NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-20-2024 5PM EST

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

NPR News: 12-20-2024 5PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ho ho ho! 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.npr.org. NPR.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The House is expected to vote sometime soon on a bill that would fund the government through mid-March. As NPR's Barbara Sprunck explains, it comes just hours before government funding is set

to expire and after previous attempts faltered. The funding package, which also includes disaster aid and funding for farmers, extends federal funding through mid-March and is the last legislative item for the House before it heads home for the holidays. It will not include raising the debt limit, something President-elect Trump demanded earlier this week. Other GOP leaders say the debt limit will be addressed at a later time. The package will still need support from congressional Democrats in order to make it through the Senate and to President Biden's desk

for signature. A shutdown would have large impacts, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and forcing others to work without pay. The White House warned agencies to prepare to close if Congress couldn't avert a shutdown. Barbara Sprint and PR News, Washington. Federal regulators are extending temporary flight restrictions on drones to 30 locations

in New York State. Latest restrictions announced today come amid a flurry of drone sightings across the Northeast that have raised concerns. NPR's Joel 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. The Federal Civil Rights Investigation has found the Philadelphia School District did not do enough in response to alleged anti-Semitic behavior. NPR's Jason DeRose reports the inquiry came after numerous reports from parents and community groups.

The US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights determined that school administrators in Philadelphia didn't adequately respond to complaints of harassment that included students allegedly performing Nazi salutes, drawing swastikas on school property, and making threats against Jewish students. A letter from the Department of Education also details a series of social media posts from a teacher that said, quote, Zionism is racism and that she was, quote, taking the gloves off in response to parents complaining about her. The Philadelphia School District has agreed to, among other things, training for faculty, staff and administrators,

as well as anti-harassment programs for students. Jason DeRose, NPR News. Stocks rallied on Wall Street today after better than expected inflation data. That includes the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge, which rose only modestly last month. The Dow was up 498 points, again to more than 1 percent. The Nasdaq rose 199 points. You're listening to NPR. There is new evidence suggesting ancient people may have arrived in the New World far earlier

than thought. Archaeologists say the latest findings from sites in both North and South America would seem to suggest early people in the Americas may have spent millennia sharing prehistoric savannas and wetlands with giant beasts including mastodons, saber-toothed cats and dire wolves. Trying to say new research methods in recent years have expanded their knowledge into the story of ancient peoples. College football playoffs begin this weekend with a game tonight and three games Saturday. Notre Dame, Texas and Ohio State are all on the docket.

NPR's Becky Sullivan is more. The playoffs kick off with an in-state showdown between Notre Dame and Indiana, both of which only have one loss apiece. Then on Saturday, Texas will take on Clemson and Tennessee will face Ohio State in two of the most anticipated matchups of this round. And the power conference newcomer Southern Methodist will travel to Penn State for the early game. Sitting out this week are four conference champions, all of whom got to skip straight

to the second round. That includes the nation's top overall team, the undefeated Oregon Ducks, and the number two team, hot on their heels, the Georgia Bulldogs. It's the first year of this expanded 12-team playoff. It'll be a full month of games before a team is crowned champion. Becky Sullivan, NPR News. Flu season is now well underway. That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has a total of

13 states last week reporting high or very high levels of flu or flu-like illness. Experts say so far there does not appear to be any dominant flu strain, but they still suggest people get vaccinated during the busy holiday times. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.