NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-20-2024 7AM EST

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

NPR News: 11-20-2024 7AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. President-elect Donald Trump says he'll nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports Oz is best known

for his former daily talk show. Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, he built his fame and fortune by promoting alternative therapies like unproven diet products, cleanses, and detoxes. He first became famous as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show. That led to a radio show and daytime TVs, The Dr. Oz Show. That ended in 2022 when Oz ran as the Republican candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania. He narrowly lost to John Fetterman in that race. If he's confirmed by the Senate, he'll be overseeing an enormous

health agency that spends about $1.5 trillion a year. Selena Simmons-Duffin and PR News, Washington. President-elect Trump has also nominated Linda McMahon to run the Education Department. She ran the Small Business Administration when Trump was first president. She's a former pro-wrestling magnet. Trump also tapped billionaire investor and Wall Street executive Howard Lefnick to run the Commerce Department. Israel is using a new kind of weapon in the war in Gaza, a sniper drone.

That's according to more than a dozen eyewitness accounts collected by NPR. As NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports, witnesses say these are being used to shoot civilians. For months, NPR has been hearing about a small quadcopter drone with a rifle attached shooting at civilians, medical professionals, and first responders in Gaza. Several eyewitnesses, including visiting doctors from other countries, have described the technology being used to shoot and sometimes kill civilians,

including children. The Israeli military told NPR, it was unaware of such incidents and that any suggestion that it intends to harm civilians is, quote, unfounded and baseless. NPR also asked the Israeli military repeatedly if it was using this sniper drone technology in Gaza. It did not respond to the question.

But the technology exists, is produced by companies with ties to Israel, and has been touted by the Israeli military in the past. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. The Texas State Board of Education has moved a step closer to approving a controversial curriculum that puts Bible stories in elementary school classes. For Member Station KERA in Dallas, Bill Ziebel has more. The Texas Education Agency proposed a curriculum from Blue Bonnet Learning designed to build a broad array of student skills. It incorporates Bible lessons like the Golden Rule. But critics, including Southern

Methodist University Religious Studies Professor Mark Chansey, say the focus tilts heavily toward Christianity. Not only is it taught in such a way that's going to promote some religions over others, but in many cases, it even just gets the basic facts wrong. The Texas State Board of Education is scheduled to take a final vote on Friday. I'm Bill Ziebel in Dallas. On Wall Street in pre-market trading, Dow futures are higher. This is NPR.

The U.S. has closed its embassy in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, today. It cited the potential for a Russian air attack. Other embassies in Kiev are also closed. This came after Ukraine fired U.S.-made long-range missiles into Russia yesterday. The hit by Shaboozy, a bar song tipsy, tops the pop charts again this week. But NPR's Stephen Thompson reports a seasonal change is brewing. Stephen Thompson For months, a bar song has been creeping up on the all-time record for most weeks at number one of any song in Billboard chart history.

Now, with 18 weeks at the top, Shibuzy is just a single week away from tying the all-time record. There's just one problem. Winter is coming, and with it, a flood of holiday songs that take over the top 10 each year. In fact, this week's Billboard charts issue an early warning, as Wham's 1984 hit, Last Christmas, re-enters the top 40 at number 38. With Wham, Mariah Carey, and other holiday favorites on deck, Shibuzi's hopes of breaking the record could be headed up in smoke, or more to the point, up the chimney.

Stephen Thompson, NPR News. The co-creator of the computer language BASIC has died in New Hampshire, according to his wife. Thomas Kurtz was 96. He set out to create a simple programming language computer students could use and he helped develop BASIC in the mid-1960s. Among other innovations, Kurtz designed ways for more than one person to use a computer at a time. I'm Corva Coleman,

NPR News.