NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-23-2024 8AM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 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 in Washington, on Corva Coleman, the White House says President Biden has commuted the death sentences of 37 men on federal death row. NPR's Deepa Shivaram says Biden changed these

to life in prison terms without the possibility of parole. He says his decision to commute the sentences for the 37 men was guided by his conscience, his experience as a public defender, his time as a senator, vice president and president. And Biden said, quote, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.

And Piers Deepashivaram reporting. But Biden did not lift death sentences for three people. They include Robert Bowers, convicted of the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, Dylan Roof, convicted of the mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and Jokar Tsarnaev, who bombed the Boston Marathon. The federal government is now funded through mid-March. President Biden signed the stop-gap bill into law over the weekend. When the new Congress convenes, Republicans will narrowly control both chambers. NPR's Amy Held reports President-elect Trump could face opposition within his own party

in meeting his policy demands. Most Republican lawmakers joined Democrats to pass the spending bill, now law, defying a demand by Trump. Thirty-eight House Republicans voted against Trump's preferred version of the bill, which would have suspended the nation's borrowing limit, also known as the debt ceiling. John Curtis of Utah among them. He told ABC News this week he wants to see Trump be successful. But that doesn't mean there won't be moments when I disagree with him.

And I think it's very important to me and my constituents that at those moments, that I feel comfortable speaking up. Curtis is taking over the Senate seat of the retiring Mitt Romney, one of the most vocal conservative critics of Trump. Amy Held, NPR News. Syria's new leaders have made several high-level appointments to the interim government. They're seeking to rebuild the country and its relations with the world. Some of the appointees have ties to neighboring Turkey.

NPR's Fatma Tanis has more from Istanbul. Turkey has long backed the opposition to Bashar al-Assad's regime and is hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world. Now the country is set to play an influential role in the new Syria. Syria's new foreign minister, Assad al-Shebani, lived in Turkey and was pursuing graduate studies in international relations at a university in Istanbul. The new governor of Aleppo, Azam el-Gharib, was part of a Turkish proxy rebel group and completed his masters at a university in Turkey. And the first woman to have a role in the new administration, Aysha el-Dibz, will head

the Women's Affairs Office. She led an NGO in Turkey and worked with Syrian refugees. She's a dual citizen of Turkey and Syria. Fatma Tanis, NPR News, Istanbul. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Today is a day of mourning in France for victims of a cyclone that struck the French territory of Mayotte. The island in the Indian Ocean is near East Africa. At least 35 people died more than a week ago, but the island has been so badly wrecked, it's feared the death toll could

be hundreds of people. Australia says it will extradite a former U.S. marine pilot to face charges of money laundering and violating arms control laws in the US. Christina Kukulia reports the charges relate to his work training Chinese pilots in South Africa over a decade ago. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus confirmed that Australia would send Daniel Duggan to face trial in the United States. The announcement ends a nearly two-year-long legal battle against extradition by the 55-year-old former marine pilot, accused by the US government of involvement in training Chinese military pilots without obtaining the required permissions. Duggan, who renounced his US citizenship, denies the charges and says they're

politically motivated. The father of six was arrested in 2022 and has been held in a maximum security prison, awaiting extradition. In a statement, his wife Safreen said the family feels abandoned by the Australian government and is considering its options. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukalha in Melbourne, Australia. Nebraska Governor Jim Pilon is recovering in a hospital in Omaha. He was bucked off a horse yesterday and injured. Pillin is a veterinarian and formerly owned a livestock operation. His office says he'll be hospitalized for a few days, but he's conscious, alert, and in touch continuously with his team.

This is NPR. All this year, NPR traveled the country, hearing from voters not just about the issues, but about their hopes for the country's future. We should be able to disagree with each other without bullying each other into submission. And what it means to be a part of a democracy. Invest in coverage that moves us forward together by giving today at donate.npr.org.