NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-01-2024 7PM EST

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwahleesha Kaotel. President-elect Donald Trump has announced Cash Patel a long-time critic of the FBI as his choice to head the agency. Patel once said he'd like to shut down the FBI Hoover building in Washington and reopen it as a museum of the deep state. On CNN this morning, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said he would not comment on the nomination but did note the FBI director is not like other jobs in an administration. What makes the FBI director different from most other nominees is they're not just appointed for one term of a president. They're appointed for enough time to last past two terms of

a president because they're supposed to be insulated from politics. President Biden scrupulously adhered to that long-standing bipartisan tradition, and for a good reason, because the FBI director should not be subject to the whims of the twos and froes of politics. The current FBI director is Christopher Wray, who had been appointed by Trump and whose term doesn't end until 2027. appointed by Trump and whose term doesn't end until 2027. Sheriffs in North Carolina are now required to keep arrested non-citizens in jail longer, when asked to do so by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Piers Martin Costey reports. North Carolina sheriffs generally cooperate with ICE, but a few had stopped honoring detainers. Those are the requests ICE makes for jails to hold on to people who are arrested on criminal

charges but are also found to be in the country illegally. Sheriffs now have to hold those people an extra 48 hours so ICE can pick them up. In Charlotte, Sheriff Gary McFadden says he'll comply, but it won't be cheap. Right now it is $181 a day for a person to stay in Mecklenburg County Detention Center. That bill is going to be footed by the citizen of Mecklenburg County. He says his jail gets 280 detainer requests a year, which he'll now have to honor. ICE officials say it's safer to pick up potential deportees from jails than to have agents go look for them in the community. Martin Kosty, NPR News. The European Union's new executive team has visited Kyiv on the first day of its term.

Terry Schultz reports the top officials say they wanted to reassure Ukraine that maintaining assistance is among their top priorities. Although neither of them have the sole power to make decisions, European Council President Antonio Costa and Foreign Policy Chief Kaya Kalas used their first day in office to pledge steadfast EU support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in person. Kalas, a former Estonian prime minister and harsh critic of Moscow, said she'll use her position to explain to EU partners, clearly meaning the US, why this is a global issue and why it's in their interest to support Ukraine. Russia would be much weaker in this war without the help of China, Iran and North Korea.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos was also on the trip and assured Zelensky. This is NPR News. Public health experts say the map of the HIV AIDS crisis is changing and today on World AIDS Day they are celebrating progress in sub-Saharan Africa. But as NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel reports, the picture elsewhere is not as rosy. New infections in sub-Saharan Africa have dropped by almost 60% since 2010. But if you remove sub-Saharan Africa from the data, the rest of the world has seen no change in the rate of new HIV infections. Mary May is with UNAIDS.

Now we need to focus on why are we not seeing the declines outside of sub-Saharan Africa? One difference, she says, is that in sub-Saharan Africa, the general population is impacted by the disease. Elsewhere, HIV infections are concentrated in marginalized populations, like sex workers, prisoners, and the LGBT community. It can be harder for them to get medical care. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News. The drummer who performed on My Chemical Romance's rock opera album, The Black Parade, has died

at the age of 44 at his home in Tennessee. The Associated Press cites a statement from a band spokesperson asking for patience and understanding as they process the news of Bob Breyer's passing. No Cause of Death has been released by police or the local medical examiner. The Chicago native was the longest serving drummer for the rock band starting in 2004 and ending in 2010. The 2006 album The Black Parade hit number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts. This is NPR News.