NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-23-2024 11PM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

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SHAYE STEPHENS 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. SHAYE STEPHENS Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shaye Stevens. Top Arab diplomats continue to visit Damascus as the international community welcomes Syria

back into the fold. As NPR's Sidil Al-Salchi reports, there has been a steady stream of foreign politicians visiting Syria since the fall of the Assad regime two weeks ago. The Qatari and Jordanian foreign ministers held talks today with the new Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Shar'a and vowed to quote, support a peaceful transition of power. Shar'a also met with a Saudi official, unlike Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan had relations with the Assad government. The Turkish foreign minister was also in Damascus, the first to visit the new Syrian government.

At that meeting, Shar'a announced that all weapons would come under the control of the Syrian Ministry of Defense and that the rebel factions that helped topple the Assad regime would be disbanded. Turkey and Qatar backed the rebels who overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Damascus. The U.S. military says it carried out an airstrike in Syria today, killing two Islamic State operatives and wounding a third. U.S. Central Command says the ISIS figures are moving a truckload of weapons in the eastern

province of Deir ez-Dur. The man who was accused of fatally shooting, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, has pleaded not guilty. Twenty-six-year-old Luigi Mangione has been arraigned on numerous counts, including first-degree murder. NPR's Sarah Ventry has more from New York. In a brief court appearance, Mangione pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges. His attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said during the hearing that she's concerned about

Mangione's right to a fair trial. He was on display for everyone to see in the biggest staged perp walk I've ever seen in my career. There was no reason for the NYPD and everybody to have these big assault rifles that frankly I had no idea it was in their arsenal. And what was the New York City mayor doing at this press conference? If he's found guilty in the state case, the 26-year-old faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mangione has also been charged with four federal counts, including

murder through the use of a firearm, which is eligible for the death penalty. Sarah Ventry, NPR News, New York. The House Ethics Committee has released a long-awaited report on former member Matt Gates. The panel opened an investigation into the Florida Republican in 2021, amid allegations of illegal drug use and sexual misconduct. As NPR's Barbara Sprump reports, the report found that Gates had violated several laws. The report alleges that Gates accepted bribes connected to a trip to the Bahamas, and the committee found that Gates used or possessed illegal drugs on various occasions

from 2017 to 2019 and engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old in 2017. Now, in 2021, the FBI did investigate Gates over possible sex trafficking violations. But the... NPR's Barbara Sprott reporting. This is NPR News. President Biden has signed the annual defense Authorization Bill, which boosts military spending to $895 billion. The measure also authorized a 14.5 percent pay increase for junior enlisted service members

and a 4.5 percent pay raise for others. Biden signed the measure despite objections to language that bans transgender health care for military children. The measure also seeks to counter China's growing power by banning the Pentagon's purchase of a range of Chinese goods. The National Institutes of Health is investing $300 million for the study of treatments into long COVID. The funds will be allocated over the next four years. And as Sarah Bowden reports, this decision from the NIH comes after major efforts by patient advocates to pressure the agency to fund more clinical trials.

People have been suffering for years with long COVID and patients say that the pace of the NIH's search for new treatments has been too slow. And the $300 million probably isn't enough money to produce a new drug. Megan Stone is the executive director of the Long COVID campaign. What's critical when you have limited funding that doesn't yet match the scale of the problem is that those investments are even smarter. And so that's going to require making good bets on good people. And that includes labs and researchers working on Long COVID that the NIH hasn't traditionally funded.

The NIH says it understands the urgency for Long COVID treatments, but first, scientists needed a solid understanding of Long COVID's biological mechanisms. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Bowden. This is NPR News. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow. Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family. For additional information, visit DignityMemorial.ca.