NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2024 11AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

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Live from NPR News, I'm Korva Coleman. This day before Christmas and Hanukkah, holiday travel is expected to be very heavy. Most people are driving to their destinations, but millions are flying. There was a hiccup this morning when American Airlines briefly halted its flights. The carriers suspended flights for an hour to deal with a software issue. Hundreds of flights were held. The leaders of Mexico, Panama and Colombia are objecting to some of the comments made this weekend by President-elect Trump.

And Piers Eder-Peralta reports. President-elect Trump caused a diplomatic ruckus when he said the U.S. wanted to take over the Panama Canal once more. And then he said he would consider Mexican drug cartels terrorists. The president of Panama, José Raúl Molino, responded with an address to the nation. Every square meter of the canal belongs to us, he said. The president of neighboring Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said they would not hesitate to stand by Panama until, quote, the last consequence. Mexico for its part worries that if the U.S. designates drug cartels terrorists, it may open the door to military intervention. President Claudia Schoenbaum said they will

collaborate and coordinate with the U.S. but quote, they will never be subservient. Ada Peralta in P.R. News, Mexico. Separately, leaders in Greenland are telling Trump their island is not for sale. Over the weekend, Trump wrote online the U.S. should control and own the world's largest island. The Israeli military says its forces intercepted a missile fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen at central Israel today. And here's Janual Estrin reports from Tel Aviv. Air raid sirens went off in central Israel, and the military says it intercepted the missile.

It's the third missile fired from Yemen toward central Israel in nearly a week. On Saturday, one evaded Israel's air defenses and landed in Tel Aviv, causing damage and some injuries. The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group says it will continue these attacks as long as Israel's offensive continues in Gaza. Israel and the U.S. have bombed Houthi targets in Yemen in recent days. In a new speech, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted Israel was responsible for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Iran in July, and

he warned Houthi leaders they could be next. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Each year, scientists add thousands of new species to the scientific record. They include amphibians and mammals and NPR's Jonathan Lambert says plants, too. I want to add a plant to the list, specifically an orchid. Orchids are these plants that have these nectar spurs, which are like little tubes that feed nectar to pollinators. And this new species has one that's like a foot long. And that's actually the longest nectar spur

relative to the flower size of any known plant. NPR's Jonathan Lambert reporting. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials are up about 200 points. This is NPR. President Biden has vetoed a bill that would have created 66 new federal district judgeships in several states. Biden rejected the legislation, saying that, quote,

hurried action by the Republican-led House left important questions unanswered. It was about how the federal judgeships would be filled in a bipartisan manner. A court in China has sentenced a driver to death with a two-year reprieve. This is for driving into a crowd near an elementary school last month. A court in China has sentenced a driver to death with a two-year reprieve. This is for driving into a crowd near an elementary school last month. The rampage left 30 people injured. And Piers Awen-Sow has more. The court in Changde, Hunan Province, found that Huang Wenyi's actions were driven by

frustration over personal losses and family conflicts, using the attack as an outlet for his anger. The judge ruled that Huang's violent behavior posed a grave threat to public safety and social order, causing deep trauma to the victims, students, and the local community. This attack is part of a worrying trend of indiscriminate violence in China. Just last month, another similar incident in Zhuhai, Guangdong killed 35 people and injured 43, marking the deadliest attack in the country in a decade.

The authorities arrested a 62-year-old male suspect a week after the incident, but no further details have been released. Al Wenzhao, NPR News, Beijing. NASA says its Parker Solar probe should have just zoomed by the sun this morning. It was supposed to pass fewer than 4 million miles away from the sun's surface. The probe is studying the sun's outer atmosphere to.org. That's plus.npr.org.