News Wrap: Vehicle explosion kills 2 at border crossing in Niagara Falls

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• Geoff Bennett:

  In the day's other headlines: A vehicle exploded on the U.S. side of the border with Canada at Niagara Falls, killing two people and disrupting cross-border travel.

  It happened at the Rainbow Bridge across Niagara River. Officials then closed four other border crossings while they investigated on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Local officials said the vehicle was speeding, but New York Governor Kathy Hochul said it did not appear to be an attack.

• Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY):

  Stress levels are already high. And we have been on heightened alert since October 7. That's why it's so important for me to stand here and tell the world, based on what we know at this moment — and, again, anything can change — there is no sign of terrorist activity with respect to this crash.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Three of the affected crossings reopened later, but the incident also delayed some rail travel.

  The U.S. military has carried out new air attacks in Iraq, targeting an Iranian-backed militia for a second day. The strikes hit just south of Baghdad. The militant group claimed eight members were killed and warned it may retaliate. This is the fourth round of U.S. retaliatory airstrikes in response to a near-daily spate of attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed groups.

  North Korea reportedly fired a ballistic missile into the sea today, but South Korea said the test ended in failure. It came a day after the North launched its first spy satellite with leader Kim Jong-un looking on. Meantime, the South's defense minister toured a visiting U.S. aircraft carrier today in a show of solidarity. Seoul also resumed aerial surveillance along the border with North Korea.

  In the Netherlands, the Dutch populist Geert Wilders appeared headed for a landslide election win tonight in the latest far right victory across Europe. Supporters celebrated this evening in The Hague as projections showed Wilders' anti-Islam, anti-immigration party winning the most seats in Parliament. He called for a governing coalition.

  Geert Wilders, Candidate for Prime Minister, Netherlands (through translator): Now the campaign is over and the voters have spoken. And now we will also have to look for agreements with each other. From a wonderful position with 35 seats, we can no longer be ignored by any party.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Before the election, mainstream Dutch parties largely dismissed any talk of a coalition with builders.

  Back in this country, Republicans held on to a U.S. House seat in Utah in a special election Tuesday. Celeste Maloy claimed victory last night and will be the first woman in Utah's congressional delegation since 2019. She succeeds Congressman Chris Stewart, who resigned after 10 years in the House to care for his ailing wife.

  And today marks 60 years since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Scenes from that day in 1963 of the presidential motorcade rolling through Dallas are still seared into the collective memory of an entire generation. But historians say the passage of decades has taken a toll.

• Stephen Fagin, Curator, The Sixth Floor Museum:

  What has really shifted, though, for the 60th anniversary is the sad, but inevitable loss of storytellers. So many of the voices that were here even 10 years ago to share their memories, law enforcement officials, reporters, eyewitnesses, those voices from history are rapidly fading away.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The Kennedy Presidential Museum held special events today in Boston, including a display of the flag that draped his coffin.

  On Wall Street today, stocks got back in the plus column ahead of the Thanksgiving break. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 184 points to close at 35273. The Nasdaq rose nearly 66 points. The S&P 500 added 18.