NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-26-2024 5PM EST

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

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Janine Hurst Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. President Biden vetoed a bill this week that would have created dozens of new federal judge positions. And Piers Asmahallid reports on why he rejected this offer, effort rather, that some lawmakers felt could help with the judicial backlog. Piers Asmahallid The bill calls for 66 new federal judgeships over the next three presidential terms. The Senate passed this legislation in the summer with strong bipartisan support, but House Republicans failed to take up the bill until Donald Trump's victory in November. In a letter to Congress explaining his veto, Biden described the House's actions as

hurried and said the bill failed to resolve questions about how the new judgeships are allocated. Senator Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, was the lead author of the bill, and he's criticizing Biden's decision. In a statement, he wrote, quote, issuing this veto is partisan politics at its worst. Asma Khalid, NPR News. The head of the World Health Organization says he was in Yemen at the airport when it was hit by Israeli airstrikes. And Piers Votmatanis has more. Dr. Tedros Adnan Gebreyesus said he was just about to board a plane in the Yemeni city

of Sana'a when the airport came under bombardment. One crew member was injured, he said, and two other people were reportedly killed. He said the air traffic control tower, the departure lounge and the runway were all damaged. Tedros said he was in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff there and to assess the humanitarian situation in the country. Israel said it hit the airport, two power stations and ports on the coast as it vowed to target Houthi leaders and infrastructure in Yemen after the group's repeated missile attacks at Israel since the beginning of the war in

Gaza last year. Fatma Tanis, NPR News. In Nigeria, the holidays are hard this year as the country deals with its worst economic crisis in decades. Despite recent quarters of economic growth, inflation has soared. The central bank puts inflation at 34 percent, causing food, energy, and necessities to become much more expensive. In Pierre's Emmanuel Ikenwoto reports, that's led to unrest, including stampedes.

Local police say about 60 people have died in three stampedes at different charity events around the country where people were giving out food and cash donations. One of those events was for children in Ibadon. It's a city just outside Lagos. And thousands of people arrived there with their kids, many of them arriving a day before the event even started. But then this charity event just became a tragedy. About 35 children died. Danielle Pletka And here ismanuel Akinwotu reporting. Wall Street ended the day in mixed territory by the closing bell on this holiday-shortened

trading week. The Dow was up 28, the NASDAQ down 10, S&P 500 down 2. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The shortage of a popular obesity and type 2 diabetes drug is over. That's the Food and Drug Administration's decision, after a lawsuit prompted it to re-evaluate whether it was right to remove ZepBound from its official shortage list in October. And pure Sydney Lepkin has more. Almost exactly two years after the shortage of Eli Lilly's ZepBound and Manjaro began, the FDA has declared the shortage of Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Manjaro began, the FDA

has declared the shortage to be resolved. The FDA has heard that some patients have had a hard time filling prescriptions recently, but it doesn't think that means the shortage is ongoing. The agency says it took many factors into account, including the drug manufacturer's inventory data and projected demand. It says it also spoke to patients, healthcare providers, and compounding pharmacies, which had been temporarily allowed to make essentially copies of these drugs during the shortage. Compounding pharmacies will need to stop making copies in the coming months.

Sydney Lepkin, 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. I'm Janene Herbst and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.