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Up First briefing: Israel-Hamas hostage deal; Sam Altman back at OpenAI

NPR | By Suzanne Nuyen

Published November 22, 2023 at 8:00 AM EST

Palestinian medics listen to a man as the wounded are brought to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in Gaza following Israeli bombardment on Tuesday. The hospital is situated just a few miles south of the Indonesian hospital, which was hit Monday by Israeli shelling, according to Palestinian officials.

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Israel and Hamas have agreed to a temporary cease-fire deal to allow for the release of 50 Israeli women and children captured during Hamas' assault on Israel last month and 150 Palestinian women and minors held in Israel. In a statement, Israel expressed willingness to extend the pause and release more prisoners if Hamas releases more hostages.

The pause in fighting won't start until tomorrow morning at the earliest, NPR's Daniel Estrin reports on Up First. He describes mixed emotions from Israelis and Palestinians over the deal. An Israeli comedy writer whose wife and daughter are in Gaza tells Estrin he's calm, but he knows his hope can be "shattered at any moment." A Palestinian father of a detainee says he's happy for his daughter's release and is against any attacks against civilians.

Check out npr.org/mideastupdates for more coverage, differing views and analysis of this conflict.

OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, announced late last night that it would reinstate Sam Altman as its CEO after he was fired on Friday. The reversal ends five days of drama between Altman, OpenAI employees and the company's board of directors.

NPR's Dara Kerr describes the past few days of developments as "corporate tussling of the highest order." OpenAI employees wrote a letter to the board threatening to quit en masse if Altman wasn't reinstated. About 500 employees signed the letter at first. Eventually, roughly 97% of the company signed the letter in his support.

Nearly 7 million student loan borrowers have loans in default, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The number of federal direct borrowers in default has more than doubled in the past decade. As student loan repayments return after the pandemic pause, the Biden administration is unveiling a new plan called Fresh Start that aims to help borrowers get back into good standing.

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Birtney Spears' memoir The Woman In Me has been wildly successful. Former NPR graphic designer Luke Medina writes about his deep connection with the pop star. He writes about how he wasn't prepared for how much the book would move him and how it helped him explore his story and art with pride.

What are you really into? Fill out this form or leave us a voice note at 800-329-4273, and part of your submission may be featured online or on the radio.

Picture show

<strong>Left:</strong> Jax Le, aka 'Jax The Poet', attended Philly FatCon in October. Jax is also the author of the book <em data-stringify-type="italic">Love Handles & Muffin Tops: Poems For Body Positivity & Plus Size Bodies</em>. <strong>Right:</strong> Maggie Clerkin also attended Philly FatCon and called the event felt "refreshing." — **Left:** Jax Le, aka 'Jax The Poet', attended Philly FatCon in October. Jax is also the author of the book *Love Handles & Muffin Tops: Poems For Body Positivity & Plus Size Bodies*. **Right:** Maggie Clerkin also attended Philly FatCon and called the event felt "refreshing."

Photojournalist Jackie Molloy rarely sees media coverage of overweight people like herself that doesn't center around weight loss. Last month, she attended Philly FatCon, a convention for people to come and celebrate their bodies. She shares photos of her time there, as well as reflections from herself and attendees about fat acceptance and body positivity.

3 things to know before you go

Don't get scammed looking for Black Friday deals this week. Take special care to avoid emails from cybercriminals posing as legitimate retailers

Here's something to be thankful for: The cost of a traditional Thanksgiving feast has come down slightly from last year.

Will humans ever be able to grow food on Mars? One scientist is trying to find out by experimenting with a mixture of simulated Martian soil and poop from fly larvae.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.