NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-15-2024 8AM EST

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

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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 Korova Coleman. President-elect Donald Trump says he'll nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services Secretary. Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic known for spreading false information about them.

NPR's Stephen Fowler reports, Trump says Kennedy will help deal with the health crisis the U.S. faces. If he's confirmed by the Senate, the role gives Kennedy the chance to actualize a vision that's often at odds with mainstream health and science, likely through a combination of scaling back existing programs and refocusing others to align with his quote, make America healthy again goals. He told NPR that the government isn't going to take away vaccines from anybody, but said the science on vaccine safety has huge deficits.

Now, vaccine experts disagree with that assessment. NPR's Stephen Fowler reporting. The war between Israel and the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah has caused Lebanon more than $8 billion. That's according to a new World Bank report on a country already suffering a long-running financial crisis. NPR's Jane Araf reports from Beirut. The Lebanese government says almost 3,400 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the war began, many of them women and children. And now the World Bank has detailed economic losses. It says physical damage to buildings amounts to 3.4 billion dollars, while overall economic losses have topped more than 5 billion. The biggest impact has been on

housing with almost 100,000 apartments and houses damaged or destroyed. As well as leaving almost a million people displaced, the bank estimates that at least 166,000 people have lost their jobs, leaving many with nowhere to live and no income. Jane Araf and PR News, Beirut. A new U.S. law is set to take effect in January that would ban the video-sharing app TikTok. That's unless TikTok's parent company, based in China, sells it off. Supporters of the law say the TikTok ban is needed because of long-standing national security concerns involving China. But NPR's Windsor Johnston reports TikTok's appeal of the US law is

moving forward. An appeals court is expected to rule by December 6th on a lawsuit filed by TikTok that challenges the ban. Damian Rolison, a social media marketing expert, says the platform has made strong arguments. They've made a case that their First Amendment rights should be protected as well as the First Amendment rights of its creators. And they're also arguing that divesting the U.S. portion of the app would be too difficult to do in the time that was given. The ruling could give the Supreme Court more time to consider the appeal before the law goes into effect in January. However, the incoming attorney general could also decide not to enforce the law.

Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News. The Department of Homeland Security has released a set of best practices for companies that use artificial intelligence. The guidelines are aimed at companies that deal in critical areas such as the power grid, water systems, and air travel networks. The agency is strongly recommended that they look at potentially dangerous capabilities in their AI products and protect users' privacy. There are also guidelines for state and local governments. The union SAG-AFTRA is now representing a new group of workers in Hollywood.

They're called Intimacy Coordinators. The workers have unanimously voted to join the union this week. And Fierce Mandelit Del Barco has more. On film and TV sets, Intimacy Coordinators choreograph sex scenes. They coach nude performers. They monitor closed sets and advocate for actors. SAG-AFTRA is the union that represents actors, among others.

It says, for the past five years, the union has been working with intimacy coordinators to create professional standards and protocols. Now, those behind-the-scenes workers will be represented by the union, which includes 160,000 actors, dancers, stunt performers and broadcast journalists, including NPRs. The head of the union says the intimacy coordinators will soon negotiate their first contract with

the major studios for protections and fair pay. Mandelita Albarco, NPR News. California fire officials say the mountain fire burning northwest of Los Angeles is more than 90 percent contained. It's destroyed more than 240 buildings, many of them homes. The Jennings Creek fire on the border between New York and New Jersey is now about 75 percent contained. I'm Corva Kuhlman, NPR News.