--:-- Ryland Barton: This message comes from The Economist. Introducing The Economist Insider, a new video offering with twice-weekly shows featuring in-depth analysis and expertise to make sense of an increasingly complex and dangerous world. More at economist.com slash insider.
--:-- [Ryland Barton continues as the host of NPR News]
--:-- Ryland Barton: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. It's an historic day in the Middle East as the last of the living hostages held by Hamas were freed today in a ceasefire deal.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv on reunions of the 20 freed hostages that they had with their families.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: Videos show the moments freed hostages first saw their families. The mother of 23-year-old Bar Cooperstein threw herself onto her son, reciting a Jewish prayer in tears.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: 32-year-old Avina Tan Orr returned from captivity today and greeted his girlfriend, a former hostage, with a scream and kisses.
--:-- Daniel Estrin: Hamas said it was returning only a few of the deceased Israeli hostages bodies today. Israel said a deliberate delay would violate the ceasefire deal.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Republican Speaker Mike Johnson says the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history saying he won't negotiate with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Johnson said he was unaware of the details of the thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration during the shutdown.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Vice President J.D. Vance has warned of painful cuts ahead, even as employee unions sue.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Thousands of flights have been delayed and hundreds more have been canceled as a result of a nor'easter.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The storm began over the weekend and continues to drench parts of the Mid-Atlantic.
--:-- Juliana Kim: NPR's Juliana Kim reports.
--:-- Juliana Kim: More than 5,000 U.S. flights have been affected so far, with the most delays reported at Boston Logan International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York.
--:-- Juliana Kim: There were also nearly 900 U.S. flights canceled.
--:-- Juliana Kim: On social media, both airports advised passengers to check in with their airlines about their flights.
--:-- Juliana Kim: Over the past few days, a slow-moving storm slammed states along the east coast, bringing fierce winds, coastal flooding, and power outages.
--:-- Juliana Kim: A state of emergency was declared in New Jersey and parts of New York.
--:-- Juliana Kim: The storm is expected to linger into Tuesday.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Juliana Kim, NPR News.
--:-- Ryland Barton: After a flare-up in tensions over trade between the U.S. and China, Beijing says threats and high tariffs are not helping.
--:-- Ryland Barton: NPR's John Ruich has more.
--:-- John Ruich: Relations between China and the United States have worsened sharply over the past week with China adding restrictions to exports of rare earth minerals and President Trump pledging fresh 100 tariffs on Chinese goods in retaliation.
--:-- John Ruich: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian was asked about Trump's new tariffs at a briefing in Beijing.
--:-- Lin Jian: He says China stands firmly against a string of steps by the U.S. that he says have seriously harmed China's interests.
--:-- Lin Jian: Lin says the two sides should resolve their concerns through dialogue based on equality, mutual respect and reciprocity, but he also issued a warning.
--:-- Lin Jian: If the U.S. persists on doing things its own way despite opposition, he says China will take resolute countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
--:-- Ryland Barton: John Ruich, NPR News, Beijing.
--:-- Ryland Barton: This is NPR News.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Washington on Friday for talks about the possibility of getting long-range weapons from the U.S.
--:-- Ryland Barton: President Trump warned Russia over the weekend that he may send Kiev long-range Tomahawk missiles, Russia says the move would seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Officials have identified the 16 people killed in a devastating blast at a rural Tennessee explosives plant last week.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Pieces of evidence may be miles apart because of the intensity of the blast.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Scientists say the answer to a 180-year mystery surrounding a penguin bird the great auk hunted into extinction in 1844 has been hiding in plain sight at a museum in Cincinnati.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: Tana Weingartner of member station WVXU explains.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: The last two great auks were taxidermied and lost to time.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: Now Cincinnati Museum Center Curator of Zoology Heather Farrington says scientists using tissue saved during the taxidermy process and other records confirm a specimen at the museum is the last female auk.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: What they were trying to do was match soft tissues they knew came from those two individuals, two taxidermy mounts from museum collections around the world.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: And the male was found in a previous scientific study, but the female was not.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: The discovery continues an odd tradition.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: The world's last passenger pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914 and was sent to the Smithsonian.
--:-- Tana Weingartner: Farrington says the last great auk will stay in Cincinnati.
--:-- Ryland Barton: For NPR News, I'm Tana Weingartner.
--:-- Ryland Barton: It's NPR.
--:-- [Ryland Barton continues as the host of NPR News]
--:-- Ryland Barton: This message comes from Warby Parker.
--:-- Warby Parker: What makes a great pair of glasses? At Warby Parker, it's all the invisible extras without the extra cost, like free adjustments for life.
--:-- Warby Parker: Find your pair at warbyparker.com or visit one of their hundreds of stores around the country.
