NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-02-2026 3PM EST

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

NPR News: 01-02-2026 3PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The FBI says it has thwarted a New Year's Day attack in North Carolina. Officials have announced that Christian Sturdivant is now in custody. They say he'd been on their radar for years when he was still a minor. Sturdivant is now 18 years old. The FBI special agent in charge in North Carolina, James Barnacle, says the young man admitted online to having loyalties to ISIS and plotting a massacre during the holidays. This investigation highlights the very real threat posed by people who self-radicalize online

and are inspired by jihadist ideologies, espoused by foreign terrorist organizations. They seek to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons and with little to no warning. Barnacle says families are often the first to see when their children are sliding into radicalization. The Justice Department says a criminal complaint was filed. near Zeeve and unsealed today after Sturdy Van appeared in federal court in Charlotte. A federal judge has ordered that the man accused of planting two pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., the night before the January 6.2021 Capitol riot must remain in jail pending trial. NPR's Ryan Lucas has more on the criminal case against Brian Cole Jr.

The 30-year-old was arrested on December 4th after a nearly five-year FBI investigation. Prosecutors argued that Brian Cole Jr. is a danger to the community and that he should remain in custody as his case moves to trial. The defense team says Cole has been diagnosed with autism, that he poses no threat to the community and that he should be released. Now in a ruling, magistrate judge Matthew Sharbaugh has sided with the government and ordered that Cole remain in jail pending trial, in part because of the serious nature of Cole's alleged offense, planting two pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Party headquarters on January 5th, 2021. Ryan Lucas and Pierre News, Washington.

Swiss officials are now confirming that at least 40 people died in the blaze early New Year's day at an alpine ski resort. Terry Schultz reports the cause of the fire suspected to be sparklers that were lit inside the bar and caused the ceiling to catch fire. Flowers and candles are piled along the path leading to La Constellation,

the bar in Cram Montana, where a New Year's celebration turned into a deadly tragedy. Swiss authorities say they've identified most of the dead and the injured. Judicial police chief Colonel Pierre Antoine Langen said that the process of identification has been very difficult. It requires being extremely meticulous, he said. We cannot afford to make mistakes in this area, even though we know that waiting, it's extremely difficult to live with. Victims come from many different countries, including Australia, France, and Italy.

Some of Switzerland's neighbors have offered to take in burn victims for treatment. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now up 335. points. It's NPR. Colorado authorities say a hiker may have been killed by a mountain lion on a remote trail yesterday. They say the woman's body was found on New Year's Day, an autopsy is scheduled next week. According to the Associated Press, she was not the first person to encounter a mountain line in the area in recent weeks. Gary Messina says he was on the same trail when he was confronted by a big cat and managed to escape.

Tesla has lost its title as the world's top seller of electric vehicles. NPR's Maria Aspen reports shares in Elon Musk's car company are down. Tesla's sales have been dropping for the past two years, and now a Chinese competitor has pulled ahead. China's BYD says it sold more than 2.2 million electric vehicles last year, easily overtaking Tesla's 1.6 million cars. CEO Elon Musk thrust himself into U.S. politics in the last few years, but the consequences appear to have hurt his company. Musk oversaw many of President Trump's sweeping cuts to the federal government last year, leading to customer boycotts and protests before he fell out with the White House. Later in 2025, Trump's tax and spending law ended federal subsidies for electric vehicles,

further hurting Tesla sales. Maria Aspen, NPR News. We see shares in Tesla are now down nearly 2%. At last check, the Dow has risen 339 points. S&P was up 50, NASAC up a fraction. It's NPR News.