10 things you need to know today: November 28, 2023

1. Israel, Hamas extend truce

Israel and Hamas agreed Monday to extend their cease-fire for another two days as Hamas freed another 11 of the more than 200 hostages seized during the Palestinian militant group's deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. The temporary truce had been scheduled to end Tuesday, but will continue until Thursday under a deal brokered by Qatar. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "the government of Israel warmly welcomes our 11 abducted citizens who returned today to Israel." A Qatari spokesperson said the hostages were freed from Gaza in exchange for Israel's release of 33 Palestinian prisoners. Bloomberg

2. Trump urges New York appeals court to keep blocking gag order

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers on Monday urged a New York appeals court to overturn a now-paused gag order imposed by the judge in his civil fraud trial. An appellate court judge temporarily blocked the order last week, and Trump resumed his criticism of the judge and his law clerk. The New York attorney general's office and Judge Arthur Engoron, who issued the order for Trump to refrain from criticizing court employees for their safety, asked the appeals court to reinstate it, saying Engoron's chamber has been flooded with "serious and credible" threats. Trump's legal team argued in a Monday filing that "disturbing" threats "by anonymous, third-party actors" didn't  "justify" limiting Trump's constitutional right to free speech. CNN

3. Pentagon says attackers off Yemen weren't Houthi rebels

The five armed attackers captured after they tried to hijack a commercial ship off Yemen appear to be Somali pirates, not Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen, the Pentagon said Monday. The U.S. military was continuing to investigate the identity of the men, who tried to flee in small boats when the American destroyer USS Mason responded to a distress call from the Liberian-flagged tanker, MV Central Park, in the Gulf of Aden. "We know they are not Houthi," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said, although he added it was too early to rule out some involvement by Yemeni rebels. The attackers surrendered after U.S. forces chased them and fired warning shots. The Associated Press

4. Suspect pleads not guilty in shooting of Palestinian students

A 48-year-old Vermont man, Jason Eaton, pleaded not guilty Monday to attempted second-degree murder charges in a shooting that left three Palestinian American college students wounded. The three 20-year-old victims — Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad — all attended the Ramallah Friends Schools in the West Bank and now go to different colleges in the United States. They were in Burlington, Vermont, to visit relatives of one of the students over Thanksgiving break. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger called the shooting "one of the most shocking and disturbing events in this city's history." Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime; anti-Islamic and antisemitic incidents have increased due to the Israel-Hamas conflict. VTDigger

5. Elon Musk visits Israel after X antisemitism allegations

Elon Musk, facing criticism for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory on his social media platform, X, visited Israel on Monday and went to areas targeted in Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack. Musk and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing flak jackets, toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas. Musk also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who scolded him over antisemitic content on X, formerly Twitter. "We have to do whatever is necessary to stop the hate," Musk responded, according to a statement released by Herzog's office. X has lost dozens of major advertisers since Musk this month agreed with a post accusing Jewish communities of stoking hatred of white people. Reuters, NBC News

6. Cyber Monday sets new record

Shoppers snapped up bargains online as the extended weekend of post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping wrapped up with Cyber Monday, the busiest online shopping day of the year. Adobe Analytics said consumers appeared to have spent $12 billion to $12.4 billion on Monday, which would make it the biggest online shopping day in history, The Associated Press reported. The sales volume provided the latest indication of consumer resilience despite high prices resulting from months of high inflation that has finally started to cool. Economists warn, however, that spending is likely to start slowing soon. The Associated Press

7. Jimmy Carter, Biden, former first ladies gather to mourn Rosalynn Carter

Former President Jimmy Carter is expected to attend a Tuesday service in memory of his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Nov. 19 at age 96. Jimmy Carter, who is 99 and in hospice care, was married to Rosalynn Carter for 77 years, and called her "an extension of myself." Well-wishers had an opportunity to pay their respects on Monday as the former first lady was lying in repose ahead of Tuesday's service, which is expected to be attended by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and first ladies Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump. Reuters, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

8. India rescuers near workers trapped in tunnel

Officials in India said Tuesday that rescuers were close to reaching 41 construction workers who have been trapped in a collapsed tunnel for more than two weeks. Kirti Panwar, a state government spokesperson, said a crew of about a dozen men had used handheld drilling tools to remove rocks and debris from the mountain tunnel to get within 16 feet of the trapped workers. Crews are trying to create a passageway to get them out. Rescuers have already placed pipes in cleared areas so they will be able to wheel out the workers on stretchers. The government has not provided a timeline for when it expects to free the workers, cut off since a Nov. 12 landslide collapsed the tunnel they were building. The Associated Press

9. Tesla sues Swedish Transport Agency over strike

Tesla filed a lawsuit against Sweden's Transport Agency on Monday, in the American electric-car maker's widening battle against Swedish labor unions. Tesla is suing over a strike by postal workers who are refusing to deliver mail and packages to Tesla facilities, blocking delivery of license plates for Tesla cars. The postal workers started their strike on Nov. 20, joining dockworkers, electricians, painters and other union workers refusing to provide Tesla with services in a show of support for mechanics who walked off their jobs at seven Tesla-owned repair shops a month ago. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that the strikes were "insane." The New York Times

10. 'Authentic' named word of the year

Merriam-Webster announced Monday that it has chosen "Authentic" as its 2023 word of the year, a sign of the influence of artificial intelligence and "celebrity culture, identity and social media" on the language. "The rise of AI helped drive interest in the word," said the dictionary's editor at large, Peter Sokolowski. "The line between 'real' and 'fake' has become increasingly blurred. As a result, in social media and marketing, authentic has become the gold standard for building trust — and authenticity, ironically, has become a performance." Merriam-Webster also highlighted other words that were in the spotlight this year, including "deepfake" and "dystopian." The Hollywood Reporter