NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2024 3AM 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. The federal government will remain open at least until mid-March. Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown late last night, wrapping up a chaotic week on Capitol Hill by approving a budget deal that President Joe Biden signed into law Saturday

morning. NPR's Sarah McCammon has more. In addition to funding the federal government for a few more months, the deal includes money for farmers and $100 billion in aid for victims of natural disasters, including wildfires in Hawaii last year and hurricanes and flooding in the Carolinas this year. The agreement approved by the House and Senate was the third iteration of the bill introduced in recent days.

The first deal fell apart after President-elect Donald Trump and his close adviser billionaire Elon Musk expressed opposition, the final deal ultimately passed with bipartisan support and without an increase to the nation's debt ceiling that Trump had requested. Sarah McCammon, NPR News. Delivery drivers for Amazon remain on strike in four states this weekend. Amazon has ignored a deadline set by the Teamsters Union for negotiations to begin. Lamont Hopewell is a union member he wants to get a contract in place. We're hard-working individuals, we work hard every day and I think a billion dollar company could afford to give us the benefits that we're looking for. Some Starbucks workers are

also on strike in a handful of stores in the western US. Israeli military officials say a rocket fired from Yemen on Saturday injured at least 16 people when it hit an area of Tel Aviv. The attack comes days after Israeli warplanes hit targets in two cities in Yemen. In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli strikes have killed a dozen children this weekend. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the Christmas Market in eastern Germany on Saturday, where a man drove his car into the crowd Friday night. The driver killed at least five people and injured about 200 others.

As Terri Schulz reports, the alleged attacker is a Saudi doctor who is 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 Schulz 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. The social media app TikTok is being banned in the country of Albania. The country's prime minister said Saturday that the app is responsible for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.

The ban will begin sometime next year and will last for at least a year. In November, one teen was stabbed to death by another teen in a fight that began on TikTok. You're listening to NPR News. At least 38 people are dead following the collapse of a ferry in the Congo. Officials say the overloaded boat was full of people returning home for Christmas when it sank. More than 100 people are still missing following that accident. Less than four days ago another ferry accident in that country killed 25 people. History will be made in women's college volleyball later today when Penn State takes on the University of Louisville. There's never been a

woman who's been the head coach of an NCAA Division one women's volleyball championship team. Greg Eklund has more from Louisville. In each of the Thursday night semifinals, the team coached by a woman defeated an opponent led by a man, the Louisville Cardinals upset number one ranked Pittsburgh and Penn State knocked off the NCAA runner up last year, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Though Nebraska lost, Huskers coach John Cook says he's happy that history will be made.

They're both great players, they both won national championships, so this isn't like a fluke. These guys are winners and they're tough and they're great competitors and their teams play like it. Louisville coach Danny Busboom Kelly played at Nebraska, and Katie Schumacher-Colley is coaching her alma mater at Penn State. For NPR News, I'm Greg Eklund in Louisville. The Ohio State Buckeyes have moved on in the college football playoffs

with a decisive win over SMU on Saturday night. Will Howard went 24 of 29 and threw for two touchdowns in the 42 to 17 win. Penn State meanwhile also advanced to the next round of the playoffs with their 38 to 10 win over and Texas beat Clemson by a score of 38 to 24. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.