NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 22, 2024

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Since the beginning of women's sports, there's been a struggle to define who qualifies for the women's category. Tested, from NPR's Embedded podcast and CBC, takes you inside that struggle. Listen to Tested, the series that was named one of the 10 best podcasts of 2024 by Apple, Vulture, and The New York Times. It's season 20 of NPR's Embedded Podcast. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Two U.S. Navy pilots ejected from their fighter jet after it was shot down this weekend over the Red Sea. The military calling it a case of friendly fire, as NPR's Amy Held reports. The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly fired on and hit an F-18, forcing two US Navy pilots to eject safely according to US Central

Command. One pilot suffered from minor injuries. For more than a year, the US military has been operating Navy warships in the region, conducting strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen who are targeting international ships in the Red Sea and disrupting commerce in one of the world's busiest waterways. Also this weekend, CENTCOM says they shot down drones and a guided missile operated by Houthis and conducted strikes on a Houthi missile storage facility in Yemen. Amy Held, NPR News. Authorities in Magdeburg, Germany say the man accused of driving his vehicle into a NPR News. Nat. Dave Chilcote, NPR News. Nat. Dave Chilcote, NPR News. Authorities in Magdeburg, Germany say the man accused of driving his vehicle into a

large crowd at a busy outdoor Christmas market is being kept in pretrial custody. He appeared before a magistrate yesterday after prosecutors charged him with murder, attempted murder, and grievous bodily harm. Five people were killed and some 200 injured. Officials in Gaza say more than 20 people, including several children, have been killed in a wave of attacks by the Israeli military. Targets were hit in Gaza City, Rafa, and Khan Yunis. They included a school sheltering displaced families and a hospital in northern Gaza, as the BBC's Amir Nader reports.

We've been hearing urgent, desperate pleas from the medical staff at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of Gaza, which has been operating in very dire circumstances in the past weeks. And the medical staff there are saying that they've been told to evacuate by the Israeli military, but they can't do so because it would put over 80, 90 patients, their lives at risk, and also the lives of their staff. The BBC's Amir Nader reporting there from Jerusalem. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped television producer Mark Burnett to be his special envoy to the United Kingdom, as St. Pierre's Chloe Veltman reports.

In his post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said Mark Burnett would bring, quote, a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to his role as special envoy to the UK. The British Emmy Award winning producer is known for reality TV shows such as Survivor, Shark Tank and The Apprentice. The latter starred the President-elect. That show, which ran from 2004 to 2017, was instrumental in turning Trump into a huge national celebrity. During the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections, Emmy Awards

host Jimmy Kimmel joked about Burnett's role in boosting Trump's profile. If Donald Trump gets elected and he builds that wall, the first person we're throwing over it is Mark Burnett. In the YouTube clip, Burnett can be seen laughing in the audience. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. This is NPR. A death toll from separate stampedes at two Christmas charity events in Nigeria is rising. Police now say 32 people were killed, 22 at an event in the southeastern Anambra state where a philanthropist had organized a food distribution effort this weekend. Ten more died in Abuja, the capital, during a similar event organized by a church. In Congo, officials say 38 people were killed and more than 100 remained missing after an overloaded ferry capsized. Christmas trees, big business

in the Pacific Northwest, but a hotter climate means challenges for tree growers. Lauren Patterson of Northwest Public Broadcasting reports on how exotic Christmas tree species are taking root in new Northwest trials. Tree farms in the Northwest are experiencing problems with the hot temperatures and drought conditions out West as the climate changes. That's according to Gary Chastagner, a research plant pathologist for Washington State University. In his latest experiment, Eurasian conifers are being grown at sites in Washington, Oregon and California. What we're finding is that some of the Eurasian

species such as Nordman, Turkish and Trojan fur have the ability to perform fairly well under these droughty conditions. Chastagner says the Eurasian species also have potential tolerance to tree diseases and problematic insects. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Patterson in Pullman, Washington. Baseball stolen base king has died. Ricky Henderson was 65. He broke Lou Brock's record in 1991 and went on to finish his career with more than 1,400 steals.

I'm Giles Snyder, NPR News from Washington.