NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-02-2024 12AM EST

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

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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 autografecollection.com. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. President Joe Biden signed a pardon for his son Hunter today. The move spares Hunter Biden from a possible prison sentence for a federal felony gun and tax convictions.

He was to be sentenced in just a few weeks. The decision reverses Biden's previous stance that he would not offer a pardon. But NPR's Mara Lyson says in the end, the decision was personal. He issued a statement where he said, quote, I believe in the justice system but as I've wrestled with this I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice. Once I made this decision this weekend there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.

And he went on to say, no reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than hunter was singled Out only because he's my son and that is wrong That's in Paris more Elias and reporting the United Nations has paused delivery of a humanitarian aid through the main crossing point into Gaza Officials say it's now too dangerous and PRS Kat Lonsdorf has more for months The Krem Shalom crossing from Israel has been the main way for aid to get into Gaza. But the security situation inside Gaza has been deteriorating, making it difficult to

actually deliver. Today, Felipe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of UNRWA, tweeted that UN aid delivery through Kerem Shalom has been paused, citing the breakdown of law and order. In November, he said a large convoy of aid trucks was stolen by armed gangs. He said food trucks on the same route were also overtaken yesterday. The Israeli agency responsible for aid coordination

did not immediately respond for comment. Several other aid organizations have also had to suspend efforts in Gaza recently, as the UN says hunger has reached, quote, critical levels. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. had to suspend efforts in Gaza recently as the UN says hunger has reached quote critical levels. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Lake effect snow is expected to continue to bury parts of the Great Lakes region throughout

this week. NPR's Sean DeLis Duster reports on the winter storm that's affected traveled as millions of people hope to head home from the Thanksgiving holiday. The major snowstorm has dumped significant amounts of snow from Upper Michigan to Western New York. Many places, including in northwestern parts of Pennsylvania, have received at least three feet of snow and will see more before Tuesday. States of emergency have been declared in several counties in New York and western parts

of Pennsylvania. State troopers say they are responding to crashes, and the Pennsylvania National Guard has been deployed to help clear roads. Officials are also warning residents in areas seeing lake effect snow to stay off the roads and only travel if necessary. Some flights in and out of the Great Lakes region have been canceled or delayed over the weekend. And the National Weather Service says this isn't the last of it.

More lake effect snow is expected to impact the region over the next few days. Chandelis Duster, NPR News. I'm Dale Willman and you're listening to NPR News. The CEO of the automaker Stellantis has resigned as the company struggles to turn around flagging sales in the U.S. Stellantis was formerly known as Fiat Chrysler. It also owns the Jeep, Dodge, and Ram brands. As MPR's Kamila Dominovski reports, frustration with the company's CEO has been growing for months. Stellantis shifted to making pricier premium vehicles as Americans grew weary of soaring car prices. And the company resisted using big discounts to move cars as sales slowed. Dealers were publicly furious with CEO Carlos Tavares.

So were autoworkers, after several thousand factory layoffs. Tavares was already on his way out at the end of his contract, but now he's leaving a year earlier than planned, a decision effective immediately. In a statement, a member of the board of directors said that in recent weeks, quote, different views have emerged leading to this decision. Camila Dominovski, NPR News. He was another snowball in Buffalo tonight when the Bills took on San Francisco as the region was being pounded with snow. The team was paying local residents $20 an hour to shovel out the stadium before the game.

At kickoff, it was 27 degrees. Weather forecasters, meanwhile, said New York's Tug Hill region got as much as 46 inches of the white stuff. It was a big holiday weekend for theater owners. Disney's animated musical Moana 2 brought in an estimated $368 million in international ticket sales, making it the biggest Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S. and Canadian box office history. Domestically, the film brought in $221 million, which surpassed Frozen 2's holiday take of $125 million in 2019. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.