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

Episode Date: December 22, 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, I'm Dale Willman. A crowd gathered at Magleburg Cathedral in Germany on Saturday night for a service honoring the victims of Friday's car attack on a crowded Christmas market. Five people were killed, including a nine-year-old child.

Sharon Pham is a nurse who was at the market with her family when the car was driven into the crowd. We heard some strange noises and we got outside and saw the car rampaging the whole way. Took everything with him, after him, it was just traumatizing. Some 200 people were also injured in the attack, 41 of them are listed in critical condition. Nevada election officials say they investigated a record number of allegations of voter fraud this year. Ahead of this year's presidential election, activists across the country flooded election administrators in various swing states with reports of alleged violations. But as NPR's Ashley Lopez reports, those efforts led to minimal confirmed cases in

Nevada. Nevada's Secretary of State's office says election officials received a major increase in reports of alleged voting violations ahead of the election. As of September, officials received 527 reports this year. That's compared to just 44 last year. So far, only four actual violations were found by state investigators and almost 500 cases so far have been closed without civil or criminal charges. Nevada was one of several closely watched swing states that dealt with an influx of scrutiny from activists challenging the results of the 2020 election.

Nevada officials say this was the first election cycle where they had to hire a dedicated investigative team to look into a record number of election reports. Ashley Lopez, NPR News. 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. NPR's Rob Stein has the latest. 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 and Pure News. The Pentagon says two Navy pilots are safe after they were forced to eject from their F-A-18 fighter jet over the Red Sea. They say the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly fired on the plane and hit it early Monday morning, local time. Both pilots were safely recovered, but one of them apparently sustained minor injuries.

An investigation into that incident is now underway. You're listening to NPR News. The Prime Minister of Albania says that government will shut down the social media app TikTok for one year. In making the announcement, he blamed the service for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. A teenager stabbed another teen to death last month there after a quarrel that began on TikTok. The ban will affect all users and will begin sometime next year. Advances in artificial intelligence may soon significantly reduce income for at least some people working in the music industry. As MPR's Neda Ulibi reports, a new study predicts those music creators could lose almost 25% of their revenue within the next five years.

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 Ulibi, NPR News. Baseball Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson has died. He spent 25 years in baseball and is best known for holding the single season stolen base record of 130, which he set in 1982. He finished his career with more than 1,400 steals. He was also a two-time World Series champion and Golden Glove winner. Ricky Henderson was 65 years old. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.