NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2024 2PM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

NPR News: 12-18-2024 2PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Oh, oh, oh, 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 plus 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 dot NPR dot org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The U.S. Supreme Court is stepping into the TikTok debate. NPR's Bobby Allen reports the High Court has agreed to review whether a law that could

ban the app next month is constitutional. The Supreme Court has accepted TikTok's emergency motion to review a law President Biden signed in April. The law bans TikTok nationwide unless it is sold to a non-Chinese company. It is meant to address lawmakers' national security concerns over possible Chinese influence. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court affirmed the ban law, saying it actually protects free speech by preventing an adversarial government from censoring content. But lawyers for TikTok say singling out an app for shutdown used by roughly half of America is an unprecedented

violation of the First Amendment. The High Court will hear arguments on January 10th, nine days before the law is set to take effect. Bobby Allen, NPR News. We've just confirmed the Federal Reserve has lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point as forecasters had expected. It's the central bank's third rate cut since September and should make it cheaper to borrow money to buy a car, expand a business, or carry a balance on your credit card. House Speaker Mike Johnson's facing backlash from other Republican lawmakers for supporting the latest stopgap measure that keeps federal agencies funded through mid-March. According to Politico mogul Elon Musk, whom President-elect Trump recently appointed to

help lead a government efficiency commission, wrote on X, the bill should not pass. That would lead to a government shutdown. Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, defends the bill as one that would support President-elect Trump's agenda when he returns to office. The leader of opposition forces in Syria says all rebel factions in the country are being dissolved. NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi reports from Damascus. The announcement follows the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by the rebels less than two weeks ago. The leader of Haia al-Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led the revolt against former President

Bashar al-Assad, said fighters from different factions will unite under the Syrian Ministry of Defense. Ahmed al-Sharq, formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, made the comments while visiting the Druze community on Tuesday. The forces that toppled the regime were made up of a number of rebel groups, some backed by foreign countries like Turkey. Shar'a did not detail how this unification would be accomplished. He also called on all Syrians in the country and abroad to help rebuild Syria, all as, quote, team players.

Shar'a remains a designated terrorist by the United States. Hadil Alshalchi, NPR News, Damascus. US stocks are trading lower this hour. The Dow is actually up at 61 points. The S&P is down four points and the NASDAQ is down eight points. You're listening to NPR News. The New York Times reports CIA Director William Burns had arrived in Qatar today as one of the major players in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. The agency's intelligence chief was widely expected to meet with Qatar's prime minister in Doha.

The US had dispatched multiple top envoys to the Middle East, recently citing key developments in the region. The Russian security services in Uzbek national carried out this week's deadly attack on a top general. A source from Ukraine's security service confirmed to NPR that it was behind it. On Monday, Ukraine indicted the Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirilov in absentia for allegedly using banned chemical weapons during Russia's invasion. Researchers have learned more about why some fish and lizards can regenerate their hearing

and why humans and other adult mammals cannot. NPR's Jessica Young has details. If an adult mammal damages its hearing, it will be lost forever. But if a zebrafish's hearing is damaged, it can regenerate the cells needed in the inner ear to bring that hearing back. Scientists at the University of Southern California have done one of the first cross-species analyses of inner ear cells to understand why, comparing adult mice who cannot restore hearing to two species that can, zebrafish and green anole lizards. In the paper published in PNAS, researchers have identified the key parts of the DNA that give some

animals this ability. Researchers say those key parts exist in mice and humans, too, and if they can be tweaked, the authors hope that one day they can eventually reverse some kinds of deafness in people. Jessica Young, NPR News. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.