Tuesday Briefing: A cease-fire decision nears

Plus, the dismissal of federal cases against Trump
Morning Briefing: Europe Edition

November 26, 2024

Good morning. We're covering talks on a truce between Israel and Lebanon and a move to drop charges against Donald Trump.

Plus: When I.V.F. goes wrong.

Smoke billowing over Beirut on Monday, after Israeli airstrikes hit the Lebanese capital.
Smoke billowing over Beirut on Monday, after Israeli airstrikes hit the Lebanese capital. Israel and Hezbollah could agree a cease-fire this week. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times

Israel nears a decision on a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is set to meet with his cabinet today to discuss a proposed cease-fire with Hezbollah, Israeli officials said. U.S. officials have pressured him to finalize the terms this week, and Netanyahu has indicated that he's open to a deal, according to other Israeli officials briefed on his thinking.

Mediators have made significant progress toward a cease-fire over the past week, but a key sticking point has been Netanyahu's insistence on securing some assurance that Israel would be able to restart the fighting if Hezbollah were to break the truce, Israeli officials said.

The proposal is seen as the best chance to end fighting that has killed thousands in Lebanon and close to 100 Israeli civilians and soldiers while displacing roughly 60,000 people in Israel and about one million in Lebanon.

Details: Under the proposal, Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days, while Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia, would move north, officials said. The Lebanese Army would deploy to southern Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah stays north of the Litani River.

Lebanon dispatch: Every night, dozens of people in Beirut gather to watch airstrikes rain down on the city's southern suburbs.

Related news:

The special counsel Jack Smith standing at a lectern with the American flag behind him. He has moved to drop two felony cases against Donald Trump.
The special counsel Jack Smith, who has moved to drop two felony cases against Donald Trump, citing U.S. Justice Department policy that forbids the prosecution of a sitting president. Doug Mills/The New York Times

The special counsel sought dismissal of federal cases against Trump

Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two felony cases against Donald Trump — one accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 election and the other accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents — moved to drop both sets of charges against him. The judge overseeing the election case dismissed the indictment soon after.

The requests for dismissals were not related to "the strength of the government's proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind," Smith wrote, but instead to U.S. Justice Department policy, which forbids the prosecution of a sitting president. His requests left open the possibility of reviving the prosecutions once Trump leaves office.\

The latest: In a post on Truth Social, Trump last night said that, on his first day in office, he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican products entering the U.S. The move would scramble North American supply chains.

What's next: Trump has named most of the people he plans to nominate for cabinet posts in his administration, but a few jobs remain open. Track the administration picks here.

In other politics news:

Residents standing on a mud-covered street, in the aftermath of Storm Bert, in Cwmtillery, Wales,
A mud-covered street after Storm Bert caused flooding in Cwmtillery, Wales. By yesterday afternoon, more than 120 flood warnings were still active across Britain. Hollie Adams/Reuters

Storm Bert battered Britain

Torrential rain and fierce winds lashed Britain over the weekend, killing at least three people in England and Wales, and causing sweeping floods, landslides, road accidents and power outages. By yesterday afternoon, more than 120 flood warnings were still active.

Hundreds of flights were canceled over the weekend, with many train services suspended and some roads closed. The affected train services included the Stansted and Gatwick express lines, which serve the London-area airports.

MORE TOP NEWS

Supporters of Imran Khan, the former Pakistani prime minister, marching toward Islamabad over the weekend.
Aamir Qureshi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

SPORTS NEWS

MORNING READ

Two girls facing away from the camera.
Holly Andres for The New York Times

Two couples in California who used I.V.F. to conceive discovered that they were raising each other's genetic children. They resolved to switch the girls — but letting go proved harder than they had expected.

Lives lived: Barbara Taylor Bradford, a best-selling novelist whose rags-to-riches story mirrored those of many of her resilient heroines, died at 91.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

ARTS AND IDEAS

The writer Cormac McCarthy pictured in 1992, holding a pool cue and leaning against a blue wall. The sun casts his shadow against the wall.
Gilles Peress/Magnum Photos

A Cormac McCarthy secret is made public

A bombshell article published in Vanity Fair this week revealed that the novelist Cormac McCarthy had a relationship with Augusta Britta. They met when he was 42 and she was a 16-year-old foster child.

Friends of McCarthy's and scholars of his work were not surprised by the revelations. The relationship lasted nearly until his death in 2023 and came up in his letters over the years. But some researchers questioned an assertion in the article that she had been a key inspiration for some of his characters.

What readers will make of it may be another matter. "Cormac curated his public reputation pretty carefully," Bryan Giemza, a professor at Texas Tech University, told The Times. He added: "For better or worse, the article is going to allow for some freer conversations."

Read more about their relationship.

We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

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That's it for today's briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha

Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

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