NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-27-2024 7PM EST

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

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This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University performs breakthrough research every year, making discoveries that improve human health, combat climate change, and move society forward. More at iu.edu slash forward. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Thousands of Lebanese refugees displaced by the ongoing war with Israel are returning home as a ceasefire takes hold there. If it holds, the ceasefire, at the time being, would bring nearly 14 months of fighting between the two sides to an end. The fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and US ally Israel had threatened a wider conflict. And Beerus Kat Lonsdorf is in Tel Aviv and has more on the agreement. It also says that both Israel and Lebanon have the right to self-defense should the ceasefire be broken.

This agreement was based largely on a UN resolution which was supposed to resolve the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. It leaves securing the south to the Lebanese army, which remember is different than Hezbollah, and also the UN peacekeeping groups which have already been in the area. The ceasefire does not address the other war Israel is currently involved in, which remember is different than Hezbollah, and also the UN peacekeeping groups which have already been in the area. The ceasefire does not address the other war Israel's currently involved in, which continues in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes there earlier today claimed the lives of 11 people, including four children. Federal consent decrees can be a powerful tool for police reform, but as NPR's Meg Anderson explains, the fate of investigations opened by the Biden Justice

Department remains uncertain when Donald Trump takes office again. A consent decree is basically an improvement plan, often aimed at police misconduct. Trump severely limited their use. The Biden administration opened a dozen investigations, but has not finalized any into a court-enforced agreement. Sharon Fairley, a University of Chicago law professor, says decrees are often very expensive for cities and last years. She says that gives cities little incentive to get these done.

I doubt any city is gonna enter into an agreement right now knowing that the Trump administration is about to come in and they wouldn't do it. A Justice Department official told NPR the department is still working to secure resolutions in places where it uncovered police abuse. Maggie Anderson, NPR News. The Rocky Mountains are covered with snow after a few early season storms. From member station KUNC, Alex Hager reports that's a good sign for the Colorado River,

which gets the majority of its water from winter precipitation. Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico are getting a snowy start to the winter. Mountain ranges in those states are all above average for this time of year. Some regions have more than 170 percent of normal snow for late November. About 85 percent of the Colorado River comes from mountain snow. Once it melts around the end of April, it becomes the water supply used by 40 million people from Wyoming to Mexico. Policymakers are hoping a wet winter will give them breathing room to come up with new long-term rules for sharing the river, which is

shrinking due to climate change. For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Fort Collins, Colorado. Based on the government's latest estimate, the U.S. economy expanded at a healthy 2.8% annual rate for the three months ending in September. That's virtually unchanged from the previous quarter. The Dow was down 138 points. This is NPR. The thought of Thanksgiving gatherings is making at least some Americans anxious this year, not over burning the turkey, but rather about a firefight

with loved ones over the nation's political divide. As NPR's Tovia Smith reports, some groups are offering tips for a more peaceful gathering. It's a scary prospect for many, being trapped at the table with someone when... She is, from my perspective, crazy when it comes to politics. On a Zoom call this week, some Thanksgiving worriers sought advice from Shira Hoffer of the Institute for Multipartisan Education. Disagreement is unavoidable, she says, but it doesn't have to be nasty. You can hate who Uncle John voted for without also hating Uncle John. You can even have a decent conversation, Hoffer says, if you don't just tell them why they're wrong and instead ask why they feel the way they do. If you're asking curious questions and you're doing so in an open-minded way,

suddenly it's very hard for people to start yelling at each other. If it's not obvious, open-minded also means actually listening to the person's answers, Hoffer says. If you or they can't manage it, she says, you might just need to shift the conversation to something else or someone else. Tovia Smith, NPR News. Scientists have long wondered how dinosaurs came to prominence more than 30 million years ago and they're now looking to fossilize feces and vomit for answers. Researchers in a new study looked at who was eating whom and coming up with some possible answers. They say the

first dinosaurs ate whatever they could find, including fish, insects, and plants. Scientists say dinosaurs also apparently adapted quickly when climate conditions changed. A study looked at fossils found in Poland. It was published today in the journal Nature. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. 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.