NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-01-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwahlees Ikaotow. President Joe Biden has signed a pardon for his son, who was said to be sentenced this month for convictions of federal gun-related charges and tax evasion. NPR's Mara Eliason reports on what this means for the president's legacy. I think this will affect his legacy. And there are a lot of Democrats saying, how can Democrats accuse Trump of being above the law when he pardons, for instance, violent January 6th defendants, if in fact that's what he does. He said he wants to. They think that maybe Democrats have ceded the moral high ground.

So this is very controversial inside the president's own party, but it was a very, very personal decision. And PR senior national political correspondent correspondent Mara Eliason. Telework for federal employees is expected to be a target of the incoming Trump administration. Trump advisors Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have proposed that federal workers be required to work from the office five days a week, as NPR's Andrea Hsu reports. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy wrote that requiring the federal workforce to report to the office every day could result in a, quote, wave of voluntary

terminations that we welcome. Such a move would affect an enormous number of people. Close to half of the civilians in the federal government, just over one million people, are telework eligible. About 10 percent are fully remote. For many, the arrangements go back years. As of May this year, those able to telework spent on average about 60 percent of their time in person, though it varies across agencies. Last year, the Republican-led House passed a bill seeking to end pandemic-era telework policies. Similar measures could return in the new year.

Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is facing the biggest challenge to his rule in years as opposition rebels advance deep into the country. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports the Russian Air Force is striking rebel positions to defend the Syrian regime. After moving into Aleppo, Syria's second most populous city, rebel forces have pressed south, seizing towns and villages in Hama province in central Syria. Overnight there were also reports of fighting in Daraa in southern Syria.

Russian fighter jets are striking rebel positions to try to hold off the advance as Syrian government forces try to regroup. The Syrian army says dozens of its men have been killed. After years of relative quiet in the Syrian civil war, Assad's regime was seen as having largely won the conflict. Russia and Iran-backed militias have provided manpower and weapons to steady the regime. But with Russia's resources tied up in the war in Ukraine, and the Iran-backed militant group has bulled fighting for survival in its war with Israel, Damascus has been left ever more exposed.

Ruth Sherlock, NPR News. And you are listening to NPR News from New York City. Armed gangs that have been looting a main cargo crossing into Gaza have now forced UN officials to stop deliveries there. UnRaw, the United Nations and agency serving Palestinian refugees, announced that the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel is now too dangerous on the Gaza side. This while winter sets in and hundreds of thousands of people are living in tent camps dependent on international aid.

As winter approaches, the creatures of the forest adjust their routine, including dung beetles. Science reporter Ari Daniel went looking for some in Massachusetts with a researcher taking a census of sorts. In a small patch of woodland in Worcester in the central part of the state, Clark University biologist Erin McCullough peers down at the forest floor. I have found 12 different down beetle species. 12? Yeah. I think people don't appreciate the biodiversity that's right in their backyard. Down beetles are nature's clean-up crew.

They break down waste, improve the soil, and aerate the forest floor. McCullough says counting dung beetles and studying their life cycle tells researchers about the health of the forest. The beetle numbers peaked in June, and it appears they've now headed underground for the winter. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel. The countdown to Christmas is on and a hamlet in southwestern Germany, Gegenbach, every December transforms its town hall with 24 windows into maybe the world's largest advent calendar. This is NPR.