NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-21-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 21, 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 autografecollection.com. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. A temporary funding measure to keep the government open is on its way to the White House for President Biden's signature. The Senate passed the measure overnight.

The bill would fund government operations for the next few months and provide more money for disaster aid. The process to get to this point, says NPR's Claudia Grisales, has been a torturous one. Two previous measures, including a bipartisan deal, were both shot down by Republicans earlier this week. That first proposal was weeks in the making, but Johnson backed out after billionaire Elon Musk and then Trump tanked at last minute, sending Johnson and Republicans scrambling. So now this new version cut a lot of those Democratic initiatives that alarmed folks

like Musk and other Republicans. So the cancer research money was taken out. But a key provision that many were worried about, the disaster aid stayed in. That's in Pierce, Claudia Gasalis. In a complex ruling, a Missouri judge has struck down some laws blocking abortion but allowed some others to stand. This comes weeks after voters backed abortion rights on the ballot. As KCUR's Noah Taborda reports, Planned Parenthood leaders say abortions are on hold for now. Missouri's overall abortion ban, one of the strictest in the country, remained on the books even after voters passed an abortion rights amendment to the state constitution.

The judge found the ban is not enforceable. But she is allowing some abortion restrictions to stand. Those include some licensing requirements that Planned Parenthood says still block abortions from taking place. Planned Parenthood says in a statement that it is evaluating its legal options before proceeding. For NPR News, I'm Noah Taborda in Kansas City, Missouri. U.S. diplomats visited Syria on Friday and say they had a good meeting with the country's de facto new ruler.

And they announced that the U.S. would be removing a bounty on its head, as NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. The State Department's top official on the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, says she found the rebel leader who now controls Damascus, Ahmed al-Sharah, to be pragmatic and describes the meeting as productive. And so based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the rewards for justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years. That was a $10 million offer for information leading to his arrest. There are still U.S. sanctions on his rebel movement, and Leaf wasn't making any promises to lift those just yet.

She says Syrians want a government that's committed to human rights after years of dictatorship. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Washington. Workers at some West Coast Starbucks stores have walked off the job. They're upset at what they call a lack of progress and negotiations that began more than seven months ago. The union Workers United said the strike could expand to several hundred stores by Christmas Eve. The walkout began one day after the Teamsters union announced a strike by drivers against several Amazon delivery centers.

You're listening to NPR News. Police in the German city of Magdeburg say at least two people were killed and at least 60 others were injured Friday when a car plowed through a busy Christmas market. Police say it was a deliberate attack. A 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia was arrested in the incident. The car drove into the market around 7 p.m. local time while the area was busy with holiday shoppers. An NPR investigation has learned that staff at the Louisiana Department of Health can no longer promote COVID, flu, or M-Pox immunizations. Reporter Rosemary Westwood with our member station WWNO in New Orleans has our story. Employees learned of the new policy in at least three meetings in October and November, according to four staff members interviewed by NPR.

The sweeping restriction includes a prohibition on vaccine events and social media posts encouraging the shots. Public health officials said the new policy will lead to more illnesses and deaths. It comes after Louisiana Surgeon General made false claims about the COVID and flu vaccines. In a statement, the health department said

the changes mark a shift away from quote, paternalistic guidance and towards individual choice. For NPR News, I'm Rosemary Westwood in New Orleans. The AAA Auto Club says it will be a busy holiday week on America's roadways. It predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home

over the next 12 days. Officials say having Christmas in the middle of the week has tempted some people to just take the whole week off and hit the road to see their relatives. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you. For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing... To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters,

there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law to get the materials that you need. If not break it. Yeah. To break international laws. Real life stories, really good ones. This American Life.