NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-02-2025 4AM EST

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

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The Indicator is a podcast where daily economic news is about what matters to you. Workers have been feeling the sting of inflation. So as a new administration promises action on the cost of living, taxes, and home prices. The S&P 500 biggest post-election day spike ever. Follow all the big changes and what they mean for you. Make America affordable again. Listen to The Indicator, the daily economics podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman.

The death toll now stands at 15 and the deadly attack in New Orleans Tuesday night, dozens of other people were injured. FBI officials say they're investigating the incident on Bourbon Street as an act of terrorism and say the suspect likely didn't act alone. Matt Blum, a member station WWNO has more. Federal investigators say Army veteran Shamsud Din-Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck down Bourbon Street as hundreds of New Year's Eve revelers were celebrating. Police killed the 42-year-old Texas resident during a shootout and afterwards discovered an improvised explosive

device and an ISIS flag attached to the vehicle. In a press conference with federal and local officials, Louisiana Senator John Kennedy called the act objective evil. If this doesn't trigger the gag reflex of every American, every fair-minded American, I'll be very surprised. Investigators say they identified at least two other explosive devices in the French quarter and have since neutralized them. Officials declined to answer questions about whether they had identified any additional suspects.

For NPR News, I'm Matt Bloom in New Orleans. Police in Las Vegas say fireworks, mortars, and fuel canisters were found in the back of a Tesla cyber truck that exploded Wednesday outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. The blast killed the suspect, who was found sitting inside the truck. Seven other people were injured. Joe Shaneman hosts Nevada Public Radio's morning show. He says the investigation by the FBI is now underway. They still have yet to release the name of the person who was driving it and that is the person who was killed but they said that would be forthcoming in a future press conference and they were saying that the truck was rented through a company called Turo which is it's a company that facilitates the rental of private

vehicles and it was rented in Colorado driven to Las Vegas. The FBI is also investigating whether that explosion was an act of terrorism. There are a few million more residents of the U.S. this New Year's Day than there were on January 1st of last year. As NPR's Cheryl Corley reports, the U.S. Census Bureau now projects the country's population at 341 million people. The Census Bureau's population estimate is based on births, deaths, and international migration, and it's extremely precise. Lauren Bowers, chief of the Bureau's population estimates

branch, says the projected number of people living in the U.S. today is... 341,145,670 people. And here's what we can expect throughout January says Bowers one birth every nine seconds and one death every 9.4 seconds and add another person every 23 seconds through international migration It makes the u.s. The third most populous nation in the world following India and China Cheryl Corley NPR news Chicago. This is NPR news Corley, NPR News, Chicago. This is NPR News. Certain clothing containing PFAs, which are also known as Forever Chemicals, are now banned from being sold in New York.

Natalie Abruzzo from Member Station WSKG has more. New York's new apparel PFAS ban, which passed in 2022, is meant to protect consumers from exposure to PFAS Forever forever chemicals that have been linked to reproductive health issues, developmental delays in children, and some cancers. Kate Donovan is the Northeast Director of Environmental Health with the National Resources Defense Council. She says exposure to these forever chemicals can occur through skin contact. PFAS in apparel in particular is certainly a concern because you certainly don't want to be wearing pieces of clothing with toxic chemicals on them.

California and Colorado also recently banned the sale of certain textiles with PFAS. For NPR News, I'm Natalie Abruzzo in Corning, New York. A New Year's Eve fireworks celebration near Honolulu turned tragic when an explosion killed three people and injured 20 others. The accident occurred outside a private home near Honolulu's International Airport. It's also close to a joint US Air Force and Navy base,

fire officials say the accident remains under investigation. Heavy flooding continues in parts of the UK. One day after rain and wind led to cancellations of New Year celebrations in a number of cities, flooding south of Manchester submerged vehicles to their roofs and a hotel was evacuated. Several trains were cancelled because of high water around the tracks and a government meteorologist says the flooding situation could get even worse. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.