NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-15-2024 11AM EST

Episode Date: December 15, 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 Louise Schiavone. Authorities in New Jersey and New York continue to press the federal government to answer questions about repeated drone sightings over their states. This morning, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is saying the government so far has found no reason to be alarmed.

He spoke on ABC's this week. There are thousands of drones flown every day in the United States, recreational drones, commercial drones. That is the reality. And in September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night. And that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did

before. Press on who is flying these drones, Mayorkas declared that there's no evidence that drones are related to foreign involvement or criminal activity. Syrian students in the capital, Damas Damascus started back to school today, for the first time since rebels began their push toward the capital nearly two weeks ago. By this time last week, the rebels were entering Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad had fled the country. NPR's Hadil al-Shalchi reports that today began with a morning of mixed emotions. At least 11 people are dead in the French overseas territory of Mayotte after a powerful cyclone wrecked the island this weekend.

NPR's Eleanor Beersley reports that France is sending aid and has deployed 1,600 police officers to the Indian Ocean island to prevent potential looting. French television news broadcasts are showing footage of the massive destruction brought by Cyclone Chideau. Towns and villages are flattened, hospitals flooded. The French Interior Ministry says it's proving difficult to get a precise tally of the dead and injured and the death toll could rise. The tropical cyclone also affected the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar off the east coast of Africa. Mayotte was colonized in 1843 and chose to remain a part of France in a 1974 referendum when the Comoros Islands declared independence. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. This is NPR News in Washington. One of the earliest tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments is going up for auction at Sotheby's this coming Wednesday. NPR's Jason DeRose reports the auction house is estimating

bids could reach two million dollars. The two-foot tall marble tablet dates from as early as the fourth century. According to Sotheby's, workers unearthed it in 1913, just south of Tel Aviv during railroad construction. For several decades, it served as a paving stone in a home until someone discovered what the text actually was. The 115-pound tablet includes the well-known prohibitions against murder and adultery. However, it's missing the commandment about not taking God's name in vain. The inscription also says, to worship God on Mount Gerizim, near what's now the city of Nablus.

Scholars say that means the object was likely used by Samaritans rather than Jews or Christians. Jason DeRose, NPR News. The Internal Revenue Service this week announced that it has recovered $4.7 billion in back taxes and payments related to a variety of crimes since Democrats delivered a funding boost to the agency two years ago. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel credited improvements made to the agency for its accomplishments and said the incoming administration would be well positioned to succeed. But all that could take a different turn. The GOP, which will control

Congress and the White House in the new year, has long called for rescinding tens of billions of dollars in IRS funding and has promised a reckoning when they're in power. The current IRS commissioner's term is slated to expire in 2027. I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.