NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-23-2024 2PM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

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Hi, I'm Katherine Maher, CEO of NPR, where we're guided by a bold mission, to create a more informed public. Join us today by giving at donate.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The House Ethics Committee has released its final report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz. The panel found evidence that Gaetz violated House rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, and obstruction of Congress.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations. Retiring Texas Congresswoman Kate Granger announced this weekend she's facing health challenges. Katherine Hobbs from member station KERA reports her family says she's living at a facility for seniors. The Fort Worth Republican hasn't cast a vote in Congress since July. Her office did not say what health issue she's been facing but Granger's son told the Dallas Morning News his mother is experiencing dementia issues. He also denied reports that she was in a memory care facility.

Granger's faced criticism from local Republicans for her absence and not disclosing her condition sooner. Granger is 81 and the first Republican woman elected to represent Texas in Congress. She did not run for reelection this year and will be replaced by Texas State Representative Craig Goldman. I'm Catherine Hobbs in Dallas. More than 50 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza over the last three days. Health officials say the attacks targeted a school where displaced families lived.

NPR's Carrie Kahn reports Israel says a Hamas command center was in sight of the compound. Gaza's civil defense agency says a wave of Israeli airstrikes since Friday has killed dozens of people. The agency says two children sheltering at a school were killed in a strike in northern Gaza. Israel has been fighting a focused offensive in North Gaza, one of the fiercest in the war since October, to drive out Hamas militants. The director of one of the last functioning hospitals there says hundreds of patients and civilians are in danger from the constant bombardment.

Israel's military says it is operating in the vicinity but denies targeting the hospital. The head of the World Health Organization called on Israel to stop attacks near the hospital. Ceasefire talks continue. Israeli and Hamas mediators are still negotiating details and timelines, though are not public. Kari Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv. The National Institutes of Health is expected to invest $300 million into research treatments for long COVID. Health reporter Sarah Bowden reports many patients are frustrated that researchers have yet to come up with a reliable treatment. Patient

advocacy groups say this pace is just way too slow and also they feel that there's been too much focus in trying to understand why people get sick with long COVID but not enough attention on trying to relieve their suffering, helping them feel better. That's Sarah Bowden reporting. On Wall Street, the Dow was down 20 points. This is NPR News from Washington.

New leaders in Syria have made several high-level appointments to the interim government. They're seeking to rebuild the country and its relations with the world after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. NPR's Fatma Tanis reports that some of the appointees have ties to neighboring Turkey. Turkey has long backed the opposition to Bashar al-Assad's regime and is hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world. Now, the country is set to play an influential role in the new Syria. Syria's new Foreign Minister Asad El-Shebani lived in Turkey and was pursuing graduate studies in international relations at a university in Istanbul. The new governor of Aleppo, Azam

El-Gharib, was part of a Turkish proxy rebel group and completed his masters at a university in Turkey. And the first woman to have a role in the new administration, Ayse El Dibs, will head the Women's Affairs Office. She led an NGO in Turkey and worked with Syrian refugees. She's a dual citizen of Turkey and Syria. Fatma Tanis, NPR News, Istanbul. The third endangered whale has been spotted entangled in fishing gear off the East Coast. The North Atlantic right whales, which number fewer than 400, are vulnerable to ship collisions and entanglement gear.

Officials say the whale was located about 60 miles off the outer banks of North Carolina last week. Stalks continue to trade mixed on Wall Street. The Dow is down 23 points of this hour. The NASDAQ Composite trading higher, up 174. This is NPR News. cell service, all the things we rely on every day can be unreliable or inaccessible in an emergency. But through any storm or crisis, radio is a lifeline. Support the resource that's here for you no matter what. Give today at donate.npr.org.