NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-21-2024 11AM EST

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

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Donald Trump promised to change Washington, D.C., a place where there's an old saying that personnel is policy. That's why we have created a new podcast called Trump's Terms, where you can follow NPR's coverage of the incoming Trump administration, from his cabinet secretaries to political advisors and top military leaders, to understand who they are, what they believe, and how they'll govern. Listen to Trump's terms from NPR. Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua-Helisa Icautau. The Senate has approved the House

passed Stop Gap funding bill, avoiding a midnight shutdown and keeping the government running until March. The passage capped a tumultuous week on Capitol Hill, as NPR's Susan Davis reports. The slimmed-down agreement includes key provisions of the original bipartisan deal derailed by President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire businessman Elon Musk. It'll keep the government running until March 14th when Congress will have to do this all

over again. The bill includes about $100 billion for natural disaster recovery efforts and a one-year extension of federal farm programs. House Republicans rejected Trump's attempt to strong arm into the deal an unconditional increase in the debt ceiling, the nation's borrowing limit, although he did succeed in removing from the final agreement the first pay raise for lawmakers in 16 years. Susan Davis, NPR News, Washington. At least 16 people were killed in Germany's eastern city of Magdeburg.

Correction there. Officials there are continuing to collect evidence to try and learn the motive behind why a 50 year old Saudi psychiatrist drove into a Christmas market killing at least five people and injuring more than 200. From Berlin, Rebecca Collard has the latest on comments by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He talked about solidarity with the victims, solidarity with the city, solidarity with Germans as a whole. And he said, of course, it's important that Germans not be divided by hate, but instead be united. You know, the chancellor said he also had received messages of support from around the world. And he said that an investigation is being carried out

and that it is important to understand how this attack happened and also its motivation. In Israel at least 16 people were injured after a missile hit Tel Aviv early today and Pires Kerry Khan reports authorities there say the projectile was fired from Yemen and that it is air defense system was unable to insert to intercept it. This is the second time in the past week that missiles were fired into central Israel from Yemen's Houthi militants. Unlike those fired two days ago,

the latest managed to pass through Israel's air defense system and landed in a Tel Aviv suburb. More than a dozen people suffered minor injuries from falling shrapnel, according to Israeli health officials. Yemen's armed forces said it had successfully hit a military target. The missile landed in an empty playground.

Houthi militants packed by Iran have fired missiles into Israel and attacked ships in the Red Sea for more than a year. Israeli officials have in return struck sites in Yemen. They recently warned Houthi leaders they will be targeted if strikes continue. Keri Khan in PR News, Tel Aviv. The U.S. flu season is underway. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its flu monitoring data and noted sharp increases in several measures, including at least 13 states.

You're listening to NPR News. History will be made in women's college volleyball on Sunday when Penn State takes on the University of Louisville. There's never been a woman who's been the head coach of an NCAA Division I women's volleyball champion. Greg Eklund has more from Louisville. In each of the Thursday night semifinals, the team coached by a woman defeated an opponent led by a man.

The Louisville Cardinals upset number one ranked Pittsburgh and Penn State knocked off the NCAA runner up last year, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Though Nebraska lost, Huskers coach John Cook says he's happy that history will be made. They both were great players. They both won national championships. So this isn't like a fluke. I mean, these guys are winners and they're tough and they're great competitors and their teams play like it.

Louisville coach Danny Busboom Kelly played at Nebraska and Katie Schumacher Colley is coaching her alma mater at Penn State. For NPR News, I'm Greg Eklund in Lowellville. In Ukraine's central Kyiv, cleanup continues after Russia launched ballistic missile strikes there yesterday. Missile debris damaged a number of embassies, businesses, including a Holiday Inn, homes and a Roman Catholic church. At the same time, local media and the Institute for the Study of War report that Ukrainian forces conducted their first-ever ground attack using only robotic equipment, including unmanned ground vehicles with machine guns and drones with first-person view capabilities that's just north of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv.

This is NPR News from New York.