NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-25-2024 11PM EST

Episode Date: December 26, 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, I'm Dale Willman. President-elect Donald Trump says he'll name a county commissioner in Florida to be his ambassador to Panama. The announcement comes just days after he called for the U.S. to regain control over the Panama Canal. Marino Cabrera is a Miami-Dade county commissioner. He also worked for the Trump campaign in 2020.

The city of Washington, D.C. marked the first night of Hanukkah tonight with the lighting of a 30-foot menorah on the ellipse. Homeland Security Secretary Director Alejandro Mayorkas marked the occasion. We can lean into our shared tradition and values as a beacon for what we aspire to. This Hanukkah let us rededicate ourselves to the light that defines us and the better world we seek to build. The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued his Christmas message to that country.

As Dan Karpanchuk reports, it comes as Trudeau faces intense pressure to step down even from within his own party. Trudeau wished joy to everyone celebrating Christmas and comfort to those who are suffering. He said it's a time to gather with loved ones and give thanks and to celebrate the spirit of the season. It's likely Trudeau's last Christmas message as prime minister. All the opposition parties have lined up against him vowing to bring down his minority government at the first opportunity.

His popularity has plummeted over the past year, and Liberal Party insiders say Trudeau is taking the Christmas holidays to reflect on his course of action. An election call is unlikely, but he may prorogue Parliament for a couple of months so that the party can elect a new leader to take it into a spring election. But as of now, it's looking highly unlikely that he will remain at the helm and take his chances. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpanchuk in Toronto. More than two months after Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina, that state is investing millions

in mental health recovery efforts. NPR's Katie Ariddle reports. Some of the people most in need of mental health services here are children. Thousands of students are at a crucial point in their recovery and need help processing their traumatic experiences in order to avoid developing post-traumatic stress disorder.

Pacovia Levitt works for the North Carolina schools. She says helping students in a situation like this, there's just not that much precedent. I would love for there to be a nice blueprint and be able to really pull out the pieces that you need, but it's very hard to find. Levitt says mountain communities are seeking help and advice from people in coastal North Carolina. That part of the state is more prepared for hurricanes. Katie Ariddle, NPR News, Asheville, North Carolina. The Defense Department is continuing its increase of weapons supplies to Ukraine. President Joe Biden called for the increase today after he condemned Russia's Christmas Day attack

against some of Ukraine's cities as well as its energy system. Officials in Ukraine say six people were wounded in the attacks in the country's Kharkiv region, and at least one person was killed. Russian forces used missiles and drones in at least four attacks there. You're listening to NPR News. Scientists have learned more about what the biodiversity of early life on Earth might have looked like. NPR's Jessica Young reports on a study that tracks species diversity over time. Researchers looked as far back as the Precambrian period, a time with relatively few fossils.

Shu-Hai Hsiao at Virginia Tech and co-author of the paper in Science used fossil data from around the world as a sample of all existing species at different times in history. Kind of like in an election, right? So the pollster would take a small sample of the voters and they get an idea, you know, what the voting result will look like. The study confirmed some scientists' guesses that biodiversity during the boring billion period, which started 1.8 billion years ago, mostly remained low and stable. Plus, two ice ages were followed by rapid spikes in diversity, leading Shau to wonder

if ice ages somehow reset a lot of evolution. Jessica Young and PR News. An appeals panel in Kosovo has cancelled a government ban on the main party of the ethnic Serb minority there. The decision means the party can field candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election. The panel ruled that the party known as Serblist has fulfilled the political terms needed to be certified. The party says it will field 48 candidates in the next election. Patrick Mahomes threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns as the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 29 to

10 today. The win locks up the top seed in the AFC for the Chiefs. It's the fourth time in seven seasons that they've done that. Baltimore meanwhile overwhelmed the Texans 31 to 2. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.