NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2024 5PM EST

Episode Date: December 22, 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 plus 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 dot NPR dot org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Two U.S. Navy pilots ejected from their fighter jet after it was shot down this weekend over the Red Sea.

The military is calling it a case of friendly fire. MPR's Amy Held has more. The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly fired on and hit an F-18, forcing two U.S. Navy pilots to eject safely according to U.S. Central Command. One pilot suffered from minor injuries. For more than a year, the U.S. 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. President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Stephen Myron to service top White House economic advisor. And, here's Scott Horsley reports, Trump announced the pick in a social media post this morning. Myron is a Harvard-trained economist who previously worked at the Treasury Department during Trump's first term in office. He's also a fellow at the Conservative Manhattan Institute.

Trump plans to nominate Myron to lead the President's Council of Economic Advisers. If confirmed by the Senate, he'll help the White House to interpret economic conditions and have a hand in shaping policy. Trump said in a social media post that Myron will work with the rest of his economic team to deliver a quote, great economic boom that lifts up all Americans. Trump returned to the White House at a time when the U.S. economy is already growing at a solid clip with low unemployment and cooling inflation. Bulls show many Americans are unhappy, though, about the cumulative price hikes over the last five years. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening more destruction in Ukraine in retaliation

for a drone attack on the Russian city of Kazan, which is hundreds of miles from the front line. The attacks yesterday damaged high-rise apartment blocks there and closed the airport for a time, though no casualties have been reported. BBC's Danny Aberhart has more. The 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 Aberhart reporting. After a volatile week on Wall Street, investors this week are looking for a quiet holiday-shortened trading period ahead. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Christmas trees are 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 trails.

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 fir 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. At the weekend box office, it's a holiday season battle of big-budget family movies. And Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog 3 took the top spot, debuting with an estimated $62 million in ticket sales. The two previous Sonic movies together grossed more than $700 million worldwide. This movie was made for a reported $122 million. In a distant second place, Mufasa, The Lion King, with just $35 million, and that is lower than expected.

I'm Janene Hurst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.