NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-21-2024 5PM EST

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

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Oh, oh, oh, 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+. 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. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. The Senate has approved the House passed short-term funding bill, avoiding a midnight shutdown, and keeping the government running through March. As NPR's Susan Davis reports, the passage capped a tumultuous week on Capitol Hill. 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. Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the Christmas market in eastern Germany where a man drove his car into the crowd last night, killing at least five people and injuring more than 200. Terry Schultz reports the alleged attacker is a Saudi doctor and has residency in Germany. Mourners are leaving flowers and candles at a church near the Christmas market in Magdeburg, where a man plowed his BMW into shoppers. Visiting the scene, Chancellor Schultz said nearly 40 of those injured are very seriously hurt.

He urged Germans not to let this incident divide them. That we stick together and remain united, he said. That it is not hatred that determines our togetherness, but that we are a community which wants to win the future. German media have identified the driver, who was immediately arrested, as a 50-year-old Saudi psychiatrist. His social media account indicates he's a former Muslim, critical of German authorities, for what he said was a failure to combat the Islamism of Europe.

For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz. With the arrival of the winter season and the holidays approaching, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the number of people catching respiratory viruses is picking up. And Piers Robb Stein has more. The CDC says COVID-19 activity is increasing again. At the same time, seasonal flu activity continues to rise across the country and RSV is still spreading widely. All three viruses are expected to spread even more as people travel and gather for the holidays. The CDC says that's worrisome because most people still haven't gotten the latest COVID

and flu shots. Only about 21% of adults have gotten an updated COVID booster and less than 42% have gotten a flu shot. Rob Stein, NPR News. Weather could be a problem for millions of holiday travelers as rain and wintry weather is expected to slow things down in the Northeast. The National Weather Service says light to moderate snow is expected to continue over the Great Lakes through the Northeast today, along with frigid temperatures, and average through the Mid-Atlantic today. This is NPR News. Advances in artificial intelligence may soon signify significantly, rather, slash income for people working in the music industry. As NPR's Neda Ulibi reports, a new study

predicts music creators could lose almost 25% of their revenue within the next five years. Neda Ulibi Perhaps you enjoy listening to mood playlists on streaming platforms like Spotify. That's when you pick a category like relaxing music and just let it wash over you. These passive consumption playlists are increasingly curated by artificial intelligence. AI sometimes creates the music as well. AI can write lyrics, generate melodies, find samples, clone voices, and figure out how to best market the music it makes. That will cut into the paychecks of

people doing that work, according to a study from the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. It predicts ballooning revenues by 2028 that will largely benefit tech companies. Neda Uli, NPR News. Albaña's prime minister says the government will shut down the popular video app TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children, this following the stabbing death of a teenager last month by another teen following a quarrel that started on TikTok. The prime minister says TikTok will be fully closed for everyone and that the ban is expected

to start sometime next year. Children make up the largest group of TikTok users in that country. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Chinese parent company of TikTok appealed a lot to the Supreme Court. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.