NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-25-2024 7PM EST

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

NPR News: 12-25-2024 7PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Japanese automakers are getting ready for possible tariffs on their exports under the incoming Trump administration. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports on how at least one company is already responding. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, NPR News Toyota said Tuesday that it plans to donate a million dollars to President-elect Trump's inauguration, the first time it's contributed to a U.S. presidential inauguration. It announced the move a day after Ford and GM said they'd make similar donations. Trump has proposed 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico,

where Toyota makes pickup trucks for the U.S. market. But some analysts believe that Trump could skip the tariffs on car exporters who shift production to the U.S. Or, they add, Trump might have to back away from tariffs skip the tariffs on car exporters who shift production to the U.S. Or they add Trump might have to back away from tariffs if they cause inflation to spike at home. Japan also faces the risk of fallout from a potential U.S. trade war with its main trading partner China.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. Turkey says it has an action plan to help repair and rebuild the infrastructure in neighboring war-torn Syria. Empires Fatma Tanis has more from Istanbul. Turkey's transportation minister said Syria's airports, bridges, railways and roads all needed fixing. The minister said a Turkish team recently went to inspect Syria's five airports and found only two of them, the ones in Damascus and Aleppo, were operational, but both needed significant upgrades. The team discovered there were no radar systems at the airports and that Syrian airport workers had been using radar applications on cell phones to manage

flights. They noted that the computers were from the 1990s, there were no metal detector systems, and the runways were in bad condition. The transportation minister added that, quote, Syria will need everything in order to rebuild itself from scratch. Fatma Tanis, NPR News, Istanbul. In his traditional Christmas message, Pope Francis urged people around the world to find the courage to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions that plague the world.

Today also marks the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration and pilgrims lined up early to walk through the Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica. Meanwhile, in France, thousands of people filled the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris to celebrate Christmas. It was the first time the cathedral held a Christmas service since a devastating fire tore through the landmark in 2019. Worshippers and other visitors marveled at the restoration of the recently renovated and reopened, centuries-old, Cathedral.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The National Institutes of Health is investing $300 million for the study of treatments for long COVID. The funds will be allocated over the next four years. And as Sarah Bowden reports, the decision from the NIH comes after major efforts by patient activists to pressure the agency to fund more clinical trials. Sarah Bowden 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 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. A popular eye drop brand is being recalled because of possible fungal contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration says Texas-based Alcon Labs voluntarily recalled sustained lubricant eye drops Ultra PF after a customer complained about foreign material that could be seen inside the sealed individual use containers. The company says it investigated and found out that that material was fungal, which can cause eye infections. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Wondery Kids and the number one kids science podcast, Wow in the World. Be wowed by fascinating companion audio stories that come exclusively with each Wow in the

World STEM toy. Shop the full collection today at Amazon.com slash Wondery Kids.