NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-02-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

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Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts, you wish you could get more of all your favorite shows, and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Authorities in New Orleans are trying to understand why a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in the early hours of Wednesday morning. At least 15 people were killed.

MPR's Martin Coste says the FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan says the driver of the truck was a 42-year-old Texan and Army veteran named Shamsuddin Jabbar. He was driving a Ford pickup truck which appears to be unrented. An ISIS flag was located on the trailer hitch of the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations. Police say they had parked a squad car across the entrance to Bourbon Street but the truck got around it by driving up on the sidewalk. They say Jabbar drove through the crowd, crashed the truck and was

killed in a firefight with officers. Martin Kosty, NPR News. President Joe Biden says the FBI is keeping his administration fully updated on their investigation into the incident. Speaking from Camp David, he also said the nation is grieving alongside everyone in New Orleans. New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world. It's a city full of charm and joy. So many people around the world love New Orleans because of its history, its culture, and above

all its people. So I know while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of our New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated. It always will shine for us. A Tesla cyber truck exploded Wednesday in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. There was one person inside the truck who police say was dead. The explosion also injured seven people. Las Vegas police say its crews found gas canisters, camp fuel canisters, and large firework mortars in the back of the truck.

New laws now in effect in California are designed to curb crime in that state. Megan Myzkowski with Cap Radio reports from Sacramento. Together, the new California laws make it easier to combine similar crimes and charges even across jurisdictions. They also raise penalties for felonies, including for damage dundering retail theft. And they make it a crime to break into an unlocked car and add new requirements for third-party sellers on websites like Amazon. Democrats proposed many of the new crime laws after a measure increasing penalties

and treatment requirements for theft and drug-related crimes made it to the ballot. That passed with 70 percent of voters in support. For NPR News, I'm Megan Myzkowski. Police in South Korea have raided the offices of Jeju Air and the operator of the Muwon International Airport. It's part of their investigation into Sunday's plane crash that killed 179 people. Two crew members were pulled alive from the wreckage but they're both injured. Police say they're looking for documents that are related to the operation and maintenance of the craft as well as the operation of the airport's facilities. You're listening to NPR News. Four days after a deadly crash took the lives of those 179 passengers and crew on board

the plane, authorities have finally finished identifying all the victims. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul that only two flight attendants survived the worst aviation disaster ever on Korean soil. Authorities confirmed the identities of the last five unidentified victims, allowing funeral preparations to begin. Most family members are still waiting for their loved one's remains to be returned. Authorities say the force of the collision meant many of the bodies were in pieces and must be reassembled. About two dozen investigators from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the airline's maker Boeing headed to the scene of the crash Monday to help with the investigation.

The plane's flight data recorder was damaged and will be sent to the U.S. for analysis. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Seoul. Officials in Saudi Arabia say six Iranian men have been executed there for drug smuggling. They said the men had been caught smuggling hashish into the country. Their appeal to the country's supreme court was rejected. The executions have strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iran's foreign ministry summoned a Saudi ambassador to protest the deaths. The two countries just re-established diplomatic relations in early 2023. A new law took effect in New York on New Year's that offers at least 20 hours of paid leave to those who are pregnant. The 20 hours will

cover prenatal medical appointments. The state's governor pushed for the measure to help reduce maternal and infant mortality rates across the state. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.