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

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

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Louise Schiavone, NPR News in Washington. I'm Louise Schiavone. Syria's new de facto leader is calling for diplomatic solutions over conflict with neighboring Israel. Israel continues to launch airstrikes in Syria and is occupying a military outpost there. NPR's Kary Kahn reports. The Syrian rebel leader who goes by the name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani says his country does not want conflict with Israel. Speaking to Syrian state media, he said there are no excuses for any

foreign intervention now and accuses Israel of quote using false pretexts to justify its continued presence in and attacks on Syria. Israel has taken up positions inside a demilitarized zone between the Israeli occupied Golan Heights and Syria. Military officials say troops will stay through winter. Sunday, Israel's defense minister said recent developments in Syria increased the severity of the threat despite what he called the seemingly moderate facade that rebel leaders claim to present.

Carrie Khan, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says he spoke last night with President-elect Trump about what he called the need to complete Israel's victory. Netanyahu said Israel would not back down from disrupting terror activities and weapons supply routes through Syria. Federal officials say there's nothing to fear, but state and local officials in the Northeast are calling for more action on drone sightings. NPR's Ava Pukac reports.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul says federal partners are deploying a, quote, state-of-the-art drone detection system to the state. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer explained how that technology works. We're asking the DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, to deploy special detection systems like the Robin, which use not a linear line of sight, but 360-degree technology that has a much better chance of detecting these drones. Drone activity Friday night temporarily shut down a New York airport.

Drone sightings have been going on for weeks. Ava Pukac and PR News. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week meets with senators to defend his nomination as Health and Human Services Secretary. This amid reports that his personal lawyer once lobbied the FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports that is 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 and PR is Franco or done as reporting from Washington this is NPR news one tree weather is taking a toll in parts of the U.S. In upstate New York, more than 33 inches of snow fell near Orchard Park. An ice storm created treacherous driving conditions in the upper Midwest. More than a foot of snow fell in Lake Tahoe. And one of the more unexpected developments was a tornado that touched down 70 miles south of San Francisco

yesterday. Forecaster Moshe Kabetov with the National Weather Service explained. The weather pattern at the time was definitely conducive to the formation of the tornadoes that occurred. Unusually warm SSTs paired with a low pressure system coming ashore yesterday afternoon definitely contributed to that. A low pressure system that's on the move in the coming days is expected to deliver snow in the upper Midwest, upper Great Lakes, and in the short term in the Rockies. At the box office this weekend the top

of the charts went to Moana 2 which added 26.6 million to its domestic total in its third weekend, with its global tally now $717 million. Also still dazzling audiences... This Wicked Wretch. Wicked was number two at the box office, making $22.5 million in its fourth weekend, now grossing over $500 million worldwide. I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.