NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-25-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 25, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. Christmas celebrations have been underway all over the world at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope Francis wished the world a happy Christmas. In his Christmas message, Francis prayed for peace in the Middle East. May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter in order to achieve a just and lasting peace. May the sound of arms be silenced in the Middle East.

In Bethlehem, the bright lights and festive marching bands were missing, and midnight services at the Church of the Nativity were subdued as the Holy Land mourns the loss of tens of thousands in a conflict triggered two years ago by a Hamas terror attack inside Israel. The Danish government has increased its budget for the defense of Greenland and autonomous Danish territory. Terry Schultz reports on the move as President-elect Donald Trump repeated his desire to purchase the island.

Officials in Greenland have expressed dismay at Donald Trump's repetition of how strategically important the island is and how he wants to make it part of the U.S. Greenland is ours, said Greenland's Prime Minister, Mute Egide. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland's Prime Minister Mutte Egide, we are not for sale and will never be for sale. Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland's foreign and defense policy, also just announced it would be doubling the amount it spends on protecting the island. Danish Defense Minister Truls Linde Poulsen said the boost would be at least $1.5 billion.

Poulsen called it an irony of fate that the defense upgrade was announced at the same time Trump was speaking about Greenland. For NPR News, I'm Terri Schultz. The Biden administration's landmark climate legislation included federal tax credits for electric heat pumps. NPR's Julia Simon says time may be running out for that money. The Biden administration's climate legislation introduced $2,000 federal tax credits for heat pumps. Shooting Palmerlow at the right of center American Action Forum says the incoming Republican-led Congress

will be looking for revenue to pay for planned tax cuts. She says if a homeowner wants to buy a heat pump and wants that $2,000 federal tax credit, they should buy the heat pump sooner rather than later. By the end of the 2025 calendar year to be safe, she says. Yeah, I definitely think so. Some states, cities, and local utilities may choose to continue heat pump incentive programs. Julia Simon, NPR News. In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, two reporters and one police officer were killed in a gang attack on a news conference on Christmas Eve, the

media conference had been called to announce the reopening of the country's biggest public hospital after street gangs had forced the hospital's closure earlier this year. This is NPR News in Washington. Netflix is airing two NFL Christmas Day games today with Beyoncé said to perform at halftime of the Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans game. It's the first of a three-year contract for Netflix to carry NFL Christmas Day games. NPR's Ava Pukac reports. This season, Netflix is paying the NFL $150 million to air the Steelers Chiefs and Ravens

Texans games. And Beyoncé's halftime show, in her hometown of Houston, will be the first time the singer has performed songs off her latest album, Cowboy Carter. The streaming giant says it's made adjustments to avoid technical problems during the broadcast. Many viewers reported long-buffering times during Netflix's previous live broadcast of the Jake Paul Mike Tyson fight last month. Netflix says the NFL games will be available for replay for three hours after the live stream ends. Eva Pukac and PR News. A survey commissioned by Finish Jet Dry a dishwasher rinse product shows 65% of holiday

hosts are cleaning their homes until the moments before their guests arrive. 2000 people were polled. The results suggest that hosts feel lots of pressure around this time of year with the most time consuming task being meal preparation followed by grocery shopping and cleaning the kitchen. More than half of those surveyed say self-care takes a backseat to essential tasks at this time of year. And if you're on the receiving

end of hospitality today, the survey says, the best guests are sure to thank their host. I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.