10 things you need to know today: November 30, 2023

1. Israel, Hamas extend truce another day

Israel and Hamas extended their cease-fire for at least one more day early Thursday to allow for the release of more hostages from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israel. An American citizen was among 16 people in the latest group released by Hamas on Wednesday, the sixth day of the temporary truce, President Joe Biden and the Qatari mediators confirmed. Wednesday's group included Israelis, dual nationals, four Thai citizens, and two Russians. Israel released another 30 Palestinians from its prisons. Hamas has now released more than 80 of the 240 hostages it seized in its Oct. 7 attack, and Israel has freed 210 Palestinians. Bloomberg, Reuters

2. Henry Kissinger dies at 100

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who shaped U.S. foreign policy at the height of the Cold War, died Wednesday at his home in Connecticut. He was 100. Kissinger served as President Richard Nixon's national security adviser and secretary of state, a job he continued under former President Gerald Ford. The German-born Kissinger, whose Jewish family fled Nazi rule when he was a teen, engineered Nixon's opening with China and shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the accords that got the U.S. out of Vietnam, although the war wasn't yet over. Critics said he could have saved lives by making a peace deal earlier and accused him of war crimes for the secret carpet-bombing of Cambodia. The Hill, The New York Times

3. US charges Indian national in plot to kill Sikh separatist

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday charged an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, with participating in a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist and U.S. citizen, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in New York City. Pannun is an outspoken supporter of establishing an independent state in the northern Indian state of Punjab, home to a large Sikh population. The Drug Enforcement Administration learned of the alleged plot last spring, and set up a sting with an undercover agent posing as a hitman. Prosecutors said an Indian government security agent recruited Gupta to arrange to pay the purported hitman $100,000. The case came months after Canada accused India's government of involvement in the June killing of a Sikh separatist in Vancouver. The Washington Post, The New York Times

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4. Arizona officials charged over election certification delay

An Arizona grand jury has indicted two Cochise County supervisors on felony charges for delaying the certification of November 2022 election results. Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, both Republicans, were charged with conspiracy and interference with an election officer. Republicans claimed, without proof, that the elections were tainted by fraud after their candidates lost most races for state offices, and some pressured county supervisors not to certify the results. Crosby and Judd are accused of illegally delaying the certification to consider unfounded claims that voting machines hadn't been properly certified. "The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) said in a statement. Arizona Republic

5. US investigates antisemitism complaints at Harvard

The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation into alleged antisemitism at Harvard University following Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. Harvard, like many other universities, has been the scene of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza. The Harvard complaint came after similar discrimination complaints at Columbia, Cornell, Wellesley College, the University of Pennsylvania and other schools, according to The New York Times. "Jewish students are being bullied," billionaire hedge fund manager and Harvard alum Bill Ackman wrote in a Nov. 4 letter to Harvard President Claudine Gay and the school's board. The New York Times

6. UAW tries to unionize workers at non-union automakers

The United Auto Workers union, fresh off the success of strikes against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, announced Wednesday that it was campaigning to unionize thousands of employees at 13 non-union automakers — including Tesla, Toyota, BMW and Nissan. "To all the autoworkers out there working without the benefits of a union: Now it's your turn," UAW President Shawn Fain said. The union won raises of up to 33% from Detroit's Big Three. After union members went back to work, Toyota and other non-union automakers increased pay by about 10%. Tesla repair technicians in Sweden went on strike this month after CEO Elon Musk refused to bargain with their union. ABC News, Vice

7. Life expectancy rebounds but is still below pre-pandemic levels

U.S. life expectancy rose by more than a year in 2022, driven by a decline in Covid-19 deaths, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said Wednesday. The longevity figure bounced back to 77 years, 6 months last year, still under the 78 years, 10 months recorded in 2019. As the coronavirus killed more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. starting in early 2020, life expectancy fell to 77 years in 2020 and 76 years, 5 months in 2021. Longevity rose in the country a little every year for decades before flatlining about 10 years ago, partly due to suicides and overdoses. Suicides surged in 2022, especially among older adults, hitting an all-time high of more than 49,000. The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times

8. Disney's Iger 'definitely' stepping down in 2026

Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger said Wednesday he was "definitely going to step down" in 2026 when his contract expires, adding that the entertainment giant's board was conducting a "robust" search for his successor. Iger, 72, retired as Disney's chief executive in 2021 but returned less than a year later. Since coming back in November 2022, Iger has streamlined the company, putting it on track to save more than the $5 billion he promised investors in February. Iger also said Wednesday the company wasn't putting ABC up for sale, despite floating the idea earlier this year, arguing at the time that a migration of viewers to streaming platforms will make the broadcast network less of a "core" business down the road. Reuters

9. Ex-Marine Paul Whelan attacked in Russian prison

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, jailed in Russia on espionage charges he denies, was attacked by another inmate in a sewing workshop at a penal colony in Russia's Mordovia region, his brother, David Whelan, said in a statement. David Whelan said his brother asked the inmate to move, to stop blocking the production line, and "the prisoner hit Paul in the face." David Whelan said other prisoners intervened and stopped the man from hitting Paul Whelan a second time, although the first punch broke his glasses. "Paul says he believes the prison administration is taking the attack seriously," he said. Whelan's family says he worries about being targeted because he's American. Reuters, The Wall Street Journal

10. Vets report mysterious respiratory disease in dogs

Veterinarians have reported cases of an infectious respiratory disease among dogs in at least a dozen states, from Washington, Oregon and California to New Hampshire, Florida and Pennsylvania. The state Department of Agriculture in Oregon, where vets have reported more than 200 cases, said the mysterious illness was unlike any known canine disease. Most cases resemble kennel cough, but affected dogs can be hit with "lethargy, fever, decreased appetite, productive cough" and other symptoms, Melissa Justice, a veterinarian at the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, told CNN. Some stricken dogs in Colorado have died or been euthanized due to severe pneumonia. CNN