NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-01-2025 2PM EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. A 42-year-old man from Texas has been identified by the FBI as the suspect in a deadly early-morning truck attack in the French Quarter of New Orleans. He is 42-year-old Shamsuddin Jabbar, a U.S. citizen. Agents say they found an ISIS flag inside the Ford pickup truck, which the FBI says appears to have been rented. At least 10 people were killed, 35 injured. When the pickup truck authorities say the suspect was driving, plowed into pedestrians at high speed in the French Quarter. Also

inside the truck, the FBI says it found weapons and a potential explosive device. Additionally, other IEDs were found in the French Quarter. Of particular concern is the security of the Superdome, where the University of Georgia and Notre Dame are scheduled to play tonight and where the Super Bowl will be played this year. Here's New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno. There have been sweeps happening throughout the quarter and potential IEDs and so that is happening, you know, from my last briefing that I received about an hour ago or so. And there are also precautionary sweeps happening

in other parts of the city as well. These are precautionary sweeps happening, not because there is any specific information that something has been found, but these are just precautionary, happening around downtown, happening within the Superdome. Moreno spoke to New Orleans station WDSU. Authorities say the driver fired at police during the incident hitting two officers before police shot and killed

him. Both President Biden and President-elect Trump have spoken out about this attack and Piares Franco Ord Donios has more. President Biden said in a statement that there was quote no justification for the horrific attack and that his heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. He added that he's getting updates on the investigation and that the US will not tolerate any attack on any of the nation's communities. The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. President-elect Donald Trump also responded on his social media website.

He called the attack an act of pure evil. He thanked law enforcement and said the Trump administration will fully support the city of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from the attack. Franco, Ordonez, NPR News. Russian natural gas shipments to Europe that moved through pipelines in Ukraine have now stopped. After Russia seized Crimea in 2015, Ukraine stopped buying Russian gas. Officials now say a pre-war deal to allow Russian gas be moved to other nations through Ukraine has expired with the end of 2024. Russia supplied

nearly 40 percent of Europe's natural gas through pipelines before its attack on Ukraine. By 2023, that figure was around 8 percent. This is NPR News in Washington. For the first time since the Sunday tragedy, the families of the victims of a plane crash in South Korea visited the site of that disaster. One hundred seventy-nine people died, two survived. The causes under investigation by South Korean and international teams, the Boeing 737-800's landing gear malfunction, was a major factor when the plane skidded off a runway, crashed into a concrete fence,

and burst into flames. A new California law says that schools can no longer require teachers to report to parents when students identify as LGBTQ+. Megan Myzkowski with CAP Radio in Sacramento reports. The law is in response to several California school districts enacting policies that require teachers to let parents know if their child identifies with a gender other than what's listed on their school record. For example, if a child indicates at school that they'd like to use different pronouns, school staff would have to alert parents. The law doesn't

prevent teachers from outing students to their parents as long as they're not forced by their employer. But it does protect them from as long as they're not forced by their employer. But it does protect them from retaliation if they choose not to share that information or if they teach sexual health education in line with the state's requirements. For NPR News, I'm Megan Mieskowski. 2024 went out with a bang for one mega million's lottery ticket holder who bought their ticket at Circle K Sunshine Food and Gas in Cottonwood, California. The payout is estimated to be $1.22 billion. It's the fifth highest mega million jackpot in history. The winning ticket matched the white balls and the gold mega

ball. I'm Louise Givoni, NPR News.