NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2024 12PM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

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Ho, ho, ho! 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+. 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.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Reports of drone sightings over New Jersey and other parts of the Northeastern U.S. are going viral on social media and people are worried about it. But Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says the federal government is, quote, on it.

Here's NPR's Luke Gehrig. Luke Gehrig, NPR's Secretary Mayorkas confirmed drone sightings are happening during an interview with ABC News Sunday. Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of Defense There's no question that people are seeing drones. He said a recent Federal Aviation Administration rule change that allows drones to fly at night might explain the increase in sightings. Regardless, Mayorkas said the federal government is helping New Jersey police deal with the

drones and the concern they are creating, but that all the drones his team has looked into have been domestic. We know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast, and we are vigilant in investigating this matter. In a social media post on Friday, President-elect Trump said the drones should be shot down if the government can't explain what's going on. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. A short time ago at a news conference, President-elect Trump said that the U.S. military should tell

people what's happening with the drones. The former president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is speaking out for the first time since he fled to Russia. Insurgents overthrew his authoritarian government nearly two weeks ago. In a new post on Telegram, Assad says his, quote, departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles. The Assad Syrian leader accuses Syria's rivals of spreading misinformation that he says is aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.

Palestinian security forces are conducting a major raid against militants in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Here's NPR's Danielle Estrin. Danielle Estrin This is the first major Palestinian security raid against militants in the West Bank in years. It's an ongoing week-long campaign in the Jenin refugee camp, a long-time hub for militant groups. Palestinian security forces have killed a militant leader from the Islamic Jihad group,

as well as a 19-year-old Palestinian civilian. Residents in the Jenin refugee camp recently staged protests against the crackdown, where militants have support for their attacks on Israel. Officials and analysts say the Palestinian security forces trained and equipped by the US are trying to prove they are a capable police force able to take control of Gaza after the war and run a state, a message Palestinian officials want to send to the incoming Trump administration. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. A top A to New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned yesterday amid a federal

corruption investigation into the mayor's administration. Adams' office says Ingrid Lewis Martin's departure was a planned retirement. Earlier this year, Manhattan investigators seized Lewis Martin's phones and searched her home. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 32 points, S&P is up 22, the Nasdaq is up 180 points. This is NPR. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates when policymakers meet this week. But as NPR's Scott Horsley tells us, there's less certainty about what will happen to borrowing costs in 2025. Fed policymakers hold their last meeting of the year this week. Another quarter point

cut in interest rates is considered a near certainty, but investors will be listening to what Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues have to say about next year. On average, members of the Fed's rate setting committee were projecting back in September that rates would drop by another full percentage point in 2025. Those future rate cuts could be scaled back, however, if inflation turns out to be more stubborn than expected. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Saturday night at the Broadway musical, and Juliette was a night to remember. Supreme Court Justice Katanji Brown Jackson was in the show. No other Supreme Court Justice did that before.

Here's Jeff London. Before a packed crowd, Justice Jackson performed a few scenes, did choreography, and even sang a short solo. He wrote to an endless love. performed a few scenes, did choreography, and even sang a short solo. He wrote to an endless love. As Jackson described in her book Lovely One, in her Harvard application, she wrote it was her dream of, quote, becoming the first black female Supreme Court justice to appear on a Broadway stage. While she studied at Harvard, she was a scene partner with Matt Damon.

Justice Jackson played a newly created role, Queen Mab, in the Shakespeare-themed show and was interviewed on stage afterwards by Gayle King. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. This is NPR.