The IS has released a new video purporting to show the killing of five men who were accused of spying on behalf of Britain. NPR's EM reports that video included a warning to Britain which recently joined the US in bombing Syria. In a video posted online, the alleged victims are shown on camera one by one. They say their names, jobs and birthplace, the IS stronghold of Raqqa. In what is presented as a confession, they say they smuggled cameras to spy, provided footages for the BBC and gave coordinates to the US-led coalition. But the video is directed at Britain which last month began bombing IS in Syria as the victims kneeled in orange jumpsuits. A masked fighter frightens David Cameron. Speaking in a British accent, he promises that IS will one day invade the UK. In recent months, IS has claimed the assassination of three Syrian activists in Turkey. EM, NPR news, Beirut.

 

 

President Obama is back at the White House after Hawaiian vacation. And the House and the  go back into session over the next weeks and sentencing reform is high on their agenda. It has rare bipartisan support. NPR's Kerry Johnson reports though that they're facing time restraints. President Obama says reducing the number of the non-violent drug offenders in prison is a priority for his last year in office. Republican house speaker Paul Ryan has been sending a hopeful note too. But there is not much time on the legislative calendar to move.That's because of congressional brakes in the intensifying presidential campaign. Negotiations over the precise language in the justice overall plans and what kind of people they would help are far from finished. Lawmakers have been parring over a measure that would raise the burden of proof for prosecutors in many food safety and environment cases. And they have yet to compromise on what to do about offenders who use guns in the course of their crimes. Kerry Johnson, NPR news, Washington.  And you're listening to NPR news.

 

 

In Oregon, officials are warning people to stay away from the headquarters of a National Wildlife Refuge as an armed group of protestors who support two ranchers, a father and a son, occupied the space. The two faced additional time in prison for starting a fire on federal land. Among the occupiers are the sons of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada ranchers who was involved in a standoff with the government over grazing rights in 2014. 

 

 

The National Park Service is marking its centennial this year. Large crowds are expected to attend celebrations and some of the country's most popular and oldest parks. And as NPR's Kirk Siegler reports the number of visitations could set a new record. The 2015 totals are still being tallied but the number of visitors at America's national parks is expected to crest 300 million. And the park system saw more visitors in the first 10 months of 2015 than it's ever experienced. This is a good news-bad news situation. The Parks Service is certainly encouraged by the amount of interests and visiting and experiencing some of the country's most spectacular wild places but it also means more pollution, and traffic and already clogged mountain highways in parks like Yosemite and Glacier. Yellow Stone, the country's first park, also reported a higher-than usual number of human-wildlife conflicts this last year in which tourist were getting two close to animals. For the centennial, many parks are planning crowd management. Kirk Siegler, NPR news.

 

 

In Green Bay Wisconsin, the last regular season game in 2015 and a play-off season will be played tonight When the Packers host the Minnesota Vikings, the winner will be the NFC North Champ. I'm Jeanine Herbst. NPR news in Washington.