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Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.

Cheers went up in the Gaza Strip, as Palestinians heard the news of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

In a speech from the White House, President Biden outlined the first phase of the agreement,

which is set to take effect on Sunday.

It includes a full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza,

and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. And I'm proud to say

Americans will be part of that hostage release in phase one as well. The Israeli government has

not signed off on the agreement, saying that it's working to

finalize several unresolved issues in the framework of the deal. In the meantime, the Israeli military

continues to carry out air strikes in the Gaza Strip. Confirmation hearings resumed on Capitol Hill

today for several of President-elect Donald Trump's

cabinet picks. Senator Marco Rubio, who's in line to become the nation's next Secretary of State,

took questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports,

Rubio says U.S. competition with China will be a key focus for him.

As a Florida senator, Rubio has been tough on China, and for that, he landed on a sanctions list.

So if confirmed, he'd be the first Secretary of State to face Chinese travel restrictions.

He says the U.S. needs to do more to compete with China.

The Communist Party of China leads, that leads to PRC,

is the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary of this nation has ever confronted. They have

elements that the Soviet Union never possessed. They are a technological adversary and competitor.

Rubio says the U.S. needs to build up its domestic industrial capacity so that it won't

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