NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-15-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua-Halisa Icautau. The U.S. is in direct talks with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime last week. And Piers-Lea Lafondel is in Damascus. She says people are celebrating, but... Within this happiness, there is grief because so many thousands and thousands and thousands of people disappeared during this 14-year civil war that started as peaceful demonstrations, was met with violence and turned into civil war.

And so they're searching for their loved ones. They're missing, that went to prison, and they don't know where they are. Some are finding bodies, some are finding nothing, and the really lucky ones are finding their people broken but alive. And so those searches continue for so much of the city. And it's also a city that's holding its breath about what may come next because the new authorities are unknown to them. And Piers Liedl final reporting. This Monday is the 80th anniversary of one of the fiercest

fights in World War II, the Battle of the Bulge, when German soldiers attacked American troops in freezing temperatures, hoping to launch a counteroffensive against Allied forces. An estimated 20,000 Americans were killed. Some of the survivors, now in their 90s or older, traveled to Bastogne, Belgium and Luxembourg to mark the historic moment that ultimately led to the end of the war and Adolf Hitler's defeat. World War II veteran David Marshall, who is 100, told the publication Stars and Stripes, he wants people to remember not only what they went through, but what it was all for. The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO has hired a high-profile former prosecutor with a history of prosecuting violent crimes where mental health played a key role.

And Pierce Juliana Kim reports. Karen Friedman-Egnefilo will represent Luigi Mangione in defending against murder charges related to the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. Friedman-Egnefilo was a prosecutor for much of her career. She was second in command at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office where she prosecuted violent crimes, including those that had a mental health component, according to her law firm's bio. She currently works in private practice, and it happens to be the same law firm representing Sean Diddy Combs against criminal charges of sex

trafficking and racketeering. Mangione is currently held in Pennsylvania without bail. He is scheduled to appear in a preliminary hearing in Pennsylvania on December 23rd. Juliana Kim, NPR News. The new acting president of South Korea, Han Deok-su, held talks with President Biden on Sunday, less than 24 hours after lawmakers there voted to impeach President Yoon Seok-yul for declaring martial law 12 days ago, Han spoke to Biden about their shared defense posture against North Korea.

You're listening to NPR News. About half of a population of seabirds in Alaska died during a recent marine heat wave, according to a new study. And researchers are calling it the largest single species die-off in recorded modern history. Sophia Stewart Rossi of Member Station KUCB reports. Scientists say about four million common meres starved to death in Alaska during a two-year warming event that began a decade ago.

An underwater heat dome known as the Blob disrupted the seabird's marine food web in the North Pacific Ocean, and research shows the population may not ever fully recover. About a quarter of the world's population of the Common Mur used to live in Alaska before this event. Scientists say this seabird could now be more vulnerable to predators, representing a lasting change in the ecosystem. Scientists say this die-off is an example of how human-caused climate change can lead to rapid and permanent damage to wildlife. For NPR News, I'm Sophia Stewart Rossi in Unalaska, Alaska. The White House says the drones that have been spotted over New Jersey,

New York and other northeastern states have no known evidence of foreign or nefarious activity, and appears Defa Shivaram reports. Officials from the FBI, Homeland Security and the FAA said Saturday that they share public concern about the drones, but also think there has been some overreaction from the public. Officials said they're working with New Jersey State Police and other entities like the Coast Guard as they investigate. They also established a tip line that resulted in 5,000 tips, but less than 100 that they say was worth looking into. You're listening to NPR News. I'm Dua-Helisa Icautel.