NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-15-2024 6PM EST

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Hurst. The Israeli government today approved a plan to expand settlements on the occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that strengthening the Golan Heights means strengthening Israel and is especially important at this time. Since the Assad regime was toppled in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes across that country and carried out incursions past the Golan Heights to the previously demilitarized zone. Meanwhile, Israel has closed its embassy in Dublin over what it calls the anti-Israel

policy of the Irish government as relations deteriorate over the war in Gaza. And the Israeli military has started withdrawing from parts of southern Lebanon as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. It's supposed to end the last deadly conflict, which started last October between the two. But as MPR's Emily Fang reports, Israeli strikes continue to hit Lebanon. Israel's military said in a statement that it had destroyed some 300 sites in the past week belonging to Hezbollah, the paramilitary organization that is influential in Lebanon. It also said it had, quote, eliminated many terrorists in operations, especially around a Lebanese town called

Hiam. Hiam is also where the Lebanese military started redeploying this past week as part of the ceasefire agreement signed in late November. Lebanon's defense minister accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, and the Lebanese Health Ministry said one person had been killed by an Israeli drone in Hiam the day after the Lebanese army moved in. Emily Fang and Pure News, Beirut, Lebanon. AMNA NAWAZ. President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is due on Capitol Hill this week to meet with senators. Kennedy, as an independent presidential candidate this year, ran on an anti-vaccine campaign and his personal lawyer had reportedly filed suit to get the FDA to revoke the polio vaccine. That

has gotten pushback from Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor. And Pierce Franco-Ordonez has more. Now Kennedy himself says he doesn't want to take away anyone's choice to take vaccines, but still McConnell, without naming Kennedy, said any efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are, quote, not just uninformed, they're dangerous. He went on to say that anyone seeking Senate confirmation would, quote, do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts. And Piers Franco-Ordonez, unidentified drones over the Northeast have led to a lot of speculation

and concern, and now Germany says there have been sightings over sensitive military and industrial sites, including a U.S. Air Force base. And Piers Robb-Schmidt says more. The sightings, first reported by Der Spiegel magazine, were made by German security authorities who reported several drones flying over the Rammstein U.S. Air Force base on December 3rd and and 4. The report also said unidentified drones were seen over facilities belonging to arms maker Ron Mattal. A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force says its Romstein base is unaffected. NPR's Rob Schmitz, this is NPR News.

Humira is one of the biggest blockbuster drugs of the last two decades. It treats things like psoriasis, certain kinds of arthritis, and Crohn's disease. If you're Sydney Lepkin, reports on a new study that looks at whether patients are switching to lower-cost alternatives. For complex drugs like humera, the copies aren't identical like they are for typical generic drugs. But the alternatives are close, and they're called biosimilars. In the first year of biosimilar competition for Humira, however, the alternatives didn't

win much of the market. Ben Roem of Harvard Medical School co-authored a new study published in the journal JAMA Health Forum, finding only 2% of prescriptions were for the biosimilars. When the biosimilars have such difficulty getting traction, what it means is that the next time a big blockbuster drug faces competition, maybe biosimilar makers are less excited to come to market. He says health insurers paid less for Humira even as its manufacturer raised its official list price.

Sydney Lupkin, NPR News. In the French territory of Meyote, the official death toll from cyclone Chito is at least 11 people, with hundreds injured, according to the island's top government official. But he says it's extremely difficult to get an exact number right now, after the Indian Ocean's islands were pummeled by the intense cyclone yesterday. Officials say that death toll could rise to the hundreds. France rushed rescue teams and supplies to its largely poor overseas department in the Indian Ocean that suffered widespread destruction, including at the airport and flattening of neighborhoods.

Power is also out in many areas. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.