NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2024 9AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

NPR News: 12-24-2024 9AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm from NPR News. I'm Korva Coleman. The Israeli military says its forces intercepted a missile fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen at central Israel today. NPR's Janelle 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 towards 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 Ismael Haniyeh while he he was in Iran in July and he warned Houthi leaders they could be next. Daniel Estrin and PR News Tel Aviv.

Unionized Starbucks employees say they will widen their five-day long strike to hundreds of stores today. From member station GBH in Boston, Tori Bedford reports staffers claim Starbucks has stalled contract negotiations. No contract, no company. Unionized Starbucks employees have been negotiating a contract with the company for three years. In that time, baristas like Hannah Rafferty say the company hasn't budged on important issues like wage increases. Starbucks United members want a 64 percent increase, and Starbucks offered 1.5% over a three-year contract.

They haven't been engaging in actual bargaining with us and we really want a contract and they've been promising a contract by the end of the year and they just have not come through on that. A Starbucks spokesperson says the company has been able to reach meaningful agreements on hundreds of topics raised by the union and is willing to continue negotiating. For NPR News, I'm Tori Bedford in Boston. Thousands of Amazon workers are also on strike. The Teamsters union is demanding that the online retailer come to the bargaining table to settle a new labor contract. But Amazon says the Teamsters don't represent all of its workers, some of whom are third-party contractors.

President-elect Trump is vowing to impose mass deportations on people who are illegally in the country when he takes office. There's also scrutiny of immigrants in the U.S. who are here legally. Scientific research in the U.S. relies heavily on scientists who are from other countries. More than half a million researchers are using temporary visas, such as those called H-1Bs. When he was last in office, Trump suspended these visas. President Biden ended that when he took office. But NPR's John Hamilton says it's not clear what will happen to the H-1B visas when Trump's again president. Trump has named Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff and Miller was the main architect

of the H-1B restrictions under the first Trump administrations. On the other hand, Elon Musk has been a supporter of the visas. NPR's John Hamilton. This is NPR. The Federal Aviation Administration has lifted a brief ground stop on all American Airlines planes this morning. The carrier has resumed operations after it suspended them for about an hour. American Airlines says this was a software issue involving a vendor, and it has apologized to its customers.

Travelers on the West Coast are seeing powerful storms from Northern California to Washington State. A man died on a beach south of San Francisco when he was buried by debris. Another man is missing after he was swept into the ocean. Powerful waves collapsed part of a wharf in Santa Cruz, California. The Attorney General of Texas is suing the NCAA. In the lawsuit, Ken Paxton is challenging the NCAA

for allowing transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. Mary Ann Navarro with Texas Public Radio reports. In the lawsuit, Paxton alleges the NCAA has engaged in misleading practices and falsely market sporting events that include transgender athletes as women's competition. Paxton says this violates the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. He requests a court prohibit the NCAA from allowing transgender athletes from competing in women's games in Texas or involving any Texas teams, or to bar the agency from marketing these events as women's sports.

I'm Marianne Navarro in San Antonio. The government of Hong Kong has issued bounties for six pro-democracy activists who are living in other countries. The bounties are worth $1 million each. The Hong Kong activists are accused of violating national security laws. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.