NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-12-2024 6AM EST

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. The White House says President Biden has commuted sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are on home confinement. He's pardoning 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes. This comes after Biden pardoned his son Hunter, who was convicted on tax and gun crimes. FBI Director Christopher Wray plans to step down in January. Wray's decision comes after President-elect Trump already announced his pick to replace Ray. NPR's Ryan Lucas has more.

Ray announced his decision at an FBI town hall. He said after careful consideration, he decided it was the right thing for the FBI for him to serve until the change in administration and then step down. His goal, he says, is to keep the focus on the FBI's mission. And resigning is the best way to avoid dragging the FBI deeper into the fray. Ray will step down a little over seven years into his tenure term. He replaced former director James Comey, whom Trump fired in 2017.

The president-elect announced last month that once back in office, he intends to nominate Cash Patel to be FBI director, making clear that Ray would not remain in the job. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Some people in New Jersey are rattled because scores of drones have been flying overhead for about a month. Nobody knows who's doing it. These have flown over big power lines, railroad stations,

reservoirs, military installations. New Jersey Republican Congressman Chris Smith wants the Pentagon to check this out now. I believe our Department of Defense, I believe the federal government is uniquely qualified and it's got the power given to it by the people to go and investigate this for the well-being and welfare of our people. New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker says he wants more transparency from federal officials. Governor Phil Murphy has written on social media, state officials are monitoring the situation. Palestinian health officials in Gaza say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 people in the enclave today.

This came hours after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted for an immediate and permanent ceasefire for Gaza. The resolution does not link a truce to the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas. Linda Fasula reports Israel and the U.S. voted against it. Before the vote, Deputy U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood told the General Assembly the resolution has significant problems. He said it rewards Hamas with a ceasefire but downplays the need to release the hostages taken from Israel. It also makes no mention of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel last year.

The assembly also overwhelmingly adopted a resolution which the U.S. and Israel opposed, expressing support for UNRWA, the UN agency aiding Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has moved to bar operations in late January over concerns regarding the neutrality of certain personnel. Israel's UN ambassador denounced the two resolutions. The Palestinian envoy applauded them. For NPR News, I'm Linda Fasulo in New York. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

South Korea's President Yoon Sang-yeol has made a broadcast speech a week after his botched attempt to impose martial law, Yun said that he was acting in accordance with the Constitution. But South Korean lawmakers will try a second time this weekend to impeach him. Yun's former defense minister is already under arrest. The famous mentalist known as the Amazing Kreskin has died at an assisted living facility in Wayne, New Jersey. He was 89 years old. NPR's Chloe Veldman reports he dazzled audiences with his mind-reading skills.

The Amazing Kreskin became hugely popular in the 1960s and 70s with his guest appearances on TV talk shows, like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Would you welcome the amazing Kreskin. He called himself a mentalist, not a psychic, best known for a theatrical trick in which he asked audience members to hide his paychecks somewhere in the auditorium while he went outside. Then he'd come back in and find it,

almost always successfully. He described the stunt in the 2005 documentary, The Amazing Kreskin. If I don't find my fee, I don't get paid. George Kreskin Jr. was born into a Polish Sicilian family in New Jersey in 1935. He picked up the mind-reading bug from Mandrake the Magician, a comic book hero who used hypnotic techniques to ensnare his adversaries. Chloe Valtman, NPR News.

Weather forecasters say the Great Lakes area continues to get wintry storms. There are winter storm warnings for parts of Michigan today, and areas in western and upstate New York will get as much as two fresh feet of snow. The area has already been slammed with heavy snowfall recently. I'm Corba Coleman, NPR News.