NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2024 7AM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

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Ottergraf Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at ottergrafcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. Israel says it's closing its embassy in Ireland because of what the Israeli Foreign Minister calls anti-Israel policies. Ireland is one of the most pro-Palestinian countries in Europe, if not the world, as NPR's Lauren Fraher reports. Many Irish identify with the Palestinian cause, relating it to their own history of occupation by the British.

Last spring, Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state, and last week it said it's joining a genocide case against Israel at the United Nations top court. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says he considers Ireland's actions anti-Semitic, rooted in efforts to quote, de-legitimize and demonize the Jewish state. He says he's ordered the closure of Israel's embassy in Dublin and will focus on relations with other countries instead. Ireland's Taoiseach, or Prime Minister Simon Harris, calls the move deeply regrettable. He says Ireland isn't anti-Israel.

It's pro-peace, pro-human rights, and pro-international law, he says. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. ABC News and its parent company, Disney, will pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit with President-elect Trump. Earlier this year, ABC host George Stephanopoulos incorrectly asserted in an interview Trump had been found liable for rape. Last year, a New York jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse but not rape. The judge said at the time what happened fit the commonly understood definition of rape,

but not the narrow one under New York law. NPR's David Falkenfleck reports some expected Stephanopoulos and ABC to clarify the remarks at trial, but instead they settled. Well, it remains a mystery why they didn't clarify, but why did they settle? They say they're happy to be past it. We don't know exactly, but this is a major amount of money, particularly for a public figure. It also comes at a time as a number of news organizations and a number of owners and leaders of news organizations appear trying to make peace with Trump. You think of the killed endorsements of Vice President Harris in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington

Post. A top executive over ABC News was seen at Mar-a-Lago meeting with a key incoming figure in the new Trump administration. NPR's David Falkenfleck reporting. Sales of electric vehicles went up by around 10% in November, according to Cox Automotive. NPR's Kamila Domenosky has more. EV sales have gone up, but not spiked as much as you might think. Used EV dealer Alex Lawrence in Utah says that's because for every shopper racing to snag these tax credits,

There are still many, many, many, many, many more people that don't even know this exists. The federal tax credits are worth up to four grand for used cars and up to $7,500 for new vehicles. And buyers can get that discount upfront at the time of purchase, even use it as a down payment. The future of the credit is uncertain. It would require an act of Congress to completely eliminate it. But the Trump administration could also just make it harder to get.

Kamila Domenosky, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Officials in Rhode Island say hackers could release the private data of many state residents as early as this week. Saboteurs broke into the online portal Rhode Islanders use for health and human services benefits. That includes Medicaid, food stamps, and long-term care for disabilities. Rhode Island's governor says the hackers are demanding a ransom.

The state's online portal has been shut down. Pope Francis is remembering migrants who have died in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe. And Biers Eleanor Beardsley reports on the pope's visit to the island of Corsica. The pope's visit was one of the briefest outside Italy, lasting just nine hours. It included a 40 minute meeting

with French president Emmanuel Macron. The pope also met with Corsica's oldest citizen, 108-year-old Jeannette Marie. It was broadcast on French television. -"Une émotion sensationnelle!" -"It's a sensational emotion," she said. I would have never thought I'd meet the Pope at my age. The Pope spoke of the importance

of taking care of old people and children. He also said the tragedy of migration has turned the Mediterranean into Europe's largest cemetery. Eleanor Beardsley in Pierre News, Paris. Tropical cyclone Chito has lost significant strength after making landfall in the eastern African nation of Mozambique, but first smashed the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Authorities in that French territory say at least 14 people have been killed, but they fear that the death toll could be hundreds more. I'm Korva Kuhlman, NPR News.