NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: December 25, 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, I'm Jack Spear. As he prepares to take office again, President-elect Donald Trump is threatening a wide range of tariffs.

It represents an about-faced Republican Party, which was once known for boosting free trade. And here's Danielle Kurzleben, as more. For decades, GOP party leaders boosted free trade, saying it promoted economic growth and international peace. Trump, however, has threatened blanket tariffs, plus additional tariffs on China and even allies Canada and Mexico. While elites long loved free trade, voters were more ambivalent, says Diana Mutts, political

science professor at UPenn. She says Trump appealed to voters by making trade into a fight. Trade was emphasized by Trump as a means of dominating other countries, as a means of becoming the winner and them the losers. One big question next year is how many Republicans in Congress go along with him. Danielle Kurzleben, NPR News. After an announcement by President Biden, he's commuting the bulk of federal sentences for individuals on death row.

President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to vigorously pursue capital punishment. Trump criticizing Biden's decision to change the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates to life in prison without parole. Biden, while citing his religious beliefs, also likely wanted to prevent Trump from pushing forward with their executions. Trump, however, was vague on what options he might pursue. Famine is spreading in Sudan, according to hunger experts who say the country is experiencing one of the worst starvation crises in modern times. A brutal civil war since April last year has fueled a major humanitarian crisis there, with both warring sides accused of obstructing aid. It bears Emmanuel Akinwodo as more.

Last August, famine was declared in the largest refugee camp in Sudan in the western region of Darfur. Now it has officially spread to five areas in the country according to the Integrated Food Security Phase classification or IPC. About half a million people are suffering from famine or catastrophic hunger the IPC said. A civil war erupted 20 months ago between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces. Both sides have been accused of blocking aid, and nearly 25 million people, or half of the

population, are in urgent need of food. Emmanuel Akimotu, NPR News, Lagos. A government panel after debating the proposed $15 billion acquisition of U.S. steel by Japan's Nippon Steel has failed to reach any kind of agreement. A committee on foreign investment in the U.S. sending its long-awaited report to President Biden, who has been an opponent of the deal, where some federal agencies represented on the panel were skeptical, allowing the deal posed any kind of security risk. Both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have opposed it and vowed to block it. In abbreviated,

trading ahead of Christmas Eve today, stocks closed higher on Wall Street. The Dow was up 390 points. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. A major storm continues to pound the California coast with flooding and high surf. Storms also being blamed for fatally trapping a man beneath debris on a beach and partially collapsing a pier, throwing three people into the Pacific Ocean. Storm brought heavy surf and high winds to the coast yesterday, forcing the evacuations of some beachfront homes and hotels. The US military is tracking an unidentified object over the North Pole.

And Burechtracht Bromfield reports it is not a drone or a UFO. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, says it spotted a sleigh moving rapidly south filled with presents for good girls and boys. NORAD has had an eye on Santa since 1955. That's when a small child called a military red phone designed to warn of a nuclear attack and asked to speak to Santa Claus. It turns out a local business had accidentally published the phone number in an advertisement for children who wanted to talk to jolly old St. Nick in the years since NORAD has made tracking Santa an annual tradition.

Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Pope Francis opened the gates today at St. Peter's Basilica kicking off the 2025 Holy Year. It's a celebration of the Catholic Church expected to draw 32 million pilgrims to Rome and also test the stamina of the pontiff and the eternal city's ability to welcome people this year. This year's Christmas Eve Mass starts the once-every-25-year tradition of the Jubilee with Francis dedicating the 2025 Jubilee to the theme of hope. Crude oil futures prices rose more than 1 percent today. Oil gained 86 cents a barrel to settle at 70.

Ten a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.