly 4.5% of their income, which is up from the previous month, although still low by historical standards. Prices in October were up 2.3% from a year ago, according to the Commerce Department's inflation yardstick, which is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, stripping out food and energy prices, which bounce around a lot. Annual inflation was 2.8% last month. That's a slightly larger annual price increase than the previous month, and suggests that

while inflation has been cooling, it's not yet completely tamed. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. US stocks are trading lower this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 100 points at 44,752. The S&P is down 27 points for nearly half a percent and the Nasdaq has fallen 173 points. It's down nearly 1 percent. You're listening to NPR News.