NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2024 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

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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, as NPR's Amy Held reports. 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 serve as a top White House economic adviser. NPR's Scott Horsley reports Trump announced the pick in a social media post this morning. Piers Scott Horsley, P.O.P. 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 Advisors. 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.

In New York City, one person is in custody after a woman was set on fire and killed on board a subway train as it arrived at the Coney Island stop in Brooklyn this morning. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Three high school-age New Yorkers called 911 to say that they recognize the suspect. She says they believe the suspect used a lighter to ignite the victim's clothing. The woman, who hasn't been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say they're still searching for the cause of the attack. Around one million taxpayers will automatically receive special payments of up to $1400 from

the IRS in the coming weeks. But most people shouldn't get their hopes up about getting the cash. The IRS says it's distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a recovery rebate credit on their 2021 tax returns after missing one of the COVID stimulus payments or getting less than the full amount. But the IRS says most eligible taxpayers who are eligible for the federal stimulus payments already got them. The money will be directly deposited into eligible people's bank accounts or sent in the mail by a paper check. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher this hour. You're listening to NPR News.

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 Edeaikau Big Wave Invitational Contest is both historical and a prestigious 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. Kao 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. A 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 miles of the sun's surface this week. That's nearly seven times closer to the Sun than the previous spacecraft. Scientists, though, won't hear from Parker until a few days after the flyby. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange

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