--:-- Louise Schiavone: This message comes from Capital One with the Capital One Saver Card. Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment. Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. Details at CapitalOne.com.
--:-- Louise Schiavone: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. A U.S. military official tells NPR the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, will arrive in the Northern Caribbean tomorrow amid increasing tensions with Venezuela. The U.S. has conducted multiple strikes on boats in the region, saying they were ferrying drugs.
--:-- Nick Delacanau: Border Patrol agents have begun carrying out immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm Nick Delacanau from member station WFAE, and I have details.
--:-- Nick Delacanau: Agents were filmed smashing a man's car window and pulling him from a vehicle in South Charlotte. On the city's east side, restaurants locked their doors as agents chased a man into a laundromat and tackled an employee at a nearby car repair shop.
--:-- Nick Delacanau: The shop's owner, who didn't want her name used for fear of retribution, said the man was her lead mechanic. The business depends on clients and workers. And if my workers are taken, I have to close my business today.
--:-- Nick Delacanau: Just blocks away, a woman filmed agents who stopped her landscaping crew as they were putting up Christmas lights then let them go after questioning.
--:-- Louise Schiavone: For NPR News, I'm Nick Della Canale in Charlotte.
--:-- Joel Rose: The nation's aviation system is gradually returning to normal after the government shutdown, but some effects linger. I'm Joel Rose, reporting for NPR News in Washington.
--:-- Joel Rose: Air traffic reductions of 3% persist at dozens of major airports. Aviation regulators say there's been a rapid decline in staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities over the past week.
--:-- Joel Rose: That's given the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration the confidence that more air traffic controllers are coming to work. Regulators lowered air traffic reductions at dozens of major airports from 6% of flights to 3% through the weekend, but they did not lift them entirely.
--:-- Joel Rose: The FAA said the restrictions were necessary to keep the airspace safe as the agency grappled with widespread staffing shortages of air traffic controllers during the government shutdown.
--:-- Joel Rose: But with the government reopened, air traffic controllers have finally received some of the back pay they earned, and most are now back on the job.
--:-- Lauren Freyer: The season's first heavy rainfall has deluged Gaza, flooding tents, and hampering recovery after two years of war. I'm Lauren Freyer, reporting for NPR News in Tel Aviv.
--:-- Lauren Freyer: Wind and rain are hampering efforts to stay warm and dry in places like Al where up to half a million displaced Palestinians are staying mostly in temporary tents.
--:-- Lauren Freyer: A spokesperson for Gaza civil defense agency, Mahmoud Basal, says rain has inundated those makeshift shelters.
--:-- Lauren Freyer: In a statement, Hamas decried what it called Israel's continued obstruction of humanitarian aid into the Strip.
--:-- Lauren Freyer: Israel says it opened a border crossing this week into northern Gaza, where the UN declared a famine last summer.
--:-- Lauren Freyer: The UN now says a full and sustained opening of existing and additional crossings is required, and that the transport of aid within Gaza remains limited and highly congested.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: The Pope met with prominent figures from the world of cinema at the Vatican today. I'm Chloe Veltman, reporting for NPR News.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: Pope Leo delivered an address about the power of movies to bring hope and safeguard human dignity.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: Kate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, and Spike Lee were among those present as Pope Leo delivered a speech in Italian about the transformative power of cinema.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: [Vatican News shared a video of the event and provided an interpreter.]
--:-- Chloe Veltman: It is wonderful to see that when the magic light of cinema illuminates the darkness it simultaneously ignites the eyes of the soul.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: The Pope said that movies aren't just about entertainment. They also help people pursue meaning, justice, and beauty.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: He also lamented the widespread closure of cinemas and urged filmmakers and institutions to work together to promote the social and cultural value of moviegoing.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: The speech came just a few days after the Pope talked to Variety about his favorite movies.
--:-- Chloe Veltman: Top of the Chicago-born pontiff's list is It's a Wonderful Life.
--:-- Louise Schiavone: Millions of YouTube TV subscribers have had their news and sports programming restored after the settlement of a fee dispute between Disney and YouTube.
--:-- Louise Schiavone: The standoff, which went on for roughly two weeks, had interrupted access on YouTube TV to Disney-owned networks like ABC and ESPN.
--:-- Louise Schiavone: The agreement came literally hours before sports event fans were gearing up for a weekend of watching their favorite college teams meet on the gridiron.
--:-- Louise Schiavone: Alphabet, which owns YouTube TV and Google, is a financial supporter of NPR.
--:-- Louise Schiavone: I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.
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