In our news wrap Friday, President Trump said he would cancel all executive actions signed by former President Biden using an autopen, police in Hong Kong arrest more people involved with renovating an apartment complex that caught fire, torrential rains battered Southeast Asia and more than 50 million Americans were under some sort of winter weather advisory from Idaho to the Great Lakes region.
John Yang:
In the day’s other news: President Trump also said today he would cancel all executive actions that former President Biden signed using an autopen. That’s a device that replicates someone’s signature.
Both Democratic and Republican presidents have used autopens, including Mr. Trump, though he says he’s used it only for unimportant papers. A Justice Department legal opinion dating back decades authorized its use. President Trump had previously ordered an investigation into his predecessor’s use of the device, which Biden’s months ago said was a distraction.
And Mr. Trump said on social media that he plans to pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras. In 2024, a U.S. court convicted Hernandez on drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced him to 45 years in prison. Hernandez served two terms as Honduran president from 2014 until 2022.
In the same post, Mr. Trump threw his support behind the nation’s conservative presidential candidate and said that, if he doesn’t win, he will stop sending aid to the Central American nation.
Police in Hong Kong have arrested eight more people involved with renovating the apartment complex that caught fire earlier this week, killing at least 128 people. The massive blaze wasn’t fully extinguished until this morning, some 40 hours after it started. Now firefighters are searching apartment by apartment, with close to 200 people still missing.
That includes nearly 90 bodies that haven’t been identified yet. One former resident pointed out the charred remains of her home and said she’s worried about her neighbors.
Miss Yu, Hong Kong Resident (through translator):
My family is OK. We have many relatives, so we’re fine. But we don’t know if others have anyone looking after them. I really want to put down my phone and not look at any news, not read any information, but I can’t. My heart just feels so heavy.
John Yang:
Authorities say the fire started on scaffolding on the lower levels of one of the buildings and spread quickly because of flammable foam panels on windows. This weekend, flags in Hong Kong will fly at half-staff for a period of mourning.
Elsewhere in Asia, floods have ravaged several nations, so far claiming well over 300 lives. Torrential rains battered Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand after a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait. A separate cyclone hit Sri Lanka more than 1,000 miles to the west.
In Southern Thailand’s largest city today, receding floodwaters exposed piles of abandoned cars caked in mud. On Sumatra, landslides carved through Indonesia’s remote mountain towns. Those who survived recalled a narrow escape.
Fahri Fandi, Indonesian Flood Survivor (through translator):
I heard a roaring sound that made me go outside. I shouted to warn people to get out of their houses and evacuate. After that, I ran to higher ground. I saw the floodwater carrying pieces of wood and other debris sweeping away houses until they were washed away.
John Yang:
Officials are intensifying recovery efforts, but many Indonesians remain without electricity, food and other critical supplies. The tropical storm in that region has since weakened after moving out to sea, but Sri Lanka is bracing for even more flooding this weekend.
Back here at home, the Thanksgiving holiday is winding down, so it’s time for what could be a treacherous trip home for some. More than 50 million Americans were under some sort of winter weather advisory today, stretching from Idaho to the Great Lakes.
Residents in Upstate New York spent their day digging out of heavy lake-effect snow. The National Weather Service issued travel warnings in the Northeast, where more snow along with gusty winds could make roads slippery and visibility poor.
And in a shortened Black Friday trading session, stocks ended with across-the-board gains. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 300 points, the NASDAQ added 150 points, as most tech stocks closed higher, and the S&P 500 capped off a fifth straight day of gains for the major indices.
Still to come on the “News Hour”: Jonathan Capehart and Peter Wehner on the possible implications of the National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C.; we visit a long-overlooked marvel of ancient indigenous engineering in Ohio; and the first episode of our brand-new video podcast “Settle In,” lessons for today from the 1929 stock market crash.
