NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-26-2024 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Officials in Gaza say Israel killed five journalists overnight hitting a press van this morning outside of a hospital in central Gaza. NPR's Emily Fang reports Israel says the men were posing as jihadist fighters. A relative of one of those killed in Gaza's Nusrat refugee camp wailed in grief. The men had been working for a television channel associated with a Palestinian militant group. Israel's military said in a statement the men were not journalists but jihadist fighters. Khalil al-Tatari, the uncle of one of the men killed, told NPR producer Anas Baba that

the men were trying to show the world the pain and the suffering of Gaza, which he says is a genocide. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedoms group, over 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of the war last year. Emily Fang, NPR News News Tel Aviv, Israel. Nigeria is experiencing one of its worst economic downturns in decades. The government imposed a set of controversial economic reforms that critics say have made poverty rates worse.

NPR's Emmanuel Ekenwatu reports that despite quarters of economic growth, inflation there has soared. For many people in the country, it's been just a brutal year. The central bank puts inflation at 34 percent. The cost of food, energy, just basic necessities have become so expensive. That's NPR's Emmanuel Ekenwatu reporting. Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel says it will delay its deadline to acquire US steel

from the end of this year to March. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports that deal is valued at more than $14 billion. Nippon Steel said it's pushing back the deadline because President Joe Biden is still reviewing the deal, as are Department of Justice antitrust authorities. It added that it hopes Biden will give the deal a fair and fact-based evaluation. The Interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. failed to reach a consensus on

the deal this week and referred the matter to President Biden, who has 15 days to decide. President Biden has publicly opposed the deal, as has President-elect Donald Trump. An issue is whether a foreign firm's purchase of an important U.S. company amounts to a national security risk. Some Japanese are offended by U.S. officials praising their country as a key ally in some respects, but accusing them of being a security risk in others. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. Stocks on Wall Street are trading higher this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 28 points.

The Nasdaq Composite up 24. The S&P up 3 points. This is NPR News from Washington. Japan Airlines flights are resuming their schedules after they were hit by a cyber attack this morning. The breach caused delays for passengers traveling both domestically and internationally and briefly shut down ticket sales. The airline says there's no indication that customer information was leaked.

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has died at the age of 92. Sashmita Patak reports he was the first person from India's Sikh minority to become Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh's defining contribution to India came long before he became Prime Minister. In the early 1990s as Finance Minister he steered the country's economic liberalization. As prime minister, Singh presided over a landmark nuclear deal between India and the United States, ending India's decades-long nuclear isolation. Singh was a renowned economist.

By the end of his second term, his government was embroiled in a slew of corruption scandals that tarnished his image and led his party to its worst ever defeat in national elections in 2014. For NPR News, I'm Sushmita Pathak in Hyderabad, India. High temperatures and strong winds are fueling wildfires in parts of Australia. Authorities in Victoria, the country's second most populous state, have warned some rural communities to seek safety at shelters. Several fires are now burning out of control there, and officials say more fires are possible

into the weekend. On Wall Street, the Dow up 37 points. This is NPR News.