NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-28-2024 2PM EST

Episode Date: December 28, 2024

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Noor Ram live from NPR News in Washington. I'm Noor Ram. Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan's leader today for the crash of an Azerbaijan airliner in Kazakhstan this week that killed 38 people. Putin called it a tragic incident but stopped short of saying that Russia was responsible. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the government will reach its debt limit by mid-January and will have to adopt special measures to continue paying its bills. NPR's Rafael Nam reports. Sometime between January 14th and January 23rd, the U.S. will hit its debt limit. That's according to a letter sent by Yellen to Congress on Friday. But Yellen says the US can adopt so-called extraordinary measures to continue paying

its bills. These are essentially accounting moves to conserve cash, like suspending some planned investments. Yellen did not say how long the US can do that for. Some analysts believe the US could stretch its money until summer. But it would likely be up to the incoming Republican Congress and the next President, Donald Trump, to raise or suspend the debt ceiling. Otherwise, the U.S. risks a devastating default. Raffaelnam, NPR News. New York's Attorney General has released video of a fatal prison beating of an inmate.

The video shows several white corrections officers beating a black handcuffed inmate. NPR's Ava Pukach reports an investigation could lead to criminal charges for some or all of the 14 individuals involved. Attorney General Letesha James says the body cam footage shows officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York repeatedly punching and kicking inmate Robert Brooks in the face and groin and choking and striking him in the chest of a shoe as he lies on a medical examination table. During the incident he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back. He was pronounced dead at Wynn Hospital in Utica on December 10th.

Initial autopsy reports listed the cause of death as a fixia due to the compression of the neck. Governor Kathy Hochul has ordered the termination of the 14 individuals involved. Eva Pukac, NPR News. Lawyers for President-elect Trump are asking the Supreme Court to delay considering whether a law that could ban TikTok is constitutional to give his administration time to pursue a political resolution. NPR's Bobby Allen reports. In two weeks, lawyers for TikTok and the Department of Justice will be arguing in front of the

Supreme Court over whether banning TikTok violates the Constitution or not. The date had been set earlier this month. Now, Trump's new brief does not take a position on the constitutionality of the TikTok ban, but does essentially say, well, Supreme Court, if you want to hold off on making a ruling, Trump will step in, strike a deal that might make the high court's intervention unnecessary completely. NPR's Bobbi Allen. This is NPR News in Washington. Meteorologists are keeping watch on developing weather conditions in the southern plains,

eastward into the lower Mississippi Valley and central Gulf Coast states. The National Weather Service is predicting several tornadoes and heavy rain that could cause flash flooding. In the west, a high surf advisory is in effect along the California coast from Sonoma County through Monterey, with waves as high as 30 feet. There is a single jackpot winner from last night's Mega Millions lottery drawing. The ticket is worth more than a billion dollars. Steve Futterman reports. The one jackpot ticket was purchased in the small northern California town of Cottonwood, population a bit more than 5,000. According to Mega Millions officials, the ticket is worth an estimated $1.22 billion. It's not clear if the ticket was purchased by an individual or a group of people who

will share the prize. The winner or winners will have an option to collect the billion dollars plus over a 30-year period or take a lump sum immediate payment of nearly $550 million. The last jackpot was won more than three months ago on September 10th. Each time someone failed to win, the prize money went up. This is the fifth highest mega-millions jackpot ever. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. Actor Olivia Hussey has died.

A statement from her family said she died peacefully at home yesterday. No cause was given. Hussey was 15 years old when she was cast as Juliet in the 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.