NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-11-2024 12PM EST

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. High-priced housing and rising grocery bills are still pushing up the cost of living in the United States. NPR's Scott Horsley reports on the latest inflation figures from the Labor Department. Consumer prices in November were up 2.7 percent from a year ago. That's a slightly larger annual increase than the month before. While inflation has cooled significantly from a four-decade high two years ago, prices are still climbing faster than most people would like. Prices rose 0.3% between October and

November, with higher housing costs driving much of that increase. Grocery prices also jumped by a sharp 0.5% during the month. Stripping out voluble food and energy prices, so called core inflation was 3.3 percent for the 12 months ending in November. All the cost of living measures were in line with forecast and should leave the door open for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates next week. Scott Horsley in Pear News, Washington. Police say the man charged with shooting United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York last week, appeared to have had a gun that was at least partially made on a 3D printer. NPR's Martin Kossy says experts identified it from an apparent evidence photo circulated in the media.

Do-it-yourself gunmaking pioneer Cody Wilson says the suspect's gun appears to be from a design for an imitation Glock handgun, which was available for download on the internet. From what we can see, he's got a printed Glock frame, and that's been very popular. But what's interesting from our point of view is the version of this frame he printed was from 2021. It doesn't seem to be one of the latest printed Glock frames you could use. Guns like this are sometimes called ghost guns because they don't have serial numbers and can't be traced.

Several experts have ID'd this gun as a distinctive remix design uploaded to the internet by a do-it-yourself gunmaker known online as Chairman Wan. Martin Costi, NPR News. As a new form of government starts to take shape in Syria, the leader of the armed group that helped topple former President Bashar al-Assad will play a significant role. Villa Marks reports Abu Mohammed al-Julani has suddenly become the country's new power broker. Born in Damascus, Julani returned for the first time in more than 13 years this weekend after fighting Americans in Iraq, serving in a US military prison and founding a group back in Syria that was

allied with Islamic State, then al-Qaeda, then neither. Analysts say he sought to appear more moderate, including dropping his nom de gore, Jalani, and going by his real name, Ahmed al-Sharah. Now he must act not as a rebel but as a statesman. That's Villa Marks reporting. Now to Malibu where the Franklin fire in Southern California is approaching 4,000 acres. Local authorities say it is roughly 7% contained. Flames driven by high winds are posing immediate threats to as many as 18,000 people, roughly 2,000 of whom were under mandatory evacuation orders. This is NPR. Providence, Rhode Island will soon open a facility that allows people who use illegal

drugs to do so with medical supervision, the first in the country to be state-regulated. Nina Sparling with the Public's Radio has details. At the new facility, people who use drugs will be able to do so in the open, with medical staff on hand in case of an overdose. Supporters say supervised use prevents fatal overdoses and connects users to help. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said he was skeptical at first, but as someone in recovery himself, he came around to the idea. The only way we're going to help someone find recovery is if we keep them alive.

And sometimes that happens after the first overdose, sometimes that happens after the 40th overdose. New York City opened two similar facilities three years ago, the first of their kind in the country. The nonprofit groups running the state-regulated Center in Providence hope to open to clients in the coming weeks. For NPR News, I'm Nina Sparling in Providence, Rhode Island. Authorities say a Wisconsin kayaker who faked his death and fled to Eastern Europe is in

U.S. custody. Sheriff Mark Quaddall says Ryan Borgwart returned on his own after he left his wife and three children for four months. The 45-year-old was being held in county jail pending a court appearance on possible charges. The sheriff's office says Borgwart faked his drowning by overturning his kayak and dumping his phone, and he reportedly made his way to shore and later fled the country. The sheriff's office says it spent more than a month and at least $35,000 searching for Barquart's body before the kayaker turned up alive and well. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.