NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-30-2024 6AM EST

Episode Date: November 30, 2024

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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. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. In Syria, rebel militias opposing President Bashar al-Assad have made their most significant advance in years, seizing a string of towns and villages in the north of the country. At NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports, they've entered Aleppo, one of Syria's most populous

cities. After years of stalemate, in just 48 hours, Syrian opposition militias appear to have changed the calculation in the Syrian civil war. President Assad had largely won the conflict with the help of Russia and Iran-backed militias. The regime controlled most of the country. But in the surprise surge, Syrian rebels have now taken parts of Syria's second most popular city, the historic mercantile Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group Group says rebels are in western Aleppo and videos shared online

showed armed men celebrating in the city squares. Israeli airstrikes against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Syria appear to have weakened the regime's control in the area. Syrian state media says Russia is providing the Syrian military with air support. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News. The head of the UK's Foreign Spy Agency has said Russia could dangerously escalate the conflict with Ukraine through sabotage efforts against Ukraine's allies. Philip Marx reports the head of MI6 says any Russian success could threaten not only Europe, but US security as well. Richard Moore said he and his French counterpart were working to contain the risks of what

he called a staggeringly reckless campaign of sabotage recently uncovered in Europe that includes suspicious arson attacks. He criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin's mix of quote, bluster and aggression and said Putin's recent nuclear threats were quote, dangerous and beyond irresponsible. Eight Ukrainian children have been returned from the occupied territories and Russia, in Piershynna Palomaringo reports from Kyiv, that seven of the children were returned through Qatar's mediation and another one through a humanitarian corridor.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubynevsk reported that eight children aged 6 to 16 were returned to Ukrainian controlled territory. He emphasized that some of the children have health problems and will receive further medical care. The return was carried out as part of Bring Kids Back UA, an action plan initiated by Ukraine's president. According to the Ukrainian National Information Bureau, more than 19,000 Ukrainian children remain deported or forcibly resettled.

Hanna Palomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. The first big snow storm of the season is hitting the Great Lakes region. Forecasters expect heavy lake effect snow will fall through Monday. Conditions led officials to close parts of Interstate 90 yesterday and commercial vehicles have been banned from Interstate 86 in western New York. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a disaster emergency. The Buffalo Bills calling for volunteers to potentially shovel snow ahead of tomorrow night's game. This is NPR. Tensions in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia are boiling over. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Tbilisi for a second night last night after the government decided to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

The demonstrators clashed with police who used water cannon and deployed tear gas. The Interior Ministry says authorities detained more than 100 people. Votes are being counted today in Ireland. Voters went to the polls in a parliamentary election yesterday. Ireland appears headed toward another coalition government. Exit polls suggest a closely fought race among the country's three largest political parties. Disney Princess Moana is setting box office records with a couple of wickedicked Witches close behind, in Pierce Bob Mandello reports.

Moana 2 and Wicked Part 1 were originally scheduled to open head-to-head the day before Thanksgiving, but since they'd be competing for much the same audience, mostly women and girls, Wicked moved up one weekend to have that crowd to itself. Now Moana's joined the fray, and it looks as if she will easily sail past the previous record holder, Frozen 2, for the five-day weekend. Partly that's because Moana is playing to such a diverse crowd, more than a third Hispanic and another third Black and Asian, that its audience overlaps less with Wicked's than expected.

Moana! Don't mind me. Industry estimates have Moana earning $175 million this weekend, while Wicked, which had already collected $113 million last weekend, is expected to add another $105 million by Sunday. Bob Mandelo, NPR News. And I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington.