NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-20-2024 2AM EST

Episode Date: December 20, 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. Congress is getting closer to a government shutdown after House Republicans failed to pass a GOP-led funding measure. As NPR's Claudia Grisalej reports, the Stop Gap bill was crafted after President-elect

Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk tanked an earlier bipartisan agreement. The new House Republican bill drafted without input from Democrats failed with 38 Republicans joining Democrats in voting against it. The measure needed a two-thirds majority to pass under an expedited process after House GOP leaders crafted the plan in the last day. The failure leaves lawmakers back at the drawing board with the shutdown deadline looming at the end of the day on Friday.

Senate and House Democrats blasted Republicans for reneging on a bipartisan compromise funding plan reached earlier this week. The House Republicans who helped tank the new proposal said it violated traditional Republican goals of cutting spending and reducing the deficit. Claudia Desalas, NPR News. Authorities have named the student and teacher killed in the mass shooting at a Christian

school on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin. NPR's Meg Anderson has more. According to the Dane County Medical Examiner's Office, the two who were killed were both pronounced dead at the scene. Forty-two-year-old Erin West was the school's substitute coordinator. According to her obituary, she was the mother of three daughters. She's described as enjoying camping with her family and going to sports games at the school.

Fourteen-year-old Ruby Vergara was a freshman at the school. Her obituary describes her as an avid reader who loved art, singing, and playing the keyboard. She's described as having a special bond with her cat Ginger and her dog Coco. The shooter was also a student. She apparently turned the gun on herself that day. Meg Anderson, NPR News.

Meg Whalen-Reed, NPR News. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging Israel to halt airstrikes on Syria, calling them a violation of territorial integrity. In remarks to the Security Council, Guterres said that conditions have stabilized in parts of Syria, but that the conflict there is far from over. There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than UN peacekeepers, period. And those peacekeepers must have freedom of movement to undertake their important work. Israel and Syria must uphold the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement,

which remains fully in force. Scuterre says progress in Syria since the fall of dictator Assad will unravel if the situation is not managed carefully by Syrians with help from the international community. This is NPR News. French President Emmanuel Macron has extended his visit to the Indian Ocean Archipelago of Mayotte, where a cyclone left a trail of destruction earlier in the week. France's Interior Ministry says the storm killed at least 31 people, injured some 2,500 others there, while claiming dozens more lives in mainland Mozambique.

A French freight train collided with a tractor-trailer in the West Texas city of Peekus Thursday, killing two people and injuring three others. Authorities say the train was hauling hazardous materials, but none were released during the crash, and a leak of diesel fuel was contained. The cause of the collision is under investigation. Peekus is situated about an hour northwest of Fort Stockton. In Philadelphia, lawmakers have authorized the construction of a new basketball arena in the heart of the city. WHYY's Aaron Moselle has the tales.

More than two years after the team announced the controversial project, the billion-dollar arena is set to be built on top of a busy train station in a section of the city's downtown that has struggled to thrive for decades. Regina Hairston leads the African American Chamber of Commerce. She says the arena is desperately needed to revive Market East. You cannot grow without investment. We all see how this corridor looks.

It is empty, it is blighted and businesses are leaving every day." Opponents say the arena represents an existential threat for nearby Chinatown. The facility is scheduled to open in 2031. For NPR News, I'm Aaron Mozzel in Philadelphia. This is NPR News.