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

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. In Kazakhstan, investigators are piecing together why an Azerbaijan Airlines jet crashed yesterday, killing 38 people, 29 others survived. As NPR's Russell Lewis reports, video of the wreckage shows numerous punctures on the exterior of the fuselage. The Embraer 190 took off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku for a flight to Grozny in Russia. This area has seen numerous drone attacks fired from Ukraine and anti-aircraft artillery used by Russia. Yesterday, as the plane approached Grozny, the aviation tracking site Flight Radar 24

said the jet encountered significant GPS interference. Survivors of the crash said they heard an explosion and then the plane began to buffet. For the next 75 minutes, the pilots wrestled the aircraft as it climbed and descended uncontrollably before crashing near an airport in Kazakhstan. Video of the debris showed numerous holes on the rear of the aircraft,

punctures that happened outside the jet. As the investigation continues, Azerbaijan Airlines have suspended all flights from Baku into Grozny. Russell Lewis, NPR News. It's been more than two months since Hurricane Helene hit the southern U.S. Tens of thousands of homes were damaged and thousands of people were displaced. MPR's Katie Ariddle reports the mental health needs of people who survived that storm are significant. Ashville, North Carolina was hit hard by the storm.

Many therapists here say the experience of treating people for trauma has been both difficult and gratifying. Anda Pree Rogers is a licensed clinical social worker. Being able to be like a part of the recovery effort in our own community while exhausting is also part of the healing process. Some studies show as much as 40% of a population can develop post-traumatic stress disorder after an event like this. Rogers and other therapists in Western North Carolina are doing their best to prevent that and help people heal.

Katie Ariddle, NPR News, Asheville, North Carolina. Holiday spending surged this year, exceeding expectations and outpacing numbers from last year's gift buying season. That's according to numbers released today by MasterCard's Spending Pulse, which tracks in-store and online retail sales. MasterCard senior advisor and former SACS CEO Steve Sadoff says this year's data is a good sign for the economy. This is a healthy number. It was a little bit higher growth rate than the forecast of 3.2 percent and it indicates that the consumers were shopping and they were out there in the stores.

Speaking there to ABC News. Initial claims for unemployment benefits were down slightly this week. The Labor Department says jobless claims were down 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000, but continuing claims rose 46,000 to 1.9 million. U.S. futures contracts are trading lower at this hour. You're listening to NPR News. Cases of wild polio have increased in Afghanistan. New data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show there were 23 reported polio virus cases in 2024, as NPR's Gabriel Emanuel reports, the highest number in four years.

Global health experts are trying to eradicate polio, and wild polio remains an issue only in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, the regime initially supported the polio vaccination campaign. But the Taliban abruptly reversed course in September of this year, imposing national restrictions. Polio eradication has also been hindered by the mandated repatriation of about one million Afghans who had been living in Pakistan. Many moved to the two provinces in Afghanistan where the majority of wild polio cases have recently been detected.

Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News. Finnish police say authorities detained a ship linked to Russia as they look into whether it damaged a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables. It's the latest in a series of incidents disrupting key underwater infrastructure. Police and border guards boarded the Eagle S and took control. This after the S Line 2 undersea power cable was damaged. It carries electricity between Finland and Estonia. Finland calls it aggravated vandalism.

Russian ships have been reported in the Baltic and North Seas over where critical infrastructure lies beneath the surface. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.