Gabriela Emanuel

Gabriela Emanuel, NPR News.

The latest data comes from the period before people gathered for Christmas.

It shows a steep increase in cases, and more than 19,000 people were hospitalized for flu in that one week, almost twice as many as the previous week.

Andrew Pekosz with Johns Hopkins University says the surge started in the Northeast.

The strain of flu driving up cases is not a great match for this year's flu vaccine.

But experts say the shot provides more protection than no vaccine at all.

Gabriela Emanuel, NPR News.

The State Department says the aid will provide life-saving support to tens of millions of people facing hunger and disease.

However, it said the money requires the U.N.

to make some structural changes to address what the administration calls, quote, ideological creep within U.N.

agencies.

This year, the U.S.

has dramatically cut the amount of money it spends on foreign aid.

And it has now shifted its emphasis to distributing aid directly to countries rather than working through institutions like the U.N.

Gabriela Emanuel, NPR News.

The State Department says the aid will provide life-saving support to tens of millions of people facing hunger and disease.

However, it said the money requires the UN to make some structural changes to address what the administration calls, quote, ideological creep within UN agencies.

This year, the U.S.

has dramatically cut the amount of money it spends on foreign aid, and it has now shifted its emphasis to distributing aid directly to countries rather than working through institutions like the U.N.

Gabriela Emanuel, NPR News.