Biden commutes 37 federal demise row sentences. And, a push to grasp lengthy COVID

Good morning. You are studying the Up First e-newsletter. Subscribe right here to get it delivered to your inbox, and pay attention to the Up First podcast for all of the information it is advisable to begin your day.

As we speak’s prime tales

President Biden used his clemency powers right this moment to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 males on federal demise row. They may now serve life in jail with out parole. It is one of the crucial vital strikes in opposition to capital punishment in latest presidential historical past. Biden did not commute the sentences of the opposite three males, who had been concerned in circumstances of terrorism or hate-fueled mass homicide.

• 🎧 Biden launched an announcement this morning saying he condemns the individuals convicted of homicide on federal demise row and grieves the victims of the crimes, NPR’s Deepa Shivaram tells Up First. He defined his choice to commute the sentences was guided by his conscience, his expertise as a public defender, and his time as a senator, vice chairman and president. The potential of the incoming administration resuming federal executions that he halted in 2021 performed an element within the consideration to commute the sentences, in response to Biden’s assertion.

The Nationwide Institutes of Well being introduced a $300 million funding to analysis remedies for lengthy COVID. The company, in complete, 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 deal with understanding why individuals get sick and never sufficient deal with relieving individuals’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 want a stable understanding of the underlying biology.

Lebanon is filled 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 evaluate the injury to those cultural heritage websites.

• 🎧 NPR’s Lauren Frayer not too long ago visited a number of of these websites. She noticed the Byzantine fortifications of a walled outdated metropolis destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. “These are some of the iconic sites you see on postcards of Lebanon,” she says. In mid-November, the United Nations added 34 websites in Lebanon to its checklist of protected cultural properties hoping to forestall injury to them. However it didn’t assist 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 a number of areas till Israeli troops absolutely withdraw.

As we speak’s pay attention

Individuals flutter a Palestinian flag in Lisbon throughout a Dec. 8, 2023, demonstration in help of the Palestinian individuals and demanding a cease-fire in Gaza.

Armando Franca/AP

cover caption

toggle caption

Armando Franca/AP

Individuals flutter a Palestinian flag in Lisbon throughout a Dec. 8, 2023, demonstration in help of the Palestinian individuals 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 live shows, he opens with the identical tune, “On This Land,” a part of which was recorded in Gaza in the course of 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 Pageant in Washington, D.C., in June. Along with doing demos, they taught skateboard fundamentals to youngsters as younger as 3.

Ben de la Cruz/NPR

cover caption

toggle caption

Ben de la Cruz/NPR

Goats and Soda, NPR’s international well being and improvement weblog, printed a number of photo-driven tales that resonated with individuals in 2024. The workforce gathered a sampling of their favourite photograph posts from the previous 12 months. The checklist contains dramatic drone photographs of the world’s “foodscapes,” a take a look at households striving to supply wholesome meals for his or her youngsters and Bolivian ladies skateboarding of their conventional clothes and bowler hats. You possibly can see the colourful and telling photographs by clicking right here.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

Blake Energetic 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 workforce of attacking her repute after she spoke up about his and a producer’s alleged “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” on set.

Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP

cover caption

toggle caption

Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP

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

This article was edited by Obed Manuel.