Biden commutes sentences; Long covid; Blake Lively : NPR

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Immediately’s high tales

President Biden used his clemency powers at the moment to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 males on federal loss of life row. They may now serve life in jail with out parole. It is one of the vital vital strikes towards capital punishment in current presidential historical past. Biden didn’t commute the sentences of the other three men, who have been concerned in circumstances of terrorism or hate-fueled mass homicide.

• 🎧 Biden launched a press release this morning saying he condemns the folks convicted of homicide on federal loss of life row and grieves the victims of the crimes, NPR’s Deepa Shivaram tells Up First. He defined his decision to commute the sentences was guided by his conscience, his expertise as a public defender, and his time as a senator, vp and president. The opportunity of the incoming administration resuming federal executions that he halted in 2021 performed an element within the consideration to commute the sentences, in accordance with Biden’s assertion.

The Nationwide Institutes of Well being introduced a $300 million funding to analysis remedies for lengthy COVID. The company, in whole, has directed $1.8 billion towards finding out the illness, which has been linked to excessive fatigue, mind fog, and coronary heart issues.

• 🎧 Affected person advocacy teams say there’s an excessive amount of give attention to understanding why folks get sick and never sufficient give attention to relieving folks’s struggling, says Sarah Boden with NPR-KFF Well being Information collaboration. Within the U.S., there are an estimated 17 million adults with lengthy COVID. Many are unable to work or care for his or her households. The NIH says there’s actual urgency to find remedies for the illness’s long-term results, however scientists first need a solid understanding of the underlying biology.

Lebanon is stuffed with antiquities just like the Greco-Roman ruins, Crusader castles and Ottoman structure, however some have been broken within the Israel-Hezbollah battle. With a shaky ceasefire in place, officers are working to assess the damage to these cultural heritage sites.

• 🎧 NPR’s Lauren Frayer lately visited a number of of these websites. She noticed the Byzantine fortifications of a walled previous metropolis destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. “These are among the iconic websites you see on postcards of Lebanon,” she says. In mid-November, the United Nations added 34 websites in Lebanon to its listing of protected cultural properties hoping to stop injury to them. However it did not help with all of them. The World Financial institution estimates the price of injury and financial losses from the battle in Lebanon to be about $8.5 billion. Rebuilding can not start in plenty of areas till Israeli troops totally withdraw.

Immediately’s hear

Folks flutter a Palestinian flag in Lisbon throughout a Dec. 8, 2023, demonstration in assist of the Palestinian folks and demanding a cease-fire in Gaza.

Armando Franca/AP

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Armando Franca/AP

Folks flutter a Palestinian flag in Lisbon throughout a Dec. 8, 2023, demonstration in assist of the Palestinian folks and demanding a cease-fire in Gaza.

Armando Franca/AP

Musician Saint Levant has been promoting out European and U.S. venues performing songs about his household and Gaza, the place he grew up. His newest album, Deira, is an ode to his heritage and the Gaza lodge his father constructed, which was destroyed within the battle. At his concert events, he opens with the identical tune, “On This Land,” a part of which was recorded in Gaza through the battle. The 24-year-old additionally talked about falling out and in of affection together with his music. NPR’s Majd Al-Waheidi caught up with him earlier than a present in D.C.

• 🎧 Hearken to snippets of his music, what he has to say about his new music and the way the battle has influenced it.

Image present

Bolivian skate boarders exhibit their strikes on the Smithsonian Folklife Competition in Washington, D.C., in June. Along with doing demos, they taught skateboard fundamentals to children as younger as 3.

Ben de la Cruz/NPR

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Ben de la Cruz/NPR

Goats and Soda, NPR’s international well being and growth weblog, revealed a number of photo-driven tales that resonated with folks in 2024. The staff gathered a sampling of their favourite picture posts from the previous 12 months. The listing contains dramatic drone pictures of the world’s “foodscapes,” a take a look at households striving to offer wholesome meals for his or her children and Bolivian ladies skateboarding of their conventional clothes and bowler hats. You may see the colourful and telling pictures by clicking here.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

Blake Full of life is seen at an Aug. 8 screening in London for the film This Is Us. In a authorized grievance, the actor accuses co-star and director Justin Baldoni and his staff of attacking her popularity after she spoke up about his and a producer’s alleged “repeated sexual harassment and different disturbing conduct” on set.

Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP

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Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP

1. In a authorized grievance, Blake Full of life has accused her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni and his staff of launching a smear marketing campaign to silence her narrative about his and a producer’s alleged repeated sexual harassment.
2. After practically 40 years of enterprise, Occasion Metropolis introduced Saturday that it has began to wind down operations because it prepares to close all of its locations permanently.
3. A girl died Sunday after being set on hearth whereas aboard an F practice in Brooklyn, N.Y. Police have arrested a person of interest within the case. (by way of Gothamist)

This text was edited by Obed Manuel.