NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2024 6AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

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Lyle from NPR News. I'm Korva Coleman. Israel's military says it has intercepted a missile fired from Yemen. As NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv, Israel's defense minister is vowing to assassinate the leaders of the Houthi militia in Yemen. 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.

There's been reaction to a report on allegations of sexual misconduct by former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. He was President-elect Trump's initial pick for U.S. Attorney General. The House Ethics Committee says it found evidence that Gates broke House rules and the law, prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use and other accusations. Gates has consistently denied he broke the law. Yesterday he filed a lawsuit to try to stop the report's release, saying he was no longer a member of Congress.

NPR's Barbara Sprint says a majority of the ethics panel disagreed. The panel said there have been instances where the committee determined it was in the public's interest to release findings even after a member leaves Congress. In this case, they said they didn't take the decision lightly. The chairman of the committee, Republican Michael Guest of Mississippi, wrote on behalf of dissenting members of the panel that while they don't challenge the findings of the investigation, the release itself is, in their words, a dangerous break with established standards. And here's Barbara Sprunt.

A federal judge has delayed the trial against a Florida man accused of trying to assassinate President-elect Trump. News reports say the trial for Ryan Ruth has been pushed to next September. A NASA probe is skimming by the outer regions of the sun. NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports it's the closest a human-made object has ever come to the sun. It's called the Parker Solar Probe, and at its closest point it's just 3.8 million miles from the surface of the sun.

That may sound far away, but even at those distances, the probe experiences temperatures of more than a million degrees Fahrenheit. It can do it thanks to a specially designed heat shield that keeps its scientific instruments cool. The Parker probe's mission is to understand how heat flows from the sun's surface to its atmosphere, known as the solar corona, ultimately researchers believe they could use that data to better forecast outbursts of particles from the sun, which can disrupt satellites closer to Earth.

Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. 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 judge ships would be filled in a bipartisan manner. Reuters News Service reports Russian officials say a Russian cargo ship has sunk in the Mediterranean.

The Russian officials say there was an explosion aboard but did not elaborate. Two crew members are reportedly missing. Travelers across the Northeast could face wintry weather conditions this Christmas Eve. As NPR's Joel Rose reports, millions of people are on the move in what could be a record-setting holiday travel season. More than 119 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home between December 21st and New Year's Day, according to a forecast from AAA. That would set a new record for the holiday season, barely eclipsing the pre-pandemic total from 2019.

The U.S. air travel system is also bracing for its busiest holiday season ever. TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, is expecting 40 million people to pass through security checkpoints, a 6% jump from last year. December 27th and 30th will be some of the busiest days to fly. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. Weather forecasters say several storms with powerful winds and waves have been hitting the California coast. A man was killed on the beach south of San Francisco this week after he was trapped by debris. In a separate incident, another man is missing after he was pulled into the ocean.

This is NPR.