NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-13-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 13, 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, I'm Korova Coleman. President Biden is holding a virtual meeting today with other leaders from Group of Seven

Nations. They'll discuss the fluid situation in Syria. Anti-government rebels toppled former dictator Bashar al-Assad days ago. They say they'll create a transitional Syrian government. Assad was propped up in power with help from Iran. Officials in Iran used Syria to get material to its proxy militants in Lebanon. NPR's Jackie Northam says the relationship between Iran and Syria has now changed. Syria allowed Iran to set up a critical land bridge to Lebanon, so a corridor to Lebanon,

so it could funnel weapons to Hezbollah for many years. You know, this was crucial to get fighters, weapons going both ways, actually. But now that the anti-government rebels control Syria, that strategic route to Lebanon is really most likely off limits to Iran. NPR's Jackie Northam reporting. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made an unannounced visit to Iraq. He's visiting officials in Mideast countries to discuss stabilizing the situation in Syria.

He was previously in Turkey. On Capitol Hill, questions remain in the Senate a month after President-elect Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. NPR's Luke Garrett has more. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska tells NPR she is meeting with R.F.K. Jr. next week. I am from a state where vaccines have saved whole villages. And so I want to talk to him about the issue of vaccines.

R.F.K. Jr. ran for president as an independent and spread anti-vaccine messages and conspiracies. Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump. Rokowski says beyond vaccines, she also wants to hear his ideas about pesticide use and nutrition. I'm curious to talk to him about some of the food issues as well. So it should be a great conversation. Kennedy has been highly critical of big food and pharmaceutical industries.

Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. Stocks opened mixed this morning after some upbeat corporate forecasts. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 35 points in early trading. Stock in Broadcom rose after the computer chip company reported better than expected financial results. Broadcom also projected positive results in the future, thanks to demand for artificial intelligence.

The home furnishing store RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, is projecting double-digit sales growth in the fourth quarter, despite a slumping housing market. Freddie Mac says mortgage rates did inch down this week to an average of 6.6 percent. Chinese policymakers wrapped up a meeting this week with vague promises to increase government spending to support the world's second largest economy. Stock indexes in both Shanghai and Hong Kong fell about 2 percent overnight. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is now down nearly 40 points. This is NPR. Ukraine says it has been hit by scores of Russian missiles and drones.

Writing online, Ukraine's president says Russia fired nearly 100 missiles and at least 200 drones into his country. Ukraine's energy minister says Russia targeted energy infrastructure sites. A Japanese court has ruled that the country's refusal to legally recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports it's the third such ruling in the country this year, and it increases pressure on the Japanese government to change its stance. Anthony Kuhn, NPR's Anthony Kuhn, reporting The Fukuoka High Court ruled that the civil

law's lack of recognition of same-sex marriage violates constitutional rights to the pursuit of happiness, equality under the law, and equality of the sexes. Since 2019, eight court rulings have found the ban unconstitutional, one has found it constitutional. All of the courts have rejected plaintiffs' demands for damages. The government's chief spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said after the ruling that the government will continue to monitor similar pending cases and public opinion. Opinion polls show most Japanese favor legalizing same-sex marriage, but the conservative ruling

party has been reluctant to scrap the ban. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center says a powerful tropical cyclone is brushing the northern tip of Madagascar. Its top sustained winds are nearly 120 miles per hour. The cyclone is expected to make landfall in the eastern African nation of Mozambique by the end of the weekend. The United Nations estimates some 1.7 million people in Mozambique are in the path of the cyclone.