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Live from NPR News. In Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. A Georgia Court's dismissing the 2020 election interference case against President Trump and allies. The prosecutor who recently took over from Fulton County DA Fani Willis, says he will not pursue the charges. White House envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. Some Ukrainian officials say they're not surprised by leaked transcripts of a conversation in which Witkoff said he had deep for Putin. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports.
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NPR has not been able to independently confirm the transcripts released by Bloomberg. In one call, Witkoff encourages the Putin adviser to have Putin call President Trump and flatter him over his recent Mideast peace deal in order to get the ball rolling on a similar deal between Russia and Ukraine. The Putin call came a day ahead of a White House visit by Volodymyr Zelensky in October and likely dashed the Ukrainian president's hopes for Tomahawk missiles. A second release conversation between two Putin advisors confirms a recent 28 point peace plan released by Russia and the US was likely entirely concocted by Russia. That plan, which favored Russia, has since been heavily amended by the Ukrainians and Europeans. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv.
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Israel says it has positively identified the remains of a body returned by Hamas as a person taken hostage in the initial October 7th attack in southern Israel two years ago. Here's NPR's Kat Lonesdorf.
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The Israeli prime minister's office confirmed that forensic tests show the body is that of Dror Ohr, a 48 year old who Israel says was was killed at his home in the Oct. 7 attack. Or's wife was also killed. Two of his children were taken hostage into Gaza and later released alive in exchange for the transfer of Or's body. Israel is expected to release the bodies of 15 Palestinians held by Israel as part of a ceasefire deal implemented nearly seven weeks ago. All remaining hostages, both alive and dead, in Gaza, are supposed to be returned to Israel. There are still two more bodies remaining. Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately stalling. Hamas has insisted it is struggling to find the bodies on the rubble. Kat Lahnsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
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The Environmental Protection Agency is asking a federal court to strike down limits on air pollution that it set under the Biden administration. NPR's Michael Copley reports. The EPA previously estimated the regulations would save thousands of lives each year.
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The EPA says tighter limits it put on fine particle pollution called soot were unlawful because it didn't conduct a thorough review required by the Clean Air Act. The EPA said in a filing to the U.S. court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit that it finalized the regulation last year without considering the costs it would impose on things like power plants and factories. The agency said in a statement that implementing the rule would cost Americans hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. Environmental groups said abandoning the regulation of toxic particles would lead to more cases of asthma, heart disease and early deaths.
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It's NPR News. The U.S. is in the thick of one of the busiest holiday travel weeks of the year. Federal regulators say aviation operations are back to normal following the government shutdown. NPR's Joel Rhodes reports on the morale among air traffic controllers who had to work for weeks without pay.
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The Department of Transportation has said it will give $10,000 bonuses to air traffic controllers who did not miss a single shift during the 43 day shutdown. But only a small fraction of working air traffic controllers will qualify. Just 311 controllers out of more than 10,000 will get the cash bonuses, according to the controllers union. And that's causing some resentment among those who did not qualify. Some have called the bonuses unfair and even a betrayal of those who did a lot of hard work during the shutdown.
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NPR's Joel Rose reporting. Nigerian authorities say gunmen have released 24 schoolgirls who were abducted more than a week ago from a boarding school dorm. Here's NPR's Jewel Wright.
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Details of the release have not been made public, and it remains unclear if ransoms were paid. The girls were abducted last week after gunmen attacked their dorm at the government Comprehensive Secondary School in the northern state of Kebbe. A total of 25 girls were abducted, but one girl escaped shortly after. Nigeria has seen a spate of school attacks and abductions in recent weeks. Last week, more than 300 students were taken from another boarding school in the neighboring state. 50 students have since escaped, and more than 200 remain in captivity. Nigerian authorities say efforts are ongoing to secure the release of the remaining children. Jewel Bright, NPR News, Vegas.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 433points. It's NPR News.