NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-31-2024 11PM EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

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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 in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. President-elect Donald Trump is spending New Year's Eve at his Mar-a-Lago Resort at a party attended by a star-studded group of political associates, Hollywood stars, athletes, and affluent club members.

With three weeks until the inauguration day, Trump told reporters he's looking forward to returning to Washington. Well, we're just going to have a great nation again. We're going to bring it back to better than it ever was. I think we're going to have a great nation again. We're going to bring it back to better than it ever was. I think we're going to see things that are going to go fast. We're going to see some amazing things,

but we're going to bring it back at a level that a lot of people didn't think was really possible. Up on Beach, Florida, police officials said as many as 300 people may be attending the party. One of former President Jimmy Carter's legacies is bringing more women into cabinet-level positions. As Molly Samuil reports from member station WABE, that includes the nation's first black woman to serve as a White House cabinet secretary. In 1977, President Carter appointed Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

In that role, she reorganized the department to focus more on neighborhood rehabilitation. She went on to another cabinet position when Carter later appointed her to lead the department that became Health and Human Services. Prior to Carter's appointment, Harris was the first African-American woman to serve as US ambassador.

President Lyndon Johnson appointed her as top diplomat to Luxembourg. Harris attended Howard University, where she later became the first woman dean of the law school. She earned a law degree from George Washington University. For NPR News, I'm Mollye Samuel in Atlanta. Investors on Wall Street are celebrating the end of a pretty good year for the financial markets. NPR's Maria Aspin reports all of the major U.S. indexes soared in 2024. The artificial intelligence boom sent tech stocks soaring. Big tech companies are investing billions of dollars in AI and in the hardware that will power it from chip companies

like Nvidia. And 2024 was a good year for the overall economy. Inflation cooled, unemployment remained low, and the Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times this fall. Investors rejoiced, but inflation-weary consumers continued to feel the hangover of high prices. Investors also welcomed the election of Donald Trump. But some of the President-elect's promised policies, especially tariffs and mass deportations, risk reigniting inflation. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. Officials in Puerto Rico say it may take up to two days to restore power to the island

after much of the Commonwealth was without power Tuesday, impacting more than 1.3 million customers. The private company that oversees the electric transmission and distribution system said it appears the outage was caused by an underground power line failure. Puerto Rico continues to struggle with chronic problems. You're listening to NPR News. A military appeals court is putting back in place the plea agreements that spared the September 11th defendants Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other men the possibility of the death

penalty. The court ruled against the defense secretary Lloyd Austin who earlier this year threw out the deal. The military judge hearing the case said Austin lacked the standing to intercede in the case since the negotiations to resolve the sentences were already underway. Austin cited the gravity of the 9-11 attack saying that as the defense secretary, he should decide on any plea agreements that would spare the defendants the possibility of an execution. 2024 has become the deadliest year on record for aid workers, this according to the United

Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The group reports that globally about 300 aid workers were killed. NPR's Gabriel Emanuel has more. The data goes back to 1997, and this year conflicts in Gaza, South Sudan, and Sudan saw the highest number of aid worker deaths. Ukraine, Yemen and Nigeria are also high on the list. At one time, the rules of war are clear that we should be protected.

Joe English is with UNICEF. It has a chilling effect on the likelihood of someone choosing this line of work, which is so important. The majority of fatalities involve local staff working with NGOs, UN agencies, and groups like the Red Cross. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News. And from Washington, D.C., you're listening to NPR News. I'm Dan Ronan.