NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-27-2024 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

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Windsor-Johnston. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor-Johnston. The White House says it's monitoring the investigation into the Azerbaijani passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Preliminary reports show the jet went down because of physical and technical external interference. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says it's possible that Russian weapons hit the plane. We do have have seen some early indications that would certainly point to

the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems. That said, there's an ongoing investigation right now. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are conducting this jointly. Images of the plane's tails show damage consistent with explosives. At least 38 people were killed in the crash. 29 survived. Ukraine has sent 500 tons of wheat flour to Syria as part of its humanitarian program Grain from Ukraine. NPR's Hanna Palomarenko reports the Ukrainian government says more than 33,000 families will receive the flour in the coming weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that the flour was sent in cooperation with the World Food Program. Each package has enough to feed a family of five for a month. A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Georgiy Tykhiy, added that this is part of Ukraine's policy towards Syria, and more assistance is expected in the future. This humanitarian aid is not a separate action.

This is a broader attitude of Ukraine towards the Syrian people with a sincere desire to help in a difficult situation," he said. The Grain from Ukraine program was launched in 2022. Ukraine is among the world's largest exporters of grain. Hanna Polomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. Human-caused climate change added more than 40 extra days of dangerous heat this year. NPR's Alejandra Barunda reports this exacerbated weather disasters around the world. Throughout the year, scientists with the group World Weather Attribution keep track of weather

disasters and tease out the ways human-driven climate change affected them. This year they looked at nearly 30 disasters. Of those, climate change did play a role and often a major role in most of the events we studied, making heat, droughts, tropical cyclones, and heavy rainfall more likely and more intense. That's Frederike Otto. She's a climate scientist at Imperial College Lundgren and the founder of World Weather Attribution. She says a New Year's resolution for everyone should be cutting fossil fuel burning in order to stop the climate pollution problem at its source. Alejandra Burunda, NPR News. This is NPR. Rwanda's outbreak of Marburg virus, which is similar to Ebola, is officially over and

the country is now working to support the survivors. NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel reports the small African country achieved one of the lowest death rates from the illness ever recorded. Marburg is famous for killing up to 90% of those who fall ill. But in Rwanda, the death rate was 22.7%, largely because of the country's strong health care system. But the virus can linger in some survivors. Even though their blood tests negative for the virus, their semen can test positive, and the virus can be sexually transmitted.

Joel Montgomery is with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's a whole new research area that we need to explore. Rwanda is now doing semen monitoring for survivors as well as other support, since, like Ebola, many have lingering health problems and can face stigma when they return to their communities. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News. The largest electric car company in China has fired the subcontractor that provided workers for its factory in Brazil. Brazilian labor officials found unsafe working conditions at BYD, including long hours and evidence of forced labor. An investigation also found that workers were forced to give up their passports and 60 percent of their wages.

The subcontractor denied the claims, saying they're the result of cultural misunderstandings. This is NPR News.