NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-15-2024 8AM 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 Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. 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 in Syria

it says is necessary to ensure its security since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. NPR's Carrie Cohn 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. The United Nations envoy for Syria is calling for a quick end to Western sanctions. Gere Patterson spoke to reporters during a visit to Damascus today to meet with officials

from the new interim government set up by opposition forces. ABC News and its parent company, will pay $15 million dollars imposed in apology to settle a defamation suit filed by President-elect Donald Trump. Early this year, George Stephanopoulos repeatedly asserted that Trump had been found liable for rape. NPR's David Focumflick reports that a civil jury instead found Trump liable for sexual abuse. Back in March, Stephanopoulos was pushing his guest, a US representative who was herself raped as a young woman, on why she would support Trump. He incorrectly referred to a court verdict from last year, in which a jury found that

Trump was liable for sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll, but not rape. The judge in that case said what transpired as determined by the jury fit the commonly understood definition of rape, but not the narrow one under New York state law. ABC will pay the $15 million to a foundation for Trump that's typically used to fund a presidential library and a million dollars for Trump's legal costs. Both Trump and Stephanopoulos were to be questioned under oath for Trump's defamation suit in coming days. David Folkenflick, NPR News.

Police in Houston, Texas are seeking help from the public in the search for a suspect in a mass shooting late last night that left two teenagers dead and three others wounded. We don't have a lot of information. We'd like anybody who was here to call Crime Stoppers if they can. Assistant Police Chief Luis Menendez says the shooting happened at what he called a pop-up club at an empty business that was crowded with teenagers. The dead include a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old.

One person is in critical condition. This is NPR News. The damage on the French territory of Maillot in the Indian Ocean is said to be catastrophic. At least 11 people are now reported dead after cyclone Cheadle slammed Maillot. There are fears the death toll will increase. The storm is believed to be the strongest to hit the islands in more than 90 years. France is deploying rescuers and firefighters to the island and supplies are being rushed in on military aircraft and ships.

Cheadle is now battering Mozambique on the African mainland. Pope Francis is visiting the French island of Corsica today, where he offered prayers for the victims of the cyclone. Francis has tripped his first papal visit to the island and will include a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. One of the earliest tablets inscribed with the 10 commandments is going up for auction at Sotheby's on Wednesday. NPR's Jason DeRose reports that the auction house is estimating that bids could reach $2 million.

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. And I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington.