Alaska's Senate race faces claims of spoiler candidate. And, Hegseth ousts Army general

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, a Joint Chiefs member who ran Pentagon planning. The dismissal comes as the U.S. and Israel get ready for another possible round of strikes on Iran, though Sylvia, despite his senior strategy and policy role, was not directly managing daily operations in that conflict, according to NPR.

An NPR investigation found that thousands of veterans with VA-backed mortgages have paid more since last year, when the Trump administration ended the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program. Housing and mortgage groups cautioned against scrapping it without a successor, and veterans were left modifying loans at higher rates. NPR counted over 15,000 whose monthly payments rose by at least $150, and more than 700 facing increases of $1,000 or more.

NPR's Rob Stein reports that the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network's board approved loosening the wall between hospital care teams and organ retrieval teams, effective Nov. 18. The change is part of a package meant to raise donations and improve safety. Many bioethicists, some transplant surgeons and advocates fear earlier withdrawal of treatment and lost public trust.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NPR’s reporting. Read the full story at NPR →