NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2024 8AM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 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 Korova Coleman. Later today, President Biden plans to honor former Labor Secretary Frances Perkins by declaring her home in Maine as a national monument. As NPR's Franco Ordoñez reports, Perkins was the first woman to serve in a presidential

cabinet-level position. President Biden will sign a proclamation establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in New Castle, Maine. Perkins served as Labor Secretary under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was the leading architect behind the New Deal that helped Americans recover and return to work following the Great Depression.

Perkins helped create social security, fought for workers' rights to organize, as well as establish the minimum wage and prohibitions on child labor. The White House says the new monument advances Biden's commitment to greater recognition of women's history. Owned by her family for more than 270 years, the Perkins Homestead includes the family home, known as the Brick House, a barn, gardens and part of a stone wall surrounding the property. Franco Ordonez, NPR News.

There are still some celebrations in Syria after the downfall of former leader Bashar al-Assad. His sect, the Alawites, dominated the top ranks of the Syrian military. Now there's fear in the Alawite community they could pay a price for that. The new leaders in Syria have told them that they'll be protected. But MPR's Lena Follow says the Alawites in Damascus, too, are still fearful. LENA FOLLOW, MPR, Syria This is a community that had both soldiers in Assad's army and people fighting with the rebels. They've bled in this country's civil war on both sides. The community was also targeted with bombings by extremists,

including in this neighborhood. So there's definitely apprehension and concern that they'll become scapegoats, but they hope that fear is just that, fear of the unknown. And Piers Leila followed in Damascus, Syria. Israeli airstrikes across Gaza have killed more than 150 people over the past three days, according to Gaza's health ministry. And Piers Ea Batraoui reports the attacks included several strikes on schools, sheltering displaced people.

An attack Friday on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed a mother and her two-day-old baby girl, among others, the Health Ministry says. Rescue crews say a late-night attack Saturday on another school in North Gaza killed an estimated 15 people. Video shared by the Health Ministry shows a fire raging in the school after it was bombed as people struggled to reach those inside. In southern Chanyunas, health officials say at least 13 people were killed in a similar attack overnight. A UN aid worker tells NPR she met a teenage girl who'd survived the attack but was among 50 wounded. Her mother was killed.

The Israeli military says that school was being used by Hamas militants, blaming the group for operating inside it. Ayah Batraoui, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. France is rushing emergency supplies and rescue crews to its island territory, Maillot, in the Indian Ocean, not far from Madagascar. Maillot was hit by a powerful cyclone on Saturday. At least 14 people have been killed, but damage is so catastrophic it's feared hundreds of

people may have died. Some Irish pubs in the UK have run out of Guinness beer this week at the start of the holiday season. And Beerslawn Frayer has more from London. Earlier this month, the company that owns and distributes Guinness, Diageo, put a cap on the amount individual pubs in England, Scotland and Wales can order. Diageo says it's seen exceptional demand amid recent international rugby tournaments and in the lead up to the holidays.

It says it's working proactively with customers to manage distribution as efficiently as possible. Nevertheless, Irish pubs in Liverpool, Durham and Leicester have all reported running dry. Another pub here in London says it's issuing ration cards to customers, requiring them to order two other drinks first before they can even ask for a Guinness. Shortages have not been reported in Guinness's homeland of Ireland, though, where Diageo has separate supply chains. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. In the U.S., federal officials continue to say there is no security threat

as people continue to report drone sightings in the Northeast. But they still don't know where many of them came from or who is responsible. New Jersey state police will get federal help to address the drone sightings. New York's governor says her state is also getting a drone detection system from the federal government. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.