NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-26-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korava Coleman. President Biden is calling Russia's Christmas Day attacks on Ukraine horrendous. Russia launched roughly 70 missiles and more than 100 drones loaded with explosives. NPR's Brian Mann reports from Kyiv the target was Ukraine's energy grid. This is clearly rattling the system. The biggest utility in the country said yesterday that this strike was the 13th large attack on the energy grid this year alone. Even before yesterday's missile launch, there were already rolling blackouts across the

country. These explosions and fires caused more power outages. A lot of homes lost heat. NPR's Brian Mann reporting. Japanese steel maker Nippon Steel says it will delay its deadline to acquire U.S. steel from the end of this year to March. And Pierce Anthony Kuhn reports the deal is valued at more than $14 billion.

Nippon Steel said it's pushing back the deadline because President Joe Biden is still reviewing the deal, as are Department of Justice antitrust authorities. It added that it hopes Biden will give the deal a fair and fact-based evaluation. The Interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. failed to reach a consensus on the deal this week and referred the matter to President Biden, who has 15 days to decide. President Biden has publicly opposed the deal, as has President-elect Donald Trump. At issue is whether a foreign firm's purchase of an important U.S. company amounts to a national security risk.

Some Japanese are offended by U.S. officials praising their country as a key ally in some respects but accusing them of being a security risk in others. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Seoul. President-elect Trump has named a local county commissioner in Florida to be the next ambassador to Panama. Trump says Kevin Marina Cabrera also worked on his 2020 presidential campaign. Trump used the announcement to again bash Panama over fees on the Panama Canal. He's been demanding that Panama return control of the canal to the U.S. Trump has been rebuked over this statement by Panama's president

and by other Latin American leaders. Nearly half of U.S. teens say that they're online almost constantly. That's according to a recent survey of 13 to 17-year-olds. NPR's Corey Turner reports. The survey from Pew Research Center found that nearly all teens, 95%, have access to a smartphone and use the Internet daily. That half of teens who say they're online almost constantly?

That compares to just 24% who said the same a decade ago. Where are they going online? YouTube was the most popular site by far, followed by TikTok and Instagram. Teen use of Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, has fallen dramatically. Last year, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory saying while social media can have benefits for teens, there is real concern that overuse may also be driving a national youth mental health crisis.

Corey Turner, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. There are winter storm warnings and advisories posted from Washington State to Utah. The National Weather Service says this is due to a series of atmospheric river events happening in the Pacific Northwest. The tracking site PowerOutage.us says nearly 70 million customers in Washington and Oregon are out of power.

Anyone cuddling their pup this holiday season knows that humans have a close relationship with dogs. But how far back can that bond be traced? Reporter Emily Kwong has more on the latest findings from the world of archeology. The animals known as canids, that includes wolves and dogs, were likely domesticated in Eurasia. And people who crossed the Bering Strait thousands of years ago likely had canines

by their side. New evidence from bones found in Alaska supports this theory. Specifically, a 12,000-year-old leg bone excavated in Fairbanks that was filled with fossilized salmon protein. Salamans are not naturally available in big quantities in a place like Fairbanks. Lead author Francois Lanois, based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, says it's more likely this wolf was fed salmon at the hands of its human companions. For Impure News, I'm Emily Kwong. Officials with the Mega Millions lotto say that the jackpot has now soared well past $1 billion.

Nobody matched all six winning numbers in the Christmas Eve drawing. You may want to check those lottery tickets that were tucked into your Christmas stocking. The next drawing for the Mega Millions lotto is tomorrow night. I'm Korva Kuhlman, NPR News in Washington.