NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-28-2024 5PM EST

Episode Date: December 28, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the leader of Azerbaijan today after the deadly Azerbaijani airline crash in Kazakhstan, but he didn't take responsibility for the crash. In a statement, the Kremlin says it was responding to a Ukrainian drone strike in Chechnya. And Piers Elena Moore reports. In a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin characterized the crash, which killed 38 people, as a tragic incident, apologizing that it happened in Russian airspace. It comes a day after White House National Security spokesman John Kirby addressed Russia's potential involvement. We do have, have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility

that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems. Kirby added that an investigation conducted by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is ongoing and the U.S. has offered its assistance. Elena Moore, NPR News. 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. And here's Rafael Nam has more. 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 in PR News.

Six months ago today, the Supreme Court made it easier for cities to crack down on homelessness. Since then, more than 100 places around the country have banned people from sleeping outside, even if they have nowhere else to go. And Piers Jennifer Ludden reports. Dozens of the new camping bans are in California, home to about half of the quarter of a million people living outside. San Joaquin County Commissioner Tom Patty says the new ordinance there forces people to move at least 300 feet every hour. Letting them stay in place is cruel. We want to prompt them to come to a better place.

Like a number of cities, San Joaquin County imposes a steep fine and jail time on those who violate the ban, though Patty says enforcement is discretionary. Advocates for the unhoused worry all the focus on clearing out encampments will distract from the real problem driving homelessness, a severe shortage of affordable housing. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Olivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, has died. On Instagram, her family says she died peacefully yesterday at her home at the age of 78. And Piers Chloe Veltman has this remembrance. Olivia Hussey was in her mid-teens when Franco Zeffirelli spotted her on stage in London

and promptly cast her in his Romeo and Juliet. My bounty is as boundless as the sea. My love is deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have. For both are infinite. Hussie won international acclaim for the role, which, controversially for the time, involved a nude love scene. She went on to appear in the 1977 series Jesus of Nazareth, the 1978 version of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile, and many other movies and TV shows. Hussie later sued Paramount Pictures, alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and fraud over the nudity in Romeo and Juliet. The case was dismissed last year. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. The world's top chess player, Magnus Carlsen, quit the World Rapid Chess Championship in

New York today after he was told to change out of his jeans to abide by a dress code. The Norwegian chess grandmaster was fined $200 yesterday and given a warning by the International Chess Federation to change the clothes or be disqualified. He told the chess channel Take, Take, Take. He was told he had to change immediately, so he quit and he says he won't appeal the decision. Quitting means the 34-year-old, who became a grandmaster at 13, won't be able to defend his title in the World Blitz Championship, where he's a seven-time champ. This is NPR News.