NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-26-2024 6AM EST

Episode Date: December 26, 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 in Washington, I'm Korova 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 from Keefe. Today marks the 20th anniversary of a massive earthquake and tsunami that rolled across the Indian Ocean. More than 230,000 people were killed in about a dozen countries, mostly in Southeast Asia. But the tsunami was so powerful, it rolled across the Indian Ocean and crashed into East Africa. It killed some 300 people in Somalia, Tanzania, and Kenya.

Japan Airlines says that it came under a cyber attack that affected some domestic and international flights. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports the source of the attack remains under investigation. Japan's National Airlines said that its luggage check-in system came under attack Thursday morning local time. Some two dozen domestic flights were delayed for up to an hour, and some international flights were also affected, mostly at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

The incident prompted JAL to halt domestic and international ticket sales for the rest of the day, but tickets already bought could still be used. The airline said it shut down part of the system that was affected by the attack, but added that the attack could have a larger impact on its flights. JAL said no customer information was leaked or stolen in the attack and no other domestic airlines were affected. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. A NASA spacecraft has apparently set a new record for the closest encounter with the

sun by a human-made object. The Parker Solar Probe endured extreme heat and radiation in the flyby. But NPR's Julianna Kim reports scientists won't know until at least tomorrow whether the spacecraft survived. The Parker solar probe came within four million miles of the sun's surface on Christmas Eve. To put it in perspective, that's 10 times closer than the orbit of Mercury, the closest planet to the home star. As the spacecraft flew around the sun, it also set a record for being the fastest human-made object, traveling so fast it could have gone from New York to Tokyo in less than a minute. Now the question is whether the spacecraft survived. NASA says scientists won't

know the answer until Friday. The purpose of this mission is to better understand the sun, like how to predict its solar storms. If all goes well, the spacecraft will start sending back data from this recent close encounter at the end of January. Juliana Kim, NPR News. On Wall Street in pre-market, trading stock futures are lower. This is NPR. 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 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 by Panama's president and other Latin American leaders. It's been more than two months since Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern U.S. Tens of thousands of homes were damaged and thousands of people were displaced. And Piers Kittieriddle reports the mental health needs of people who survived the storm are significant. Piers Kittieriddle, P.S.

Asheville, 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. Ann Dupree Rogers is a licensed clinical social worker. Being able to be 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. Officials with the Mega Millions lotto say the jackpot has now soared well past one billion dollars. Nobody matched all six winning numbers in the Christmas Eve drawing. You may want to check those lotto tickets that were tucked into your Christmas stocking. The next drawing for the Mega Millions is tomorrow night. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.