NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-02-2024 2AM 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 autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter on Sunday that spares Hunter Biden a possible prison sentence for felony gun and tax convictions from earlier this year. He was going to be sentenced in a few weeks.

As NPR's Mara Liason tells us, this isn't the first time presidents have offered pardons to family members. There are definitely precedents for presidents pardoning family members. Bill Clinton pardoned his half brother on old drug charges. Donald Trump pardoned his son-in-law's father, Jared Kushner's father. This was after the father had already served prison time. And actually, he just appointed him, nominated him to be the ambassador to France.

But yes, presidents have done this before, but I can't think of a time when they've done this before sentencing. NPR's Mara Eliason. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped a Lebanese businessman and the father-in-law of Trump's daughter, Tiffany, to join his administration as senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

NPR's Luke Gerrits. Masad Boulos campaigned for Trump in the swing state of Michigan, meeting with Arab American communities in particular. His efforts proved successful. President-elect Trump ultimately won more support than Vice President Harris in Dearborn, Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the country. In 2020, Dearborn overwhelmingly supported President Biden.

Trump made the announcement about Boulos on his social media site, Truth Social, saying Boulos was instrumental in building a new coalition with Arab-American communities. The president-elect also said, quote, Masad is a deal-maker and an unwavering supporter of peace in the Middle East, end quote. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. The prime minister of Australia is defending a new law there banning children under the age of 16 from using social media. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, tech companies say the law could push younger people to darker corners of the Internet. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says tech companies will have a year to figure out how to prevent anyone under 16 from using social media apps. On the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Albanese defended the social media ban. I want children to have a childhood. I want them to engage with each other. And when mobile phones were banned in schools, there was criticism of

that as well. But guess what? Children's education standards are being lifted. Snap, TikTok, Meta and X could face hefty fines for letting kids under 16 use their services. Australia is the first country to legally restrict social media access for young people. Tech companies say complying could mean asking users for their ID or images of their face. Bobby Allen in PR News. It was another snowball in Buffalo tonight when the NFL's 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 say New York's Tug Hill region got as much as 46 inches of the white stuff. You're listening to NPR News. The U.S. says it's halting its delivery of food and other supplies of the UN rather through the main crossing into Gaza Officials say aid delivery has become more dangerous because armed gangs have been looting recent convoys hundreds of thousands of refugees are dependent on international aid to survive as winter sets in a former Israeli Defense Minister Meanwhile is accusing the government of ethnic currentillian cleansing. For the first time France has acknowledged that its troops carried out a massacre of African soldiers who fought for France in World War II. As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports the massacre took place in Senegal 80 years ago on December 1st. In a letter to Senegal's

president, French president Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that France had carried out a massacre in the military camp of Thiers in 1944, killing dozens or perhaps even hundreds of West African troops. Those who died were part of the Tireilleur Sénégalais unit, recruited to help defend France. Many were captured by Germany and liberated in 1944. On returning to Senegal, they asked for the pay they were promised but were met with a brutal response.

The killings have been a point of contention between France and Senegal, a former French colony. In his response to Macron's letter Senegalese President Bassirou Dioumé Faye said acknowledgement would open the door so the whole truth about the painful event can be discovered. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. The Big Ten Conference has fined both Ohio State and Michigan $100,000 after a fight broke out after their game on Saturday. Michigan players tried to plant their flag on the OSU logo which started the fight. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.