NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-01-2025 7AM EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

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Noor Rahm Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. Police in New Orleans say at least 10 people were killed early this morning when a pickup truck drove through a crowd of New Year's revelers. Eye witnesses say the driver exchanged gunfire with police before speeding away. Police have no information yet on a suspect or motive. President-elect Donald Trump said last night he plans to attend next week's funeral for the former president, Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100. Carter is being remembered this week for his term in office, including the way he promoted

the role of women in government. Carter has staffed four cabinet-level positions with women, more than any president before him. From member station WABE, Molly Samuel reports. S.D. Subsequent presidents have had more positions filled by women in their cabinets, but Carter surpassed his predecessors. Patricia Roberts Harris was the nation's first black woman in a cabinet-level position. She served in the Carter administration,

both as secretary of housing and urban development and as head of the department that became Health and Human Services. Juanita Krepp served as Secretary of Commerce and Shirley Hefstetler as Secretary of Education. According to the Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics, 66 women have served in presidential cabinets or cabinet-level positions. The first was Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. For NPR News, I'm Mollye Samuel in Atlanta. Bird flu continues to infect more dairy herds, primarily in California, and more than 65

people have caught the virus in the U.S. over the past year. NPR's Will Stone reports. Almost all of the human cases of bird flu have occurred after someone had close contact with infected animals. Those working on dairy farms appear to be contracting the virus as they're milking dairy cattle. Raw milk can splash them in the face and get into the air. Close contact with infected birds generally means people who are handling and culling

infected poultry and other birds. Benjamin Anderson, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Florida, says the worry right now is mostly about what could happen if more people get infected and the virus mutates. We're very concerned about this virus. You know, we have to temper that with, OK, no, there's not a lot of risk right now to you directly. His advice is not to handle wild birds and keep your pets away from them if possible.

Will Stone, NPR News. South Korean authorities have now identified all 179 people who died in a plane crash Sunday. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports that three days after the disaster, funeral preparations are now able to get underway. The last five bodies were identified, but most of the families have yet to reclaim the victims' bodies because all but a few were torn apart in the crash. The plane slammed into a concrete wall housing navigation equipment at the end of the runway. Investigators will look at whether it was a mistake to put it there when the airport was built.

You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Electrical service is slowly being restored in Puerto Rico, where the power grid collapsed yesterday, leaving nearly the entire island without power. Officials say it may take 48 hours to get everyone back online. Americans still enjoy tuning into the radio when listening to music. As NPR's Neda Ulibi reports, a new study found that AM FM radio edged out Apple, Spotify and other streaming services in 2024. The study by Edison Research says American listeners over the age of 13 spend 32% of their listening time on old fashioned radio and 28% of their time on streaming. Now, no

matter where they tune in, they might hear one of 2024's top singles, Lose Control, by Teddy Swims. According to Edison Research, the reliance on radio is driven still by people in their cars. It says overall, listeners spend nearly three quarters of their audio time listening to music. That leaves a mere quarter for podcasts, audiobooks, and, well, NPR. Neda Ulubi, NPR News. Neda Ulubi One of the last remaining survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor has died. His family said Harry Chandler died in Florida Monday. He was a Navy medic when waves of Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs and fired torpedoes

at battleships in the harbor. More than 2,300 servicemen were killed. Chandler helped the wounded. In a Pacific Historic Parks interview, he said, it got so busy you weren't scared, it was after you got scared. It was 103. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.