NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-15-2024 3AM EST

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwahlees Ikaotel. In Tel Aviv, thousands of protesters continue to call on their government to work for the immediate release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Here's Nama Weinberg, a cousin of the late hostage, Ite Swirsky, addressing the crowd.

It is unthinkable that political considerations are preventing us from reuniting with our loved ones and keeping our hostages from their freedom. The Israeli public wants the hostages home, even at the cost of ending the war. Another speaker reminded the public that it has been too long, saying there are 100 people waiting to come home for the holidays. Meanwhile, in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes continued this weekend, the health ministry there said the death toll is nearing 45,000. Rebel fighters in Syria have been uncovering huge stockpiles

of the illegal amphetamine, Captagon, in various warehouses across the Syrian capital. President Bashar al-Assad's family and associates profited from the manufacturing and trade of Captagon, turning Syria into one of the world's biggest narco states. And Piers Hadil al-Shalchi visited one of these drug warehouses. I'm standing in what was probably the living room of this fancy luxury villa overlooking the Damascus countryside.

But the smell in here is so strong. It smells of chemicals. Stacked behind me to the ceiling are these drums of chemicals that were used for the Captagon. And there's also these stacks that look like flower bags. But again, they have the chemicals that are used to make Captagon. There are all these heavy duty machinery also used to make the drug in a very incongruous setting with these chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. And the end product was Captagon, these tiny pills that propped up the Syrian economy under Bashar al-Assad.

And Piaz Hadil al-Shalchi reporting from Damascus. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has undergone hip replacement in Luxembourg, a day after falling during an official engagement with a congressional delegation. And Piaz Amy Held reports. Pelosi's surgery Saturday to replace her hip was successful and she is well on the mend according to her spokesman. She was treated at a US Army Medical Center in Germany near Rammstein Air Base after being hospitalized in Luxembourg. That's where she fell Friday during an official engagement hurting her hip. Sources familiar with the

matter tell the Associated Press. The 84-year-old Pelosi had to cut short her trip with other U.S. lawmakers, marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. This is NPR News from New York. Federal authorities are actively investigating drone sightings in the Northeast and especially in New Jersey and New York. But the FBI on Saturday suggested there has been a slight overreaction to drone sightings. The agency is aware of more than 5,000 drone reports, but added fewer than 100 led to actual investigations. A day earlier, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement about the drone activity, saying, quote, This has gone too far, and she urged the Biden

administration to ensure the safety of critical infrastructure and people. Financial ratings agency Moody's has downgraded France's credit ratings, citing recent political uncertainty, as NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports. Moody's downgraded France's rating, reflecting doubt the new government can turn around the nation's worsening financial situation. Incoming Prime Minister François Bayrou, who says he plans to take on France's spiraling debt, political fragmentation and distrust of government. He's hoping to avoid the same fate as his predecessor.

Outgoing Prime Minister Michel Barnier was applauded at a handover ceremony in Paris Friday. His government lasted only three months after the far right and far left joined forces to bring it down. Bayrou is the fourth prime minister this year. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. One of the last survivors of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor has died. Bob Fernandez died peacefully at his home in Lodon, California.

This is NPR News.