NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-25-2024 3AM EST

Episode Date: December 25, 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 Giles Snyder. The war in Gaza has led to muted Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for a second consecutive year. Festivities in the historic square of the Church of the Nativity have been reduced to a prayer service. BBC's Shamak Khalil is in Bethlehem.

There is a big absence of the huge Christmas tree that normally glistens at this time of night and lights up Major Square. That's nowhere to be seen. And this is really your biggest indication that while the ceremonies are happening, it is a very somber mood here, and the ceremonies are muted. The big celebrations have been cancelled out of respect, but also out of deep sorrow for what is happening in Gaza. Yet again, for a second year running, the war in Gaza has cast a very heavy shadow on this biblical city.

Pete To Ukraine now, where officials in Kyiv say Russia has mounted a major Christmas day missile attack. The energy minister says Russia is targeting Ukraine's power sector and that restrictions have been imposed on the supply of electricity. Canada has started to move on some immigration measures in response to President-elect Donald Trump's tear of threat as NPR's Dan Karpanchuk reports among the first practices to be banned is what's called flag polling. Flag polling is when a person already in Canada on a temporary visa leaves for the US then quickly re-enters Canada to

access immigration services such as receiving a work or study permit at a port of entry. Immigration Minister Mark Miller says from now on, temporary visa holders will have to apply online if they want to extend their stay in Canada. The restriction on providing work and study permits to so-called flag-pollers takes effect immediately. The Border Services Agency estimates that more than 69,000 people engaged in flag-polling in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

There will be some exceptions, such as international truck drivers, American citizens and professionals under certain free trade agreements. Miller says a broader review of Canada's express entry program is also now underway. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenschuk in Toronto. The Biden administration was touting a pardon back in June for veterans kicked out of the military for homosexuality, but NPR's Quill Lawrence reports that very few vets have been able to use it. Before laws were repealed in 2011, tens of thousands of Americans got kicked out of the military for being gay, leaving them with no military benefits or honors.

In connection with other clemency granted this month, the White House has mentioned a blanket pardon of gay vets. But advocates say only a handful of veterans have accessed the pardon since it was issued in June because of daunting Pentagon red tape. The Pentagon did not respond to NPR's query about the exact number. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a relatively much easier process and has encouraged gay veterans of any era to contact VA where they can likely qualify for healthcare and benefits they earned for serving in the military. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.

And you're listening to NPR News. A passenger plane has crashed in Kazakhstan, the country's emergencies ministry, says the plane crashed near the city of Oktol and that emergency services are working to put out a fire at the site. Kazakh media say 105 passengers and five crew members were on board. Several people are believed to have survived. Attorneys for the family of the late cinematographer, Hania Hutchins, say they will proceed with their suit for damages and compensation over her death

on the set of the movie Rust. They announced the move Tuesday after prosecutors withdrew an appeal of a judge's dismissal of a criminal charge against actor Alec Baldwin. The charge was dismissed during Baldwin's trial in July on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense. One part of the Biden administration's landmark climate legislation was federal tax credits for electric heat pumps. Imperial 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 Palmerloh 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. And I'm Jyle Snyder. This is NPR News.