NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-26-2024 4PM EST

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Investigators are learning more about the crash of an Azerbaijan passenger jet that left 38 people dead. NPR's Brian Mann reports the plane went down on Wednesday in Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board when the plane went down while en route from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny. There were 29 survivors. Video shows the plane went down while en route from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny. There were 29 survivors. Video shows the plane flying erratically before the fiery crash. There is widespread speculation in Ukraine the airliner may have been hit mistakenly

by Russian anti-aircraft weapons. In a statement on social media, Andriy Kovalenko, head of a think tank linked to Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said a Russian anti-aircraft system, quote, damaged the plane and disabled its systems. His analysis is based on photographs and video of the crash and couldn't be independently confirmed by NPR. Brian Mann, NPR News, Kyiv. Today marks 20 years since a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia. The quake triggered a tsunami that washed across the Indian Ocean, devastating parts

of Southeast Asia and East Africa. Margareta Siragar is an international aid worker. She describes the stories she heard from children shortly after the tsunami hit. Some of the children told me that they saw the waves such a giant cobra. The current was just flowing across the coconut trees. It was even higher than the coconut trees. And it was kind of like chasing them. And some even said that the clothes that they wore

was torn apart by the waste because it was so strong. Survivors and families of victims are holding vigils across more than a dozen countries today to remember their loved ones. Three months after Hurricane Helene hit the mountain communities of western North Carolina, thousands of people are still out of their homes. Jay Price reports winter weather is now slowing repair work. Pinky Anderson and her 14-year-old daughter

are among more than 5,000 storm survivors FEMA still has in hotels. She's applied with FEMA and a charity group for money to fix their damaged house, but doesn't have any word yet. She says many of the 23 others in their small hotel in tiny Newland, North Carolina are in the same fix. It's just gone on too long and we need some help. We are totally forgotten. We're not seen right now. FEMA officials are trying to find longer-term options for those who are displaced. It's put a few dozens so far into mobile units and more than 500 into rental housing. But the area already had a shortage of affordable housing and FEMA is having to offer rent of

up to twice the fair market value. For NPR News, I'm Jay Price. On Wall Street, the Dow was up 28 points. This is NPR. President-elect Donald Trump has a long list of issues when he takes office. Ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. is one of them. Julia Gillette is with the Migration Policy Institute. She says the issue seems to be gaining traction. I think that as unauthorized immigration has risen at

certain periods of time, there's been more attention to what rights unauthorized immigrants have in the United States and the right to have a child who's automatically a US citizen is one of those rights. Birthright citizenship has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1868 when the 14th Amendment was ratified. Scientists are paying more attention to tiny plastic particles known as microplastics. NPR's Will Stone reports they're 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.

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