NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

NPR News: 11-18-2024 10AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On the TED Radio Hour, on December 24, NASA's Parker Solar Probe will touch the Sun. The spacecraft will hit the closest approach ever to the Sun. Astrophysicist Noor Awafi leads the mission. We will be making history. To this day, it's still like magic to me. Ideas about the Sun. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. Most European Union leaders are welcoming President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine an expanded use of U.S.-made long-range missiles.

A U.S. official confirms the change in policy to NPR. Terry Schultz reports from Brussels the decision also affects whether Ukraine can use some European weapons. Ukraine's European allies have long been pressing the Biden administration to let Kyiv use U.S. long-range weapons to strike targets such as weapons depots, troop buildups and supply lines deep inside Russian territory. While it's not yet clear what the U.S. decision allows Ukraine to hit, EU leaders meeting in Brussels are welcoming any loosening of restrictions on these capabilities. Here's EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell. Ukraine

should be able to use the arm we provided to them. Burrell says that means not just stopping the arrows but also hitting the archers. European governments also need U.S. permission to allow Kiev to use weapons they provided if they contain American components or require U.S. technology for deployment. For NPR News, I'm Terri Schulz in Brussels. The issue of Ukraine's use of U.S.-made weapons may come up at the G20 summit now underway in Brazil. President Biden is attending the meeting in Rio de Janeiro. There's interest in President-elect Donald Trump's plans to stop drug trafficking into the U.S.

He's focused on securing the border and cracking down on dealers and traffickers. The Biden administration focused on a public health model to slow the crisis in fentanyl overdoses. Some Trump supporters want a tougher approach. But NPR's Brian Mann reports there's been a recent decrease in overdose deaths. Drug deaths actually dropped sharply over the last year, a trend that saved about 16,000

lives according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A lot of people I talk to say they're worried Trump will cut or defund programs like the Affordable Care Act that appear to be helping. One more thing I'm hearing is that no one believes this crisis can be solved fast. Progress is being made, but the fix for fentanyl is expected to take years, maybe decades. NPR's Brian Mann reporting. Stocks opened mixed this morning as Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average slipped about 55 points in early trading. Spirit says it will keep flying and

honoring passengers tickets as it tries to restructure more than a billion dollars in debt. The discount airline has struggled to compete with bigger carriers. A planned merger with JetBlue was blocked earlier this year by a federal judge, and merger talks with Frontier Airlines also failed. Tesla shares are trading higher after Bloomberg reported that the incoming Trump administration plans to relax rules on self-driving vehicles. Some of the nation's biggest retailers are set to report earnings this week. The news from Walmart, Target, and Lowe's will offer another window on consumer spending.

Last week, the Commerce Department reported a bigger-than-expected jump in retail sales for October. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is now down 54 points. This is NPR News. The private company SpaceX says it will try again tomorrow to carry out the next test launch of its massive Starship rocket from its facility in southern Texas. The rocket is nearly 400 feet tall. Texas Public Radio's Jerry Clayton reports it's been on five previous

test flights. SpaceX says the launch window will begin at 4 p.m. Central Time Tuesday at the facility in far south Texas at Boca Chica. The test flight will focus on ship and booster capabilities as well as the chopsticks the company is using to catch its boosters. The main spacecraft will continue towards a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean after its suborbital flight. The sixth flight test was originally scheduled for Monday but was pushed forward a day. SpaceX did not reveal the reason for the change in test launch dates. I'm Jerry Clayton in San Antonio.

NASA hopes to use the Starship rocket to carry astronauts to the moon as part of its Artemis program. There's a state of emergency still in effect on part of the border between New Jersey and New York. That's where the Jennings Creek wildfire has burned more than 2,200 acres and left one person dead. It's 90 percent contained, but officials say gusty winds blew the flames over a containment line.

People in scores of homes have been asked to evacuate. What was Super Typhoon Manye is now pulling away from the northern Philippines. Manye is the sixth hurricane intensity storm to hit the Philippines in a month. Officials say a landslide triggered by the typhoon today has killed at least seven people. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.