NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-12-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington on Korova Coleman. That's the sound of the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange. President-elect Trump rang the bell about half an hour ago to open Wall Street Trading. It comes as he's been selected as Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Time Magazine officials say they selected Trump because, for better or worse, he had the most influence on the world and on the news this year. Stocks opened mixed this morning as the Labor Department reported a bigger than expected

jump in wholesale prices last month. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about seven points in early trading. Scott Horsley, NPR News. Wholesale prices in November were up three percent from a year ago. That's the biggest annual increase in 21 months. That underscores the message that inflation is not yet fully tamed. Wholesale prices rose 0.4% between October and November.

Despite the sticky inflation, the Federal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates when policymakers meet next week. The European Central Bank lowered its benchmark interest rate today, in an effort to shore up the continent's weakening economic growth. New applications for unemployment benefits jumped last week. Two hundred forty-two thousand people applied for jobless aid. That's up seventeen thousand from the week before. Some applications may have been delayed by the Thanksgiving holiday. Scott Horsley in Peer News, Washington. An American man has been found in a suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Local residents found him early today wandering barefoot on the streets. And Piers Hadil Al-Shelchi has more.

The American man who identified himself to reporters as Travis Pete Timmerman said that he was on a pilgrimage and was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon. Hungarian police had released a missing persons report for the 29 year old after he went missing in Budapest after attending church there seven months ago. Timmerman who is believed to be from Missouri claimed he was jailed in Sidneya prison, one of the most notorious in the country. He was released after opposition forces entered the Capitol last week and overthrew President

Bashar al-Assad. Video circulating of him earlier sparked speculation that he could be missing journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria 12 years ago. A United States official confirmed the man in the video was not Tice. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Damascus. In the US, fire crews continue to battle the wildfire burning northwest of Los Angeles. The Franklin fire has forced thousands of people to evacuate the coastal community of Malibu. The fire is scorched more than six square miles. It is only seven percent contained. Dusty Martin is with Unified Command fighting the Franklin fire. He says one reason

containment is so hard is because of the terrain. In a lot of the areas out here is it's extremely steep, rugged terrain that's almost inaccessible. More than a dozen structures have been damaged or destroyed in the wildfire. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration is going to step down on January 20th. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker will leave on Inauguration Day. The news of his departure comes a day after FBI Chief Christopher Wray announced that he, too, would leave his post. The Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario is warning of retaliation if President-elect Trump makes good on his threats of tariffs against Canada. As Dan Karpanchuk reports from Toronto, Premier Doug Ford says Ontario will cut off energy supplies to the U.S.

Trump says he will slap a 25% tariff on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico into the U.S. when he takes office in January. Now, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is fighting back, saying if necessary, he will cut off energy supplies to Michigan, New York State and Wisconsin. Ford made the threat after a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other provincial leaders. The Premier says he doesn't want this to happen, but his number one job is to protect people in Ontario and Canadians as a whole. Ford wasn't specific in his threat, saying he'll wait to see what will happen. Canada is considered the main source of energy imports to the U.S.

For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpinchuk in Toronto. The White House says President Biden has commuted sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are in home confinement and he is pardoning 39 others who were convicted of nonviolent crimes. The White House says this is the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history. It comes after Biden pardoned his son Hunter, who was convicted on federal tax and gun crimes. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.