NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-27-2024 12AM 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. Some aviation experts are now saying air defense fire from Russia may have brought down the Azerbaijani jetliner that crashed on Christmas Day in Kazakhstan. The flight was heading to the Russian city of Grozny when it was diverted.

NPR's Russell Lewis has more. We know this part of Russia has been subject to drone attacks fired by Ukraine's military. And we also know that Russia has been using anti-aircraft artillery and using GPS jammers to try to shoot down these drones before they get to their targets. Again, it's too soon to pinpoint what happened and why but surely these are the kinds of things that investigators will be parsing over in the days and weeks ahead. 38 people died in the crash while 29 others were injured but survived. Azerbaijan today observed a day of mourning for the victims. For a

brief moment before Congress left Washington for the holidays it appeared that members were about to get their first pay raise in 15 years but as NPR's Barbara Sprunt reports that didn't happen. Misinformation quickly spread about the funding bill with Elon Musk an advisor to President-elect Trump, claiming members of Congress were trying to give themselves a 40 percent pay bump. The bill would have actually made it possible for members to get a cost of living adjustment of 3.8 percent, a roughly $6600 increase. Congressional pay for rank-and-file members is $174,000.

It hasn't been adjusted since 2009. Lawmakers have long blocked a statute that would give them a yearly cost of living pay increase over concerns of political blowback. But critics argue stagnant pay makes it harder to run for Congress unless you're already wealthy. Barbara Sprint and Peer News, The Capital. Severe thunderstorms are rolling across the nation's south tonight more than 100 flights were canceled airports in Dallas and Houston earlier today the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for some of southwestern southeastern Texas as the storm moved through it's now in Arkansas Louisiana and Mississippi bringing the risk of high winds along with potential

tornadoes and hail in New York today, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act. The law will hold gas and oil companies responsible for their effect on climate change. As Harrison Malkin reports, under the law, the state could collect $75 billion from companies over the next 25 years. The money will be used to fund projects in New York like protecting coastal wetlands, improving flood mitigation systems, investing in bridges and roads, and more to deal with extreme heat and flooding that's more likely to occur because of climate change. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the bill will hold polluters responsible for the damage done to

our environment. The measure was modeled on the 1980s super fun law that requires companies to pay to clean up oil and chemical spills. Legal challenges in response to the law are expected to come. For NPR News, I'm Harrison Malkin in New York. Stoxx closed mixed on Wall Street today. This is NPR News. 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 reevaluate whether it was right to remove Zepbond and Manjaro from its official shortage list in October. MPR's Sydney Lupkin reports. Almost exactly two years after the shortage of Eli Lilly's Zepbond and Manjaro began, the FDA has declared the shortage to be resolved. Zepbond 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. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has died. He was 92 years old. Singh is widely regarded as the architect of the country's economic reform program.

He was also responsible for a landmark nuclear deal signed with the US. A statement from the hospital said Singh was being treated for age-related medical conditions at the time of his death. Two sailors have been killed on the first night of the storm-ravaged Sydney to Hobart yacht race in Australia. Race officials say one sailor each from both the flying fish Arktos and the Bo Line In Australia, race officials say one sailor each from both the flying fish Arktos and the Bo Line were killed after being struck by the ship's boom. One other sailor was washed overboard on another boat, but he was rescued. That race is continuing. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.