Friday morning news: November 29, 2024

Russian strike on Ukraine infrastructure » Russia has carried out a “massive” aerial attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving more than a million households without power.

PUTIN: [RUSSIAN]

Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting in Kazakhstan, said, “We carried out a comprehensive strike using 90 missiles of this class and 100 drones. 17 targets were hit.”

Putin said it was in response to Ukrainian strikes in Russia using American-made long-range missiles. And he claimed the Russian assault only aimed at military targets.

But it was Russia’s second major aerial attack on Ukraine’s power grid in less than two weeks.

Israel-Lebanon latest » Meantime, in the Middle East one day after a cease-fire officially took effect in Lebanon, Israeli forces launched an airstrike, saying Hezbollah violated the truce. WORLD’s Mary Muncy has more.

MARY MUNCY: The Israeli military says its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility.

The aerial attack came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to particular areas in southern Lebanon … in violation of the cease-fire. Lebanon’s state-controlled news agency said two people were wounded.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hezbollah militants must withdraw north of the Litani River … and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border.

For WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

Boise State out of tournament over trans player » A women’s college volleyball team is pulling out of a tournament this week rather than play against a team with a male player.

Boise State advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West women's tournament Wednesday night. But the Broncos announced later they would not play tomorrow against San Jose State. One of San Jose’s players is a man who identifies as a woman.

San Jose State received six forfeit victories because of boycotts from Mountain West opponents.

University of Nevada players said they—quote—“refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.”

Ernst suggestions to DOGE » Republican Sen. Joni Ernst says she’s ready to help the new Department of Government Efficiency —or DOGE, for short— that will be established when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

ERNST: Every dollar that is going through our federal government, what is the benefit to the American taxpayer? Is it something that should be done by the federal government or is it something that shouldn't and maybe should be picked up by business and industry?

Ernst just penned a letter with suggestions on what expenses to cut and sent that off to business leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will lead the effort.

She detailed a few of those suggestions earlier this week.

ERNST:  If you look at the NIH and a lot of the experimentation that is done there, things like finding out how fast shrimp can run on treadmills. Um, all of this, we have documented through the years.

The Department of Government Efficiency will be an independent office operating outside of the government. That means it will be reliant on the White House and lawmakers to enact its agenda.

Sen. Ernst has been tapped to lead the DOGE caucus in the Senate.

Brick and mortar retailers working to lure shoppers » Today is, of course, Black Friday the unofficial kickoff of the Christmas shopping season.

And brick and mortar retailers are pulling out all the stops to lure shoppers into stores. Holly Quartaro is spokeswoman for the Galleria mall in Dallas.

QUARTARO: Gift wrapping services. Um, buy online, pick up in stores. Another way that's customers that maybe they want to look online, make sure that it's available and then they can pick it up in the store and come into the mall to get it.

In the U.S., analysts envision a solid Christmas shopping season. The National Retail Federation predicted that shoppers would increase their spending in November and December by about 3 percent over the same period a year ago.

TSA food guidelines » If you’re flying home after Thanksgiving and thinking about bringing some leftovers with you the TSA says that’s okay, but of course, there are some rules.

TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers:

DANKERS:  If your food is a solid, in examples that are meats and cheeses, breads, cookies, those types of things, bring them through in unlimited quantities … because those are allowed. It's when the food is considered a liquid or an aerosol or a gel that there's a restriction.

And that restriction is 3.4 ounces. Liquids or gels can’t be in containers larger than that.

Dankers says you can find those rules on the TSA app and website

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, a conversation about a quirky kids movie and the true meaning of Christmas.

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