NPR News: 03-08-2024 9AM EST

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The Labor Department has just released

its monthly report on employment. It says 275,000 new jobs were created last month.

President Biden travels to Philadelphia today to speak about the points he highlighted in

last night's State of the Union address. Biden touched on reproductive rights, immigration,

and the war in Gaza. An Israeli official tells NPR Israel welcomes President Biden's announcement

that the U.S. will build a pier on the coast of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid.

Biden announced the move last night in the State of the Union address.

NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.

An Israeli official tells NPR that Israel, quote,

supports humanitarian solutions reaching needy populations. But aid groups accuse Israel of

hindering the flow of aid during the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A recent poll finds 68 percent

of Jewish Israelis oppose the transfer of aid, even by international bodies,

to parliaments.

Palestinians in Gaza, as Israel battles Hamas. Israeli protesters have blocked border crossings

where aid is trucked in. Dave Harden, former head of U.S. aid overseeing assistance to Gaza,

said delivering aid to Gaza through the sea would set a precedent.

Building a port in Gaza actually establishes facts on the ground, which changes the calculation

between the Israelis and the Americans and helps push more aid to Gaza's most vulnerable.

U.S. officials say the pier will take many weeks to build.

Daniel Estrin,

NPR News, Tel Aviv.

Former Republican Representative George Santos, expelled from Congress last December,

says he is running again for a House seat in New York.

Santos will campaign while facing a federal criminal trial. NPR's Brian Mann has more.

George Santos was ousted by lawmakers after it was revealed he lied about most of his background,

claiming a Jewish heritage that was false, claiming a career, an education, and even a

history as a competitive volleyball player that were all untrue. Santos says he'll now seek office

in New York.

He's the first House district on Long Island. He'll challenge Congressman Nick Lelota,

a freshman Republican who led the charge to have Santos ejected. Writing on social media,

Santos called Lelota an empty suit. Lelota fired back, calling Santos, quote,

a pathological liar who stole an election. Santos will have to campaign while preparing

for his federal trial, which is scheduled to begin in September on Long Island,

where he faces 23 counts, including allegations he ripped off political donors.

Brian Mann, NPR News, New York.

A Michigan jury is hearing,

testimony in the involuntary manslaughter trial of James Crumbly. Prosecutor Mark Keast says

Crumbly failed to stop his son from killing four students at a Michigan high school in 2021.

Those kids would still be alive today had James Crumbly seized any one of the tragically small

and easy opportunities given to him to prevent his son from committing murder.

Crumbly's wife was convicted last month of identical involuntary manslaughter charges.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

The Western Kentucky community of Hopkinsville came together recently to celebrate the legacy

of the late Bell Hooks. The Black intellectual, poet, and author came from the city and went on

to become celebrated in modern feminist literature. From member station WKMS, Derek Oberle has more.

Bell Hooks authored dozens of books covering race, sex, love, gender, and film before her

death in 2021 from kidney failure. Her unique work, Bell Hooks, is one of the most famous books in the world.

Bell Hooks is a writer, writer, and author. She wrote a book called The Black Intellectual,

which is a book that is written by her mother, who is a father of four. She wrote a book called The Black Intellectual,

and she wrote a book that she wrote about women who are in trouble. She wrote a book that is not just a book,

from kidney failure. Her uniquely styled all lowercase pen name is an homage to her maternal

great-grandmother, a tribute that now graces Bell Hooks Way in downtown Hopkinsville.

Gwenda Motley says the world cried with her family when she died.

To make people think is always what she wanted to do, was to make people think about their lives.

The Pennyroyal Area Museum in Hopkinsville also dedicated the Bell Hooks Legacy Room that day,

placing furniture, books, and art from the writer's personal collection on display.

For NPR News, I'm Derek O'Purley in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

The United Nations has declared this International Women's Day.

The global organization is calling on world governments to invest in women.

The U.N. estimates that women spend around three times more time on unpaid caregiving work than men

do. If women's activities were assigned a monetary value, the United Nations says they would make

up more than 40 percent of GDP. France has used International Women's Day to add the right to

an abortion into its constitution. This measure was approved earlier this week by the French

Parliament. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, from Washington.