Monday morning news: November 27, 2023

SOUND: [Israelis celebrating]

Israeli Prisoner Swap » Israelis in Tel Aviv rejoicing at the release of a third group of hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas during an attack early last month.

The warring sides agreed last week to halt fighting in Gaza allow humanitarian aid into the region and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

U.S. President Joe Biden applauded the exchange and celebrated the release of one hostage in particular.

BIDEN: Two days ago, one of our fellow Americans, a little girl named Abigail, who turned four years old, she spent her birthday, that birthday, and at least 50 days before that held hostage by Hamas. Today, she's free.

Israel today is expected to trade the last of 150 Palestinian prisoners… for the last of 50 hostages Hamas said it would release.

SOUND: [Palestinians celebrating]

Some of the Palestinian prisoners Israel has already released arrived in the West Bank yesterday to celebrations from local residents.

The truce between Israel and the Islamic terror group could be extended, if Hamas agrees to release 10 more hostages per day.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that after the truce expires Israel will once again resume its war to eliminate Hamas.

SOUND: [Explosions]

Russia-Ukraine latest » In Kyiv, explosions rang out above the city over the weekend as Russia launched its largest drone attack on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.

The Ukrainian air force said its air defenses shot down almost all of more than 60 drones in the attack.

Still, falling debris damaged buildings and injured civilians across the city.

RESIDENT: [Speaking Ukrainian] The window opened and the entire blast wave and fire were in our corridor. We managed to run away with the child. Thank God we are all safe and alive.

A Kyiv resident described the moment an explosion blew out the windows of her building, saying she managed to grab a child and flee to safety.

The mayor of the city said one of those injured in the attack was just 11 years old.

On Sunday, Russia reported a smaller-scale drone attack inside its border, which it blamed on Ukraine. Officials said no one was hurt.

China flu » Chinese officials say an unusually bad cold and flu season is behind a concerning surge of respiratory illness in the country.

Jin Dong-yan is a professor at Hong Kong University.

JIN DONG-YAN: So far there is zero evidence that there is a new virus being circulated in Beijing or elsewhere.

The World Health Organization asked country officials for more information after reports surfaced of a spike in pneumonia cases.

Officials said Sunday that flu, RSV, and pneumonia are circulating widely, especially among children.

The outbreak is receiving heightened attention partly due to China’s lack of transparency at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chauvin stabbing » The former police officer who was convicted in the 2020 murder of George Floyd is recovering from a prison attack. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher reports.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Derek Chauvin was hospitalized Friday after another inmate stabbed him at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tuscon, Arizona.

Chauvin, a former Minneapolis officer, is serving two sentences of 20-plus years on federal and state charges in Floyd’s killing.

The African-American man’s death in police custody ignited anti-police protests in 2020. The Minnesota attorney general’s office said Chauvin is expected to survive.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Holiday Travel » Millions of Americans passed through U.S. airports during what was expected to be a record-breaking Thanksgiving travel weekend.

Spokeswoman for Los Angeles World Airports Victoria Spilabotte:

Spilabotte: Each day we met or exceeded our expectations for passenger volume. And that has put us on track. We'll record holiday numbers when compared to 2019.

The Transportation Security Administration says roughly 30 million Americans could pass through airport security checkpoints over the holiday season.

Gas Prices/Black Friday shopping » Travelers who hit the highways for Thanksgiving paid a little less for gas than last week. AAA says the nationwide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.25 cents per gallon, down from $3.31 cents per gallon last week.

California still has the highest statewide average price at $4.90 cents per gallon. Texas has the lowest statewide average price at $2.71 cents.

As prices crept down at the pump, Black Friday shoppers bemoaned high costs elsewhere.

FISHER: This year things are a little tighter, so we're spending less than we normally would. And there hasn't been a lot of the great deals that we are used to seeing.

But Adobe Analytics reported that consumers spent almost 10 billion dollars in online purchases on Black Friday this year. That’s up nearly 8 percent from last year.

I'm Kristen Flavin.

Straight ahead: Veteran benefits and credit scores on Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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