NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-15-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

NPR News: 12-15-2024 10AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ho ho ho! 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.npr.org. Ho ho ho! Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Unidentified drones over the Northeast have led to a lot of speculation and concern, and now German authorities say there have been sightings over sensitive military and industrial sites, including a U.S. Air Force base. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports.

The sightings, first reported by Der Spiegel magazine, were made by German security authorities who reported several drones flying over the Rammstein US Air Force base on December 3rd and 4th. The report also said unidentified drones were seen over facilities belonging to arms maker Rheinmetall. A spokesperson for the US Air Force says its Rammstein base is unaffected. Over the past few weeks, unidentified drones have been seen over New Jersey and reported in other Northeastern states. U.S. officials said there was no evidence the sightings posed a national security threat.

Rob Schmitz, NPR News. The FBI said this weekend fewer than 100 of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the U.S. have merited further investigation. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. due on Capitol Hill this week to shore up support for his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. He's to start making the rounds following reports that his personal lawyer once lobbied the FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine.

And Piers Franco Ordonia says that's getting pushback from Senate Minority Leader and polio survivor, Mitch McConnell. Now Kennedy himself says he doesn't want to take away anyone's choice to take vaccines, but still McConnell, without naming Kennedy, said any efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are quote, not just uninformed,

they're dangerous. He went on to say that anyone seeking Senate confirmation would quote, do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts. Russia has launched an emergency rescue operation after a storm damaged two oil tankers in the Black Sea. Russian state media say one of the tankers carrying a crew of 13 had its bow torn away, and the other with 14 crew members is drifting. Video posted online shows blackened water in stormy seas and a half-submerged tanker. Elon Musk has submitted a petition to turn the South Texas

SpaceX facility and the surrounding complex into an incorporated city. Texas Public Radio's Jerry Clayton reports. Officials in Cameron County say they received the petition asking them to incorporate Star Base as a municipality on the Texas-Mexico border. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino says his office is working on the petition and that residents in the proposed area could vote to decide. Some have pushed back against SpaceX expansion. Elon Musk says the company needs the ability to grow a star-based community

in order to continue growing its workforce necessary to develop its giant rocket Starship. Some 3,400 workers are employed at the site. Musk also says he plans to move SpaceX headquarters from California to Texas. I'm Jerry Clayton in San Antonio. And you're listening to NPR News. in San Antonio. And you're listening to NPR News. The United Nations Envoy for Syria is calling for a quick end to Western sanctions following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Gare Patterson spoke to reporters during a visit to Damascus today after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Arab foreign ministers in Jordan yesterday.

Australia says five remaining members of the drug ring known as the Bali Nine have returned from Indonesia after serving nearly 20 years in prison there back in Australia after diplomatic efforts to strike a repatriation deal. The five were among nine Australians arrested in 2005 as they attempted to smoke more than 18 pounds of heroin out of the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Some Irish pubs in the UK have run out of Guinness beer this week at the start of the festive season. NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from London. Earlier this month the company that owns and distributes Guinness, Diageo, put a cap on the amount individual pubs in

England, Scotland and Wales can order. Diageo says it's seen exceptional demand amid recent international rugby tournaments and in the lead-up to the holidays. It says it's working proactively with customers to manage distribution as efficiently as possible. Nevertheless, Irish pubs in Liverpool, Durham and Leicester have all reported running dry. Another pub here in London says it's issuing ration cards to customers, requiring them to order two other drinks first before they can even ask for a Guinness. Shortages have not been reported in Guinness' homeland of Ireland,

though, where Diageo has separate supply chains. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London.