NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2024 12PM 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 New York City, I'm Dua Halisi-Cao Tao. Health officials in Gaza say they are under a quote unprecedented attack by Israeli forces in the north of the enclave. The AP reports Palestinian officials say at least 20 people were killed in overnight attacks. One hospital director says his facility is being constantly hit and is taken to social

media for international help. And Bira's Keri Khan reports. The director of one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza says the facility has been shelled by sniper fire and drones. The director of Kamal Adman Hospital says the attacks have come with no warning and no protection for patients and civilians. He insists there are no military targets or fighters within his hospital, which he says has hundreds of patients and civilians there, including babies in the neonatal unit. Israel says Hamas militants operate in hospitals

and schools endangering civilians. In a statement to NPR, the Israeli military says its forces have been operating in the vicinity but not within the hospital's premises. In the past 48 hours, more than 50 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry there. Kary Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Russian President Putin has threatened to bring more destruction to Ukraine in retaliation for a drone attack on the Russian city of Kazan. The attacks on Saturday damaged high-rise apartment blocks there. The BBC's Danny Eberhardt has more. Kazan is a long way from the front lines, more than 900 kilometres from the border with Ukraine.

But video of drones smashing into luxury apartment blocks were a reminder to many Russians that the war could come to them. Hence Vladimir Putin's uncompromising warning. Ukraine, he said, would regret such strikes and would face many times more destruction than it managed to inflict on Russia. Ominous words, but they're unlikely to deter Ukraine. It has already faced nearly three years of destruction at Russian hands since the full-scale invasion. The BBC's Dani Eberhardt reporting. Twenty-five people were executed in the US this year, about the same last year. And Piers Martin-Coste reports the death penalty is being applied

in a narrow slice of the country. In its annual report, the Death Penalty Information Center found that only four states accounted for three-quarters of all executions this year. Those states are Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Missouri. The center's executive director, Robin Maher, says that has made the death penalty less of a national issue. The death penalty is now a local story, one that plays out according to local laws and at the direction of local officials.

So for the residents in a few active states, the death penalty may be an occasional headline, but for most of the rest of the country, the death penalty isn't even on their radar. This is the 10th year in a row that the total number of people executed by the states has been below 30. Martin Costi, NPR News. It's NPR. The NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship will take place this afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky between the University of Louisville and Penn State University. Greg Eklund reports from Louisville.

Penn State coach Katie Schumacher-Colley was diagnosed early in the season with stage 2 breast cancer but chose to continue coaching while undergoing treatments. Penn State has won seven national championships, the second most all-time in Division 1 volleyball. As a student player, Schumacher Colley helped Penn State win its first in 1999. As the head coach seeks the school's eighth, she reflected on what she'd tell her younger self. I think just put yourself out there and continue to meet people and be the best person you can be. The Louisville Cardinals, who have never won a volleyball title,

will have plenty of partisan support in the host city. For NPR News, I'm Greg Eklund in Louisville. Two American pilots ejected safely from their fighter jet over the Red Sea. The US military said one pilot suffered minor injuries. The aircraft was shot down in what Central Command is describing as a friendly fire incident involving the USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier strike group. This comes as the Pentagon had announced that U.S. forces are targeting weapon storage locations in Yemen controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. For months, the Houthis have attacked military and commercial vehicles in critical shipping

lanes of the Red Sea. I'm Dua-Halisa Icautau, NPR News in New York.