NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-21-2024 5AM 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 autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. A stopgap government funding bill has cleared Congress, averting a holiday season shutdown. The Senate gave the measure final approval just after the midnight deadline, as NPR's Barbara Sprunt reports.

The Senate quickly mobilized after the House approved a funding bill that provides $100 billion in disaster relief and aid to farmers. It does not raise the debt ceiling, despite demands from President-elect Donald Trump. This caps off a chaotic week on Capitol Hill, where a bipartisan agreement was tanked by Trump and his top adviser, billionaire Elon Musk. It sent GOP leadership scrambling

to come up with a new proposal, one that would satisfy Trump himself, factions within the Republican Conference, and enough Democrats to get the bill over the finish line. It now goes to President Biden's desk for his signature. Barbara Sprunt and Peer News, The Capital. President Biden is expected to quickly sign the bill. The union representing Starbucks workers

has launched a strike in three major cities, and it could soon grow across the country. Unionized baristas and the coffee chain have been in strained negotiations to try and reach the company's first collective bargaining contract at the union, pushing for a better wage offer. And Piersolina Seljuk reports.

More than two years after Starbucks workers began joining the Starbucks Workers United, the union and the coffee giant this spring finally began negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. The union now represents baristas at more than 500 locations, and its members plan to strike for five days through Christmas Eve, starting in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago. Workers say it's the last resort to push the company to offer

a quote, viable economic package with a bigger commitment to raise wages. The workers point to a new hire of a CEO from Chipotle with a compensation package worth more than a hundred million dollars. Starbucks officials for their part say the union's wage demands are not feasible and accuse the union of prematurely ending negotiations. Alina Seluk, NPR News. Starbucks workers join Amazon delivery drivers who began a strike at seven facilities on Thursday. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be in the central German city of Magdeburg today, and a memorial service is set for this evening after last night's attack on a Christmas market.

A driver rammed his car into a large crowd. At least two people were killed, including a small child. More than 60 others were injured. The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East says the rebel force that led the ouster of Sirius Bashar al-Assad remains a designated foreign terrorist organization. But Barbara Leaf says the U.S. will not pursue a $10 million reward for HTS leader and Sirius de facto new ruler, Ahmed al-Sharah. 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. 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. We spoke in Damascus at the head of a US delegation saying Al-Sharah had committed to renouncing terrorism. And you're listening to NPR News. The next court appearance for the man accused of fatally shooting, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is set for Monday. Luigi Mangione is to be arraigned on a state murder indictment. Mangione

was returned to New York this week from Pennsylvania. He appeared in a federal court on Thursday. He's being held without bail. The Wisconsin police chief, who's leading a law enforcement response to a recent shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School will be leaving for another job. Sarah Lear of Wisconsin Public Radio reports that Madison's police chief has accepted a job in Seattle, a position he applied for before the shooting. Sean Barnes has been Madison's police chief since 2021. That's included leading the department through a high-profile incident that brought international attention to Wisconsin's capital city. On Monday, a 15-year-old student opened fire at a private school there, fatally shooting

two others before killing herself. Seattle's mayor praised how Barnes handled that crisis when he announced Barnes' appointment Friday as that city's next police chief. In recent years years Barnes has applied unsuccessfully to several top-cup jobs in larger cities including San Jose and Chicago. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Lear in Madison. Experts are predicting a record-breaking holiday travel season. The Auto Club AAA says it expects more than 119 million people to travel at least 50 miles from home

today through New Year's Day. Topping the previous holiday season record set in 2019, the Transportation Security Administration says it expects to screen 40 million airline passengers. This is NPR.