NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-02-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, Onkrova Coleman. Authorities are trying to learn more about the man they say drove a truck into crowds of people early on New Year's Day in New Orleans. No motive has been disclosed. The FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism. They say an ISIS flag was attached to the truck that Shamsoud Dean-Jabbar was driving. Fifteen people were killed and some details about the victims are emerging. The Gulf State newsroom's Drew Hawkins has more on the effects of the incident.

The mood in New Orleans is somber today as we learn more about the attack. Witnesses described a chaotic and tragic scene with people celebrating New Year's Eve suddenly plunged into panic and devastation. Among the 15 killed were Tiger Beck. He's described as a standout athlete from Lafayette, Louisiana and Mississippi teenager Nekaira Dedeau. One of the critically injured is a University of Georgia student who was in town for the Sugar Bowl game. Officials say they're waiting to notify families before releasing the names of all the victims. For NPR News, I'm Drew Hawkins in New Orleans.

Separately, authorities are investigating the explosion of a Tesla cyber truck in Las Vegas yesterday. It went up right in front of the Trump Hotel. The driver was killed. Seven bystanders suffered minor injuries. Officials in Las Vegas don't know if terrorism was a factor, and they don't know if it has any connection to the attack in New Orleans. NPR's Frank Langford reports authorities say the blast was fueled by explosive material inside the cyber truck.

They showed a video yesterday of the burned out bed of the truck and you could see gasoline canisters, there were camp fuel canisters and large fireworks mortars, which explains those fireworks that burst out of the car. But police aren't not sure exactly how it was ignited. There's also an interesting observation. They said the bed of the truck was very sturdy and so it partially contained the blast. And that's why the windows of the lobby of the Trump Hotel weren't actually damaged. And BRS Frank Langford reporting.

Stocks opened higher this morning on the first day of trading in the new year. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 300 points in early trading. Stocks are building on the gains of 2024 when all the major indexes saw double-digit increases. Tesla says it sold nearly 1.8 million electric vehicles last year. That's down just over 1% from 2023. It's the carmaker's first annual sales decline in about a decade. New applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level in eight months, suggesting that layoffs are still rare in the U.S. job market. Application numbers can be volatile during the holiday season.

Asian stocks were mostly lower overnight, despite an upbeat New Year's message from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Indexes in Shanghai and Hong Kong both dropped more than 2%. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is up 285 points. You're listening to NPR. Ukraine's energy minister says Russia

should face consequences for its attacks on Ukraine's energy minister says Russia should face consequences for its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. He is calling 2024 the most difficult year for his country's energy system since Russia's full-scale invasion. NPS Hanna Palomarenko has more. In an interview for Ukrainian television, Energy Minister Herman Holushenko said that due to the intensity of Russian attacks, the repair campaign at energy

facilities has become the largest in years. Russia carried out 13 massive attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector in 2024. The nature of the strikes, the complexity of the strikes, the weapons used have changed, Halushenko said. He called for urgent international action to ban Russia from world energy markets, saying for Russia the loss of proceeds from oil and gas would be, quote, the most painful response to the energy terrorism it is committing in Ukraine. Hanna Palomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv.

President Biden is presenting the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people today. This honors Americans who've shown exemplary service to the country or to fellow citizens. Among the honorees is former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Mississippi Congressman Benny Thompson. They led the House committee that investigated the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Other honorees include several civil rights leaders. Parts of northern New York could get at least two more feet of lake effect snow today. A powerful storm is bringing winds that could gust to 40 miles per hour. This is NPR News.