NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-31-2024 8PM EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Cities along the East Coast are gearing up to ring in the new year. New York City's Times Square is packed with people waiting to watch the annual ball drop at midnight. Mayor Eric Adam says the city is prepared to host tonight's celebration. The NYPD, FDNY, Emergency Management, DOT, Sanitation, and just so many other agencies are going to be out there with the Times Square. And these major events, I don't think anyone does it better. Europe has already welcomed the New Year in Germany.

Crowds gathered for a huge open-air party around Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the New year. The United Kingdom followed shortly afterward with a fireworks display in central London. Tens of thousands of people gathered around the London Eye and Big Ben to ring in 2025. Mexico is testing a new cell phone app that allows migrants in the U.S. to alert their consulate if they think they're about to be detained. Nina Kravinsky from member station KJZZ reports the app is in preparation in case of mass deportations next year. The app's alert button is designed so that with one tap, migrants who suspect they're

about to be detained by the U.S. Immigration Department can let the Mexican consulate know. President-elect Donald Trump has said he will carry out mass deportations when he takes office in January. Mexico's Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramon de la Fuente presented the app as one of the ways his country's consulates in the U.S. are preparing for that possibility. This permits us to be notified from the moment someone perceives imminent risk that they could be detained. For NPR News, I'm Nina Kravinsky. A new report by the UN's Human Rights Office says deadly Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza have turned them into a death trap.

NPR's Aya Batraoui reports. The UN says Israel has provided insufficient information to substantiate allegations that these hospitals were being used as command centers or launching sites by militants. The report calls for independent investigations of more than three dozen medical facilities in Gaza that were raided or attacked. Over the weekend, Israeli forces shut down another major hospital in Gaza following months of deadly airstrikes. Its director, Dr. Hossam Abou Safiya, had posted videos like this of staff trying to

save wounded patients while under Israeli fire. Israel detained him over potential involvement with Hamas. Staff at Kamel Adwan Hospital say it was the last lifeline for people under intense fire in northern Gaza. Israel says it was a Hamas command center. Ayah Batraoui, NPR News. This is NPR. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of aviation experts to South Korea. They'll help investigate Sunday's plane crash that killed 179 people. In the meantime, South Korea's acting president has ordered improvements to the country's airline

operation system. High school graduates in all 50 states can now earn what's called a seal of biliteracy. According to a new report, more and more students are learning another language because of it. NPR's Johnnika Medica reports. The seal of biliteracy was established a decade ago in California to encourage high schoolers to learn a language other than English. That state is still where the highest number of SEALs was earned between 2022 to 2023, nearly 38% of them. And not only are students learning more languages across the country, they're also earning the SEAL for a greater number of languages. The idea is for the program to recognize English learners rather than to see them as having a deficit. It also helps connect students with employment opportunities where their language skills might be relevant.

Janaki Mehta and Peer News. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases of the norovirus continue to surge in parts of the US. The CDC says more than 90 cases of the virus were confirmed in the first week of this month. The agency says the caseload exceeds the number of outbreaks recorded in early December in the years leading up to the pandemic.

At the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 29 points. This is NPR News.