NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-29-2024 3AM EST

Episode Date: November 29, 2024

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwahlei Saikoutou. The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon appears to be holding despite some incidents reported. But Israel's war in Gaza against Hamas continues. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports many there feel forgotten after the ceasefire in Lebanon. NPR's producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, spoke to several people at a market in Dar al-Bala shortly after the news of the ceasefire in Lebanon broke. 34-year-old Wala Hanuna says she's happy one war has ended,

but she feels betrayed. What does this mean for us, she says. Hezbollah had originally said they wouldn't agree to a ceasefire until there was one for Gaza, too. Now she worries one will never come. 30-year-old Tha'ar Hamad says of course he is rejoicing that a war has ended, but he thought the people of Lebanon were standing in solidarity with Gaza. He worries now that Israel has one less war to fight, there might be more strikes in Gaza.

Kat Lansdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. More humanitarians were killed in 2024 than ever before, according to the United Nations humanitarian office, as NPR's Fatima Tanis reports. 281 humanitarian workers were killed this year, surpassing last year's record. The UN's humanitarian office said the surge in casualties is due to the war in Gaza, where 333 humanitarians have been killed since the war began over a year ago. 10 of them were killed just this month. But it's not just in Gaza where humanitarians have come

under attack, the UN says. As conflict escalates in many part of the world, UN officials have urged governments and warring parties to protect aid workers and uphold international law. Fatma Tanis, NPR News. Big tech has a new challenge now that Australia's parliament has passed the world's first social media ban prohibiting children under the age of 16 from using social media except for educational purposes. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he felt

pressure from parents concerned about the mental health impacts on young people. We can't as a government hear those messages from parents and say it's too hard. We have a responsibility to act. The Prime Minister said his message to Australian parents is, we've got your back. During his latest radio address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian President Vladimir Putin has no interest in ending the war, only escalating it ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. His statement comes as Russia attacked Ukraine

with nearly 200 missiles and drones early Thursday, leaving more than a million people without power. This is NPR News from New York City. A veteran journalist and former Harvard-Neiman fellow who has long worked for a Chinese Communist Party newspaper has been sentenced to seven years in prison for espionage. His family said in a statement that Dong Yu Yu is being persecuted for the independence he has demonstrated during a lifetime spent as a journalist. Trials related to national security cases in China are held in secret, but Dong's family

and his attorney were in court for the sentencing judgment on Friday, where Dong was accused of inappropriately sharing information with Japanese diplomats. Middle and high school teachers say they want more training and more time to help their struggling readers. That's according to a new survey of more than 500 educators in grades 6 through 12. And Pérez Janaki-Meda has more. Too much screen time and lack of practice were some of the barriers to reading that educators cited. The survey was conducted by the Project for Adolescent Literacy, or PAL. Teachers say the top reason their middle and high schoolers are struggling to read?

I don't think they really learned how to read well in elementary school. That was that's educator and PAL steering committee member Taneya York sharing the survey results in a recent webinar. Teachers also said they want more training on how to improve students' reading skills, but a majority say their schools don't have policies in place to support them. The most universally reported barrier to adolescent reading literacy was simply not having enough time with students. Janaki Mehta, NPR News. And I'm Dua-Helisa Icautel. NPR News from New York City.