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The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Wed Nov 29 2023

Nicole Fallert | Newsletter Writer

@nicolefallert

One more hostage swap planned

Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters accompany newly released Israeli hostages, held since the Hamas' October 7 attacks, before handing them over to the Red Cross in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on November 28, 2023.

Will the cease-fire be extended?

Israel says it will maintain its wartime truce if Hamas keeps freeing hostages. Also in the news: Former first lady Rosalynn Carter will be laid to rest Wednesday in her hometown of Plains, Georgia, and the House is set to vote on Rep. George Santos' expulsion as soon as this afternoon.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. There's a new theory about what happened to the dinosaurs.

Here is the news to know Wednesday.

One more hostage swap planned on final day of truce

Another exchange of civilian hostages and Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners is expected on the sixth day of truce in the Israel-Hamas war. International negotiators are working to extend the cease-fire, which only lasts through Wednesday, and Israel has signaled it is open to continuing the truce as long as Hamas releases 10 hostages a day.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to the Middle East this week as the U.S. hopes to find a way to continue the cease-fire. Blinken will "discuss Israel's right to defend itself" as well as protecting civilian lives and ideals for a post-war Gaza.

•	Freed hostages have relayed stories of the spartan conditions they endured during seven weeks or more under Hamas captivity. Meanwhile, about two-thirds of the Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails since Friday said they were not told the charges against them or given due legal process.
•	Both sides have been accused of violating the fragile cease-fire. Three explosive devices were detonated Tuesday by militants near Israeli troops while Hamas' military wing accused Israel of "a clear violation by the enemy of the truce agreement in the north of the Gaza Strip."
•	Humanitarian groups say the temporary truce is still not enough to provide sufficient aid and supplies to civilians in Gaza. And aid groups are starting to grapple with another exacerbating factor — looming winter weather.

Newly released Palestinian prisoner Rouba Assi is carried by supporters in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on November 28, 2023.

KENZO TRIBOUILLARD, AFP via Getty Images

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter to be laid to rest

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter will be honored by her loved ones and laid to rest on Wednesday in her longtime home of Plains, Georgia. She will be honored in a service at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Jimmy Carter and the former first lady worshipped. The funeral comes a day after Carter's tribute service in Atlanta, which was attended by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as other former first ladies: Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump. Read more

•	Former first lady Rosalynn Carter's Tuesday tribute service honored her decades-long dedication to global humanitarian work.
•	Plains, Georgia, remembers former first lady Rosalynn Carter: The ''Steel Magnolia.''

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter's casket is carried into Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church for a tribute service on November 28, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images

More news to know now

•	U.S. military aircraft crashes into the sea off southern Japan.
•	Florida elections security chief lay dead for 24 minutes without help outside Gov. DeSantis' office.
•	Ex-South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to 27 years for financial and drug crimes.
•	What is ''metering' at the border and why are asylum-seekers suing over the policy?
•	For subscribers: Why doesn't the Mississippi River get more love?
•	On today's The Excerpt podcast, how former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are reigniting the debate around Obamacare. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

House to vote on expelling Santos

Momentum is surging among House lawmakers to expel indicted Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., with the lower chamber voting on whether to boot him as early as Wednesday afternoon − a rare sight in Congress. Santos all but accepted his fate: The Long Island Republican has said he will take his expulsion in stride and "wear it like a badge of honor." Efforts to expel Santos quickly picked up steam after the House Ethics Committee released a scathing report earlier this month finding substantial evidence Santos broke federal laws and misused his campaign for his personal benefit. Read more

Texas Supreme Court hears case against state's near-total abortion ban

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday for Zurawski v. Texas in Austin, a high-stakes case that will decide whether the state's abortion ban laws clearly outline the medical exceptions which allow patients to terminate a pregnancy to save their life. The case now has 20 patient and two physician plaintiffs demanding that the state clarify medical exceptions to its near-total abortion ban after they were denied abortions despite severe and dangerous pregnancy complications. Read more

Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane and plaintiffs stand outside the Texas Capitol after the Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Zurawski v. State of Texas Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023.

Mikala Compton/American-Statesman

Keep scrolling

•	Could selling Taylor Swift merchandise open you up to a trademark infringement lawsuit?
•	Travis Kelce joined Taylor at the top of the music charts.
•	Kendall Jenner, Latto, Dylan Mulvaney, Matt Rife and more made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
•	Tina Knowles defended Beyoncé against ''racist statements'' about a ''Renaissance'' premiere look.
•	Watch your dog for these symptoms.
•	Georgia held its No. 1 spot in college football rankings.
•	These are the white elephant gifts everyone wants to steal.

Contradictions in the backdrop of key UN climate talks

This year's United Nations Climate Change Conference known as COP 28 kicks off this Thursday, hosted by the United Arab Emirates. Climate activists have long pointed out the irony of having one of the world's top 10 oil producers host a conference dedicated to reducing carbon emissions, but perceptions of intent matter on the global stage. And on this point, the UAE may have already received a failing grade. According to leaked documents obtained by the Center for Climate Reporting, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, the UAE is planning to use official meetings at the high profile event to secure up to 15 new fossil fuel deals.

Photo of the day: Workers rescued from collapsed tunnel in India

India's transportation minister said Tuesday that all 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in the country's north for more than two weeks have been pulled out after rescuers reached them earlier in the day.

Pushkar Singh Dhami, right, Chief Minister of the state of Uttarakhand, greeting a worker rescued from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.