NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-26-2024 11PM EST

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

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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. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. New York has passed legislation to create a climate superfund. The law will let the state find major emitters of greenhouse gases and use that money collected to better protect people from extreme weather.

NPR's Alejandra Barunda reports. Human-caused climate change is expensive. This year alone, New York State saw eight weather disasters that cost more than $1 billion each, and that cost is likely to increase as the planet heats up. New York's new law works like the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program, where polluters pay the cost of cleaning up an environmental problem they caused. The state will be able to find climate polluters some $3 billion each per year over the next 25 years. Vermont signed a

similar bill into law earlier this year. Legal experts say it's likely New York's new law will be challenged in court. Alejandra Burunda, NPR News. The European Union has threatened to impose further sanctions on Russia after one of its cargo ships was blamed for cutting an underwater cable. As the BBC's Paul Moss reports, the S-Link 2, which carries electricity between Finland and Estonia, stopped working on Wednesday. What we're told is that at the exact moment that the cable stopped working, a ship was

passing exactly over the point where the cable is, this ship, the Eagle S. Now the Eagle S is an interesting ship, registered to the Cook Islands, which means nothing. The Finns suspect it's operating on behalf of Russia. They raided the ship, they didn't waste much time, and they now have suspicion that it's anchor was what was used to break the cable that stopped working. This kind of sabotage is accelerating. Last month, November saw two crucial cables also cut,

one between Germany and Finland, one between Sweden and Lithuania. That's the BBC's Paul Moss reporting. The auto sector is now facing two seismic changes, the rise in electrification and the emergence of Chinese automakers. And as NPR's Rafael Nam reports, that's why Honda and Nissan are in talks about a merger. Honda and Nissan are two major Japanese automakers with long histories. This week they said they're in talks to merge. What's driving this is first the need to adapt to an electric future.

Neither Honda nor Nissan are producing the buzzy electric vehicles they need to. Combining forces could allow them to become more competitive. There's another major reason behind the talks. Chinese automakers have been pretty successful so far in adapting to EVs. They now largely dominate China and are targeting markets abroad. China has become the world's biggest auto exporter and therefore a big threat to companies like Honda and Nissan. Rafal Nam, NPR News Israeli airstrikes Thursday hit the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sana'a as well as multiple ports across the country. The country's major airport was also hit as the World Health Organization's Director-General was about to board a flight.

Israel's military says it targeted infrastructure used by the Houthis. The strikes followed several days of Houthi attacks on Israel. This is NPR News. Scientists are now paying more attention to tiny plastic particles known as microplastics. As NPR's Will Stone reports, according to a new study, these particles are being detected in many different organs and tissues in the human body. The authors conclude that microplastics are suspected to harm reproductive, digestive, and respiratory health, with a possible link to colon and lung cancer. While scientists know these plastic particles are accumulating inside of us, proving a direct link to health conditions remains challenging.

The review did include several studies that showed associations with concentrations of microplastics and birth weight, also chronic sinusitis. Tracy Woodruff, a UCSF researcher, says much of the data in their review came from animal studies, which can be hard to extrapolate from, but... I just want to say in the field of environmental health, when we have concerning signals, we should be concerned. It's already known that some chemicals in plastic can be hazardous to human health. Will Stone, NPR News.

Actor Hudson Meek has died. Officials say the 16-year-old could not recover from injuries he received when he fell out of a moving vehicle in Alabama earlier this month. Meek made his onscreen debut in 2014's The SantaCon, but is perhaps best known for his role in the 2017 film Baby Driver where he played a younger version of the title character. Tucker Gleason ran for one overtime score and threw four more as Toledo beat Pittsburgh 48 to 46 today. The game set a bowl record of six overtimes. The previous record of five over times was just set on Tuesday

Pitt freshman Julian Dugger ran for two overtime scores and threw two more Kansas State meanwhile came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Rutgers 44 to 41 I'm Dale Willman and PR News