Dale Willman

Stocks closed slightly lower on Friday as investors returned from their Christmas holidays.

The S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq all fell less than one-tenth of a percent in light trading.

Treasury yields held steady while U.S.

crude oil fell 2.8 percent.

Gold and silver prices meanwhile continued to rise with silver finishing the day up almost 8 percent.

This is NPR News.

Police say at least two people have been killed in northern Israel and two others wounded in a car ramming and stabbing attack.

Officials say a Palestinian man first crashed his vehicle into people in the northern city of Beit Shin and killed a 68-year-old man.

He then fled onto a highway where he stabbed a teenage woman to death and injured one other person.

The alleged attacker has been hospitalized with injuries.

Musician Perry Bomonte has died.

For decades, he played bass, guitar, and keyboard in the seminal goth band, The Cure.

And Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has this remembrance.

The traditional ball drop on New Year's Eve will also mark the start of the nation's 250th birthday year.

Once the ball hits the bottom, marking the start of the new year, it will rise again, but this time sparkling in red, white and blue.

Officials say there will also be a second confetti drop.

Another ball drop is planned for July 3rd, the first one not on New Year's Eve in 120 years.

I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman.

In rain-drenched Southern California, there were more downpours on the day after Christmas, but the intensity of those storms is finally diminishing.