NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-29-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

NPR News: 12-29-2024 10PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. After nearly two years in home hospice care, former President Jimmy Carter has died in Plains, Georgia. He was 100 years old. In Piers Ron Elving reports, Carter was the American president who lived the longest and also lived the longest after leaving office. Jimmy Carter left the White House in defeat in January 1981, handing the keys to the man who had defeated him, Ronald Reagan. But in a post-presidential

career that spanned nearly four decades, Carter set a new standard for achievement by a former chief executive. He founded the nonprofit Carter Center in 1982 and oversaw its many peacekeeping and hunger relief missions in more than 80 countries. Among his international accolades, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He remained active while fighting liver and brain cancer in his later years, still teaching Sunday school classes and building houses with Habitat for Humanity in his 90s. Ron Elving, NPR News, Washington. And President Biden called Carter a man of great character and courage, hope, and optimism,

and says he knows Jimmy and his late wife, Rosalynn, are together once again. President-elect Trump says he and Melania are thinking warmly of the Carter family at this difficult time. Syria's new leader says holding elections could take up to four years, his first comments on a possible timetable since he led rebels to topple the Assad regime in early December. And Piers Diaz Hadid reports. Ahmad al-Sharah spoke to Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya to lay out his vision for the country, barely three weeks after his rebels overran Damascus earlier this month, forcing the former leader Bashar al-Assad to flee. Sharaa said elections would take time because the country had not had a proper census in years

and because Syria needs a new constitution. Sharaa says he hopes to hold a national conference with Syrian representatives who can set the agenda. He says at the conference he'll dismantle the group he leads, HTS or Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Shara also told Arabia that the time of the Syrian revolution was over and the time of nation building had begun. Dhiya Hadid, NPR News, Damascus. The 119th Congress opens Friday and one of the first tasks for members of the House is

to pick a speaker for this term. It's not clear if Mike Johnson will be able to hold on to the gavel after this last term. Some hardline Republican lawmakers are upset about what he supported in order to get a short-term funding bill passed. Republican Congressman Mike Lawler is pushing back against critics. I'm not going to bend to their will. So if they think somehow that they are going to end up in a stronger position by removing Mike Johnson, they're not. Speaking there to ABC's This Week, you're listening to NPR News from Washington.

The holidays can be challenging for people caring for those with dementia, but there are things you can do to help your family enjoy the upcoming New Year's festivities. Stephanie Columbini with member station WUSF talked with a Tampa caregiver about her approach to celebrating holidays with her late mother. Melissa Malone cooked her mom's favorite food and put on music and movies she grew up loving. Just to jounce any bit of memory that she had. So she didn't overwhelm her mom. Malone staggered guests arrivals.

They tried to stick to yes or no questions to limit confusion and didn't shame her if she said something that didn't make sense. It's OK to be upset at the disease and it's OK to be mad at the disease, but you can't be mad at the person. Malone encourages caregivers to take breaks and ask for help when they need it.

For NPR News, I'm Stephanie Columbini in Tampa. At the weekend box office, two family films dominated this holiday weekend. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 took the top spot with an estimated $38 million in ticket sales. In second place, Mufasa, The Lion King, with $37 million. In third place, the R-rated horror Nosferatu, with an unexpectedly strong $21 million. It was a gamble to open the film on Christmas when family films or all-age blockbusters tend to be prioritized, but it paid off, attracting the coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic to the theaters. U.S. futures contracts are trading lower at this hour, Dow futures down one-tenth of a percent.

I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.