NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-12-2024 7AM EST

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

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Oh, oh, oh, Santa here coming to you from the North Pole. We're the elves in our podcast division of just completed work on this season's best gift for public radio lovers. NPR plus give the gift of sponsored free listening and even bonus episodes from your favorite NPR podcasts, all while supporting public media. Learn more at plus dot NPR dot org. Live from NPR News in Washington on Corva Coleman, FBI Director Christopher Wray says he'll step down when President Biden leaves office next month.

This could make it easier for President-elect Trump's nominee, Cash Patel, to be confirmed to lead the agency. Wray is a Republican who was named as FBI chief by Trump during his first term. Patel is picking up support. That includes from Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who says Patel will stop alleged FBI bias against conservatives. He promised me that he would put a stop to those abuses and he'd get the FBI back into the business of enforcing the law, which is just exactly what I want to hear and I think

that's what everybody should want to hear. Democrats are concerned about Patel's explicit threats to go after Trump's perceived enemies in government and elsewhere. The White House says President Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people now under House detention. Thirty-nine others are being pardoned. Biden says they have successfully been rehabilitated. This comes after Biden was criticized for pardoning his son Hunter

for gun and tax convictions. In Southern California, fire crews are finally starting to get some containment on the Franklin fire burning northwest of Los Angeles. Steve Futterman reports it's still affecting the beachside city of Malibu. It isn't a large amount, just 7% containment, but it's a start and there are other encouraging signs. Fire has essentially stopped expanding. On Wednesday officials say less than a hundred additional acres burned and the Santa Ana winds which have been buffeting the fire have greatly diminished. Still getting to parts of the blaze is difficult. Dusty Martin is an assistant chief with CAL FIRE. It's extremely steep and inaccessible terrain that the fire is in and we're working on getting

firefighters in there to start containing that. The big concern now is a wind shift that's in the forecast which could push the fire into new areas. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Malibu, California. South Korea's president is sounding defiant about his recent declaration of martial law. As NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul, the country's president is pledging to continue fighting efforts to impeach him. In a televised address, President Yoon Sung-yeol said that his declaration of martial law

was an act of governance in line with the Constitution. He doubled down on his allegation that opposition lawmakers are trying to paralyze the government and are aligned with North Korea. If you impeach me or investigate me, I will stand up to it, he said. I've already said that I will not shirk my legal and political responsibility for this declaration of martial law. Police and prosecutors are investigating Yoon on suspicion of insurrection. Police raided his office a second time the day after presidential security blocked police

from entering. Yoon also faces a second vote to impeach him in parliament on Saturday. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. New York City police say they have more physical evidence in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. They say they have matched three shell casings from the scene to a gun found with the suspect in the crime, Luigi Mangione.

Montana's state supreme court says gender-affirming medical care for minors can continue for now. The issue is still going to trial before a lower court The Supreme Court says gender-affirming medical care for minors can continue for now. The issue is still going to trial before a lower court in Montana. A state law banning gender-affirming care is on hold while the Montana case proceeds. Animals like sharks, dogs, and parakeets develop their scales, hair, and feathers using a shared genetic toolkit. But NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports new research shows crocodiles are a bit different.

Look at the head of a crocodile and you'll see a mishmash of weirdly shaped scales. A new study in the journal Nature finds that these irregular patterns aren't laid down by genes, like other scales, but instead arise from a largely physical process. The skin on their heads grows faster than the underlying tissues, causing folding that creates this irregular pattern. Computer models of this physical process were able to recreate the different facial patterns of a variety of crocodile species. This shows that complex biological patterns can arise without complicated genetic changes.

Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. The governing body for world soccer, FIFA, is drawing criticism for selecting Saudi Arabia as the host for the Men's World Cup in 2034. Saudi Arabia is accused of significant human rights violations, including killings. 21 human rights groups have issued an objection. Saudi Arabia was the only country that bid for the 2034 tournament. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.