The day’s other headlines start with more on the Chinese hack of American telecommunications firms earlier this year.
Officials with the nation’s cyber defense agency and the FBI tell the News Hour that after seven months of investigating, they still don’t know the true scope of China’s cyber attack.
The officials also said the hack is ongoing and that there’s no evidence the Chinese actors have been kicked out yet.
They found that the hackers mostly stole phone metadata from a large but unspecified group of Americans.
Senate Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner recently called this the worst telecommunication hack in U.S. history.
To the Middle East now, where the limits of a shaky cease fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah are being tested with new violence and new threats.
Since last week’s truce went into place, both sides have claimed violations by the other.
Hezbollah’s Monday attacks into an Israeli border area were met by an Israeli response airstrikes that killed at least 11 people in Lebanon.
Israel’s defense minister told troops that if the ceasefire broke, Israel wouldn’t limit its strikes to Hezbollah, saying, quote, There will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon.
In a meeting with his cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cease fire doesn’t mean that Israel will sit idly by.
We are currently in a cease fire, not the end of the war.
We have a clear goal to return the residents to rehabilitate the North.
We are enforcing this cease fire with an iron fist, acting against any violation, minor or serious.
In nearby Syria, insurgents have pushed forward with their offensive.
A war monitoring organization confirmed the militants captured four new towns today as they push toward Hama, the fourth largest city in Syria.
In the meantime, government forces have retaken a village that fell to the insurgents last week.
We’ll have more on Syria later in the broadcast.
The war in Ukraine was top of the agenda at a Naito meeting in Brussels today.
But when asked whether the military alliance would heed Ukraine’s calls for membership, Secretary General Marc Ruta said the focus should be on sending more weapons to strengthen its negotiating position.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Naito to brace for what could be another year of war.
This is a vital moment, I think, for the alliance to make sure that we’re level set for the year ahead.
The reason the alliance is stronger than ever is because we all know it’s the best guarantee against war, the best means to prevent conflict, the best means to ensure our collective security.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force says Russian drones struck more critical infrastructure overnight, cutting power in some western regions.
About half of Ukraine’s power has been knocked out from Russian strikes since the war began.
President Biden said he is all in on Africa.
During a trip to Angola that’s meant to counter China’s influence on the continent.
Biden was welcomed alongside Angola’s president, Joao Lorenzo, and toured a slavery museum.
He is the first sitting U.S. president ever to visit the country.
Mr. Biden also promoted a $3 billion U.S. commitment toward an 800 mile railway project that connects several sub-Saharan nations.
In remarks this afternoon, the president said the future runs through Africa.
It’s been my goal.
To the United States to build a strong partnership of peoples of nations across the continent of Africa through partnerships and in achieving shared goals.
Bringing to bear the dynamism of America’s private sector and the expertise of our government to support aspirations of African entrepreneurs, experts, leaders, both inside and outside of government.
China has invested heavily in Africa’s mining industry.
And today it announced that it will ban exports of several critical minerals to the US that are used in tech.
After delaying for weeks, President elect Donald Trump’s transition team has signed a customary agreement with the Justice Department that will allow investigators to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointments, the Justice Department confirmed to the news hour that the agreement was signed and the department is ready to process requests for security clearances.
This step was important for a smooth transition and for those among Mr. Trump’s staff and nominees who need to access briefing materials and national security information.
All of this comes as another one of Mr. Trump’s nominees has withdrawn tonight.
Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister had been tapped to run the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Chronister had recently come under fire for making what was seen among Trump’s base as a controversial arrest of a Tampa Bay pastor who defied public health restrictions to hold services during the height of the Covid pandemic.
And on Wall Street today, more mixed results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 70 points, while the Nasdaq gained practically the same amount.
The S&P 500 inched barely higher.
Still to come on the news, our civilians find themselves caught in the crossfire amid Syria’s civil war.
A look at what President elect Trump’s return to power means for the January 6th rioters and much more.
This is the PBS NewsHour from the David Rubenstein studio at etah in Washington.
And in the West, from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
