NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-29-2024 6AM EST

Episode Date: November 29, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. The now three-day-old truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants is sparking optimism that a similar deal might also be possible in Gaza. But as NPR's Scott Newman reports from Tel Aviv, there are no concrete signs of progress. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatar's Prime Minister Abdelrahman al-Thani met on Wednesday in Cairo to discuss a joint approach to getting a truce in Gaza. Meanwhile, Egyptian media report this week that intelligence officials from Cairo traveled to Israel for meetings on a ceasefire, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has denied this.

The Biden administration has said it plans to renew a push on Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, and Israel to get a ceasefire in Gaza and a release of the remaining hostages. Scott Newman, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she's confident President-elect Trump's threats to impose a new 25 percent tariff if it didn't stop the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the US can be avoided. The two spoke on Wednesday. She has threatened to retaliate if Trump goes ahead with his tariffs. Meanwhile Canadian officials are pushing back against a similar tariff threat by Trump, stressing the two

countries long relationship of working together. Ontario Premier Doug Ford. We do approximately, just Ontario alone, $500 billion of two-way trade. I found his comments unfair. I found them insulting. It's like a family member stabbing you right in the heart. Speaking there on CTV, the decades-old trade agreement between the North American countries is a delicate balance between the U.S. and its two key allies. Congress returns next week for a three-week lame duck session with some must-pass legislation on their plates. And Pierce Deirdre Walsh reports on talks about a spending deal to avoid a government

shutdown. Piers Deirdre Walsh, P.D., CTV News, P.D. Congress is coming back after the holiday recess with one major order of business, reaching a bipartisan agreement before federal agencies run out of money on December 20th. Top leaders are negotiating another short-term bill that continues the current spending levels through sometime in early 2025 to give the Trump-Vance administration time to get in place. Congressional leaders also plan to approve disaster assistance for states impacted by hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. But the amount is likely to be less than the nearly $100 billion requested by President Biden.

Deidre Walsh, NPR News, The Capitol. Today is Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, and the National Retail Federation is predicting record-setting sales, with overall sales up as much as 3.5 percent this winter. Part of that is a shortened holiday shopping season. You're listening to NPR News. Another senior Chinese military officer has been relieved of duty and put under investigation, a sign that trouble is still brewing among China's secretive elite political ranks. Empire's Emily Fang has more.

Dong Yuyue worked well within China's Communist Party apparatus as a longtime columnist and editor at a party-run paper. The 62-year-old was also well known for his liberal-leaning views. He traveled widely, including studying at Harvard University from 2006 to 2007 as a Nieman Fellow and as a visiting academic at Japanese universities later on. In 2022, he was having lunch with a Japanese diplomat in Beijing when he was abruptly detained and held in a form of secret detention for a half year before being charged. A court in Beijing said today that he had passed information to two Japanese diplomats

who China said, without evidence, had been part of an espionage organization. Dong has denied the charges against him through his family, who said in a statement that he is being punished for being an outspoken journalist. Emily Fang and Peer News. Vito, the pug dog won the Best in Show at the 2024 National Dog Show. It's the first time the breed has won that top honor since it was first televised in 2002. Vito beat out six other finalists for the win at the annual canine event that's hosted

by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia. The National Dog Show, a Thanksgiving tradition, was founded in 1879 and it's been held each year since 1933. The sponsor Purina says around 20 million viewers watch the show on NBC. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.