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

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

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There are celebrity interview shows and then there's Wild Card. It's a podcast from NPR that the New York Times just named as one of the 10 best of 2024. It's hosted by me, Rachel Martin. I ask guests like Issa Rae and Bo and Yang, revealing questions like, what's a place you consider sacred? Has ambition ever led you astray? And I'm telling you, it is such a good time. Listen to Wild Card wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua-Helisa Icautau. It's one of the busiest

travel times of the year and federal employees, including air traffic controllers and TSA agents, are bracing for a partial government shutdown at midnight. House Republicans rejected a revised funding bill because of criticism by President-elect Donald Trump. White House Press Secretary Corrine Jean-Pierre says there's still time for Congress to prevent this. Republicans blew up this deal. They did. And they need to fix this, period. She says President Biden is getting regular updates from congressional members on the negotiations. Here's Florida Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz speaking to reporters earlier this

morning. Elon Musk and Vivek have come up here and spent a lot of time talking to the Republicans. And these are very smart gentlemen. I think what they should take from yesterday is that nothing on a budgetary basis is going to pass here without the Democrats. So perhaps the next time they come to D.C. they should meet with us. Thank you." Conservative Republicans said the latest bill simply did not reduce enough federal spending.

Federal regulators are extending temporary flight restrictions on drones to 30 locations in New York State. The latest restrictions come amid a flurry of drone sightings across the northeast that have raised concerns, as NPR's Jill Rose reports. The Federal Aviation Administration is temporarily barring drone flights over critical infrastructure at 30 locations across New York. The move comes a day after the FAA announced similar restrictions at more than 20 locations in New Jersey.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul says the latest restrictions are purely precautionary and that there are no threats to any of the sites across New York City and its suburbs. Federal authorities say they've received thousands of tips from the public, but many of the objects that have been reported in the skies were actually legal drones, commercial or private planes, and in some cases stars. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. A U.S. diplomatic delegation is in the Syrian capital, Damascus, meeting with the interim government,

which overthrew the Assad regime just under two weeks ago. And Piers Hadil al-Shalchi has more. The U.S. State Department says the diplomatic delegation discussed, quote, transition principles with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS which makes up the interim Syrian government. It said they also discussed the importance of fighting against ISIS. HTS has roots in Al Qaeda and some factions that made up the rebel forces which toppled former President Bashar al-Assad had ties to ISIS.

HTS is a designated terrorist organization by the US. No additional information was given on what it would take for the U.S. to drop that designation. The State Department also said the delegation sought more information about the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice. Hadil Alshalchi, NPR News, Damascus. And you are listening to NPR News from New York City. One of President Joe Biden's last international trips before he leaves office in January will be to Italy's Vatican City to meet with Pope Francis. This will be their third in-person visit since Biden took office in 2021.

Francis first visited with Biden and his family in 2015 after the loss of Biden's son Bo, who died of brain cancer at the age of 46. The president will also meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney. Australia recently banned children under age 16 from accessing social media. Now officials are advising tech companies to plan for an age verification law, as inPR's Bobby Allen reports. Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and other social media apps now have to confirm a user's age under Australia's new law to prevent children under 16 from logging on. Violating companies can pay fines up to $50 million. The country's e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant told NPR

in an interview that social media should be treated in Australia like water safety. She says decades ago there was a spate of fatal drownings in swimming pools, so the country passed fencing requirements. But we don't try and fence the ocean because that's futile. What we do is we teach our children to swim at the youngest age, just like we need to teach them digital literacy. Grant says the aim of the law is to keep children away from the addictive design features of social media.

Some apps, like gaming and messaging platforms, will be exempted. Bobbi Allen, NPR News. New reporting by NPR indicates that the Louisiana Department of Health is quietly implementing a policy to stop promotions of available vaccines. This is NPR.