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Extreme weather disasters like wildfires and floods can devastate communities. On the Sunday story from Up First, we ask, are there places that just aren't safe to live anymore? People are going to die. They will be me and my neighbors, and I don't want that to happen. How we respond to disasters in an era of climate insecurity. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR.
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Israel's cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with Hamas and says the agreement will take effect Sunday. NPR's Greg Myrie reports this could bring an end to more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet met into the early hours of Saturday before finally giving approval to the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Hamas has already said it supports the deal. It's now set to take effect Sunday when Hamas is expected to release three Israeli hostages and Israel plans to free 95 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The first phase of the agreement is set to last six weeks. The two sides will then have to hold additional negotiations to work out the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and to free more Palestinian prisoners. The 15 months of fighting has been the deadliest ever between Israel and Hamas. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
The Biden administration says more medications will be targeted for lower prices under Medicare. NPR's Sydney Lupkin reports negotiating drug prices in Medicare is a power that was created by Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
The federal government and the pharmaceuticals industry are about to go head-to-head once again. In its last full weekday in office, the Biden administration has named the next 15 drugs up for price negotiation in Medicare. Ozempic is on the list.
The type 2 diabetes blockbuster drug is joined by its obesity drug cousin, Wagovi, as well as drugs for various cancers, asthma, psoriasis, and bipolar disorder. The government can't pick just any drugs in Medicare. There are certain rules laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act that say which drugs are eligible. The negotiations will take place in the coming months. Sydney Lufkin, NPR News.
Cleanup for the L.A. wildfires has begun. NPR's Ping Wang reports it starts with train hazmat crews combing areas for hidden dangers.
In the wildfires, regular household items got burned with intense heat. That can turn things like pesticides and propane tanks into explosions and toxic leaks waiting to happen. So the cleanup starts with hazardous waste removal run by the Environmental Protection Agency. Steve Kalinog is their deputy incident commander for the Southern California wildfires.
One of his main concerns is lithium-ion batteries from electric cars.
They can and have catastrophically catch fire days, weeks, months. after they've been thermally assaulted.
Hazardous waste crews wear safety equipment, come with air monitors, and they're trained to deal with dangerous materials like asbestos. Given the dangers, Kalinog says residents should not attempt this cleanup themselves.
Ping Huang and PR News. President-elect Donald Trump will be taking the oath of office inside the Capitol Rotunda Monday with a windchill expected to make for severe cold. The incoming administration says it made the decision to move the event indoors the last time The return that was used for inauguration was 1985 for President Ronald Reagan. This is NPR.
Another big day for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which again topped $100,000 amid expectations the incoming Trump administration will be more crypto-friendly. The president-elect during his campaign repeatedly promised to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world. Among his campaign promises were creating a U.S.
crypto stockpile, enacting crypto-friendly regulations, and appointing what he called a crypto czar. Debris from the explosion of an experimental rocket built by Elon Musk's SpaceX company sent air traffic controllers scrambling to divert flights over the Caribbean yesterday. NPR's Jeff Bromfield has the story.
According to SpaceX, the spacecraft suffered a fuel leak and exploded about eight and a half minutes after launch from Texas. Not long after that, pilots started calling in reports of objects streaking across the sky. That was audio from LiveATC.net. Air traffic controllers sounded surprised by the debris cloud and rushed to divert flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air travel and the space launch, said several aircraft were affected and that it would require an investigation. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News.
A new discovery at the site of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, the head of a surrounding archaeological park, says they uncovered a large private bathhouse there. The bath's perhaps the largest found at a private home on Earth in the central part of Pompeii Park. It's still largely unexplored. Pompeii was buried by ash and lava in 79 AD.
I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.