NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-17-2024 1AM EST

Episode Date: December 17, 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 Shae Stevens. Police in Madison, Wisconsin have identified a 15-year-old student they believe was the person who fatally shot two people and injured six others at a Christian school there on Monday.

Chuck Kornbach of Member Station WUWM has more. Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes has identified the shooter as Natalie Rupnow. Barnes says he doesn't know why the 15-year-old opened fire inside a late morning study hall at Abundant Life Christian School or how Rupnow obtained a handgun. But Barnes says Rupnow's parents are cooperating with investigators at a very difficult time. This has been a rough day for our city. This has been a sad day. This is going to be a day that will be etched in the collective minds and memories of all

those from Madison. Barnes credits a second grader at the school for making the first 911 call that brought law enforcement to the building. Police say Ruppnau was found with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting the others and died on the way to a hospital. For NPR News, I'm Chuck Quirmbach in Milwaukee. President-elect Donald Trump says he would consider pardoning Eric Adams if the embattled New York City mayor is indicted and convicted of the illegal activity.

Trump also dismissed any notion that the United States would no longer have the polio vaccine. He made those remarks to reporters gathered Monday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. At their final Hanukkah celebration at the White House, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden expressed their unwavering support for Israel. Biden said the trauma of the October 2023 attack on Israel is still raw and that he remains committed to getting all of the hostages in Gaza home. I know this year's Hanukkah falls on the hearts that are still very heavy. It's the second Hanukkah since the horrors of October 7th. Over a thousand slaughtered, hundreds taken hostage. Biden told those gathered

to shine the light of optimism and to keep the faith. The European Union says it held talks with Syria's new leadership. As Terri Schulz reports, they discussed conditions for lifting sanctions. EU foreign policy chief Gaia Khalis says she sent a top diplomat to meet with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the Islamist group now in power in Damascus, to begin discussions with the 27-member bloc. Khalis says it's too early to say whether sanctions can be lifted based on the behavior of HTS, but she's working to get all member countries on the same page. We need to have the plan ready when we see the steps, then we also are ready to act positively

in this regard. The steps she mentioned include respect for minority and women's rights and ensuring there's not a civil war between different ethnic and religious groups. Kallis also said some ministers are demanding Syria remove all Russian influence in the country. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. This is NPR. Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnoff is pleaded guilty to lying about a phony bribery

scheme involving President Biden and his son Hunter. Smirnov admits fabricating a story that a Ukrainian energy company paid the Bidens millions of dollars during the 2015 campaign. The allegation led to a series of investigations until the case was closed in August 2020. 44-year-old Smirnov is scheduled for sentencing in January. The new Marvel movie Craven the Hunter set an undesirable record at the box office over the weekend. And Piers Bob Mandello has details.

So it turns out Craven's dad was right. He is weak like his mother. Leave him. The character recovers, but his movie won't. With an opening of barely $11 million for the weekend, The character recovers, but his movie won't. With an opening of barely $11 million for the weekend, Craven the Hunter, which cost more than $100 million to make, now has the record for the lowest opening ever for a Marvel movie.

The film had been sitting on the shelf through much of the pandemic, and was probably not helped by the decision to open it in early December, traditionally a rough box office period. Not rough for Wicked or Moana though, each of which more than doubled Craven's box office take for the weekend. Bob Mandelo, NPR News. U.S. copyrights on some iconic characters,

including Popeye the Sailor and other works of art will expire January 1st. That's when creations from 1929 will enter the public domain, allowing their unrestricted use by anyone. Ernest Hemingway's novel, Farewell to Arms, and William Faulkner's The Sound of Fury are also on the list.

Early films from Alfred Hitchcock and those starring Mickey Mouse entered the public domain last year. This is him. This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you. For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing... To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters,

there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law to get the materials that you need. If not break it. Yeah. To break international laws. Real life stories, really good ones. This American Life.