NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2024 6PM EST

Episode Date: December 22, 2024

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Oh ho ho! 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+. 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.npr.org. Ha ha ho ho ho! Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst.

President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to try to take back the Panama Canal. Over fees, shippers are charged to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly, and without question. He made the comments to conservatives at the turning point USA's America Fest in Arizona, Panama's president, Jose Raul Molino, today reaffirmed his country's sovereignty over

the canal, saying in a recorded statement on X that every square meter of the canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama. The U.S. relinquished control of the waterway to Panama in 1999 under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. The country is a strong U.S. ally and the canal is crucial for Panama's economy. Trump also told those gathered at the conservative conference that his administration would deliver a booming economy and quickly settle wars in the Mideast and Ukraine without going into detail. A new study finds that the number of executions in the U.S. remains about the same this year as it has been recently.

In Piers Martin Costey reports, 25 people have been put to death in 2024. Robin Maher is the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which just published its annual report. She says the death penalty was not a major political issue this year and not much has changed. Public support for the death penalty remains at a bare majority, which is 53 percent. That's a five decade low. But active use of the death penalty remains limited to just a minority of states. Just four states accounted for three quarters of all executions this year and Marr says that has contributed to making the death penalty a quote, local issue, which escapes the notice of most Americans.

Twenty-seven states have the death penalty on the books, though five of those have paused executions by order of their governors. Martin Kosty, NPR News. Wall Street will be quiet this week because of the holidays, NPR's Rafael Nam reports. Trading is likely to slow down, especially after Congress avoided a shutdown this weekend. A slower week will likely be a welcome development after a rough week. All three major indexes tumbled last week, with the Dow Jones declining for a third consecutive week, as stocks continue to pair some of the strong gains seen after the election

of Donald Trump in November. The path forward will ultimately depend on how inflation and other economic data shape up. But there won't be many new reports coming this week. NPR's Rafael Nam reporting. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. In Hawaii, an estimated 50,000 spectators are crowding onto Oahu's North Shore to see more than 40 of the world's top surfers compete. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational Contest is both historical and prestigious, a one-day event. Jackie Young from Hawaii Public Radio has more.

Crowds gathered overnight and parking lots filled up before dawn for what has been called the Super Bowl of Surfing. The event has run only 10 times in 40 years and was last held in January 2023. The invite-only contest is named for big wave champion surfer and lifeguard Eddie I. Cow and will only run if surf heights consistently reach 40 feet. Monster swells are expected to run throughout the day up to 50 feet. Last year's champ Honolulu City lifeguard Luke Sheppardson will be defending his title. Emergency officials are warning spectators to stay far away from

the shore because last year's high surf washed dozens of people and their belongings into the ocean. For NPR News, I'm Jackie Young in Honolulu. NASA spacecraft is about to make the closest approach to the Sun. The Parker solar probe, launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the Sun, will pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles of the Sun's surface this week. That's nearly seven times closer to the Sun than the previous spacecraft. Scientists won't hear from Parker, though, until a few days after the flyby. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.