NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-29-2024 8AM EST

Episode Date: November 29, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Israel's Prime minister's office says the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is still holding. That's despite an Israeli airstrike yesterday in southern Lebanon. And Piers Katlonsdorf has more from Tel Aviv. The airstrike hit the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon. The Israeli military says it was targeting a facility used by Hezbollah to store weapons. Israel also says it fired on suspects in vehicles in several southern villages near the Israeli-Lebanon border, saying they targeting a facility used by Hezbollah to store weapons. Israel also says it fired on suspects and vehicles in several southern villages near the Israeli-Lebanon border, saying they were

violating the ceasefire. But Lebanese officials say those were civilians trying to return to their homes after weeks of displacement. Israel has told evacuees on both sides of the border to wait to return home. The ceasefire, which is in its third day, gives Israel and Hezbollah 60 days to withdraw from their current positions, which means Israeli troops, Hezbollah fighters, Lebanese soldiers, and UN peacekeepers may all be in the same areas. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Katie Quirk Meanwhile, there are questions on whether a similar ceasefire could be enacted in Gaza. Egypt's president and Qatar's prime minister met this week in Cairo to discuss

a joint approach to getting a truce in the Palestinian enclave. And the Biden administration says it plans to renew a push on Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, and Israel to get a ceasefire and a release of the remaining hostages. But hunger in Gaza is growing. The UN's World Food Program says more than 1.8 million people in Gaza face extreme hunger. Antoine Renard with the WFP says there is widespread suffering. People cannot cope anymore. There is barely any food coming in while markets are empty. Now with the rain and winter sweeping away tents, it is a daily struggle for survival. The UN wants all crossing points reopened to allow aid to get in.

The Palestinian enclave has been besieged by Israeli forces since last year's Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people. The group took 251 hostages. Lobbyists from energy and chemical companies are among those attending UN talks in South Korea. They're trying to agree on a treaty to cut plastic pollution around the world, as NPR's Julia Simon reports. Plastic is mostly made from byproducts of oil and gas.

The International Energy Agency says demand for oil is falling as people use more electric vehicles, but many in the oil and petrochemical sector see the future of their industry increasingly reliant on demand for plastics. The United Nations talks currently underway in South Korea. One of the solutions on the table is a plastic production cap. But fossil fuel industry players are pushing back. They argue for more recycling, even though a lot of plastic cannot be recycled. A new analysis from the Center for International Environmental Law finds there are a record 220 registered fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists at the Plastic Talks.

Julia Simon, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Middle and high school teachers say they want more training and more time to help their struggling readers. And here's Jonekhi Mehta reports that's according to a new survey of more than 500 educators in grades 6 through 12. 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?

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. Canada's antitrust watchdog is suing Google over alleged anticompetitive conduct in the tech giant's online ad business.

The country's competition bureau wants the company to sell off two of its ad tech services and pay a penalty, saying Google illegally tied together its ad tech tools to maintain its dominant market position. Google allegedly holds a market share of 90 percent in publisher ad servers and 70 percent in ad networks, a dominance, the bureau says, that's discouraged competition from rivals and also inflated advertising costs. Google says online advertising is highly competitive and says it will fight the allegation. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.