NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-02-2026 6PM EST

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. At least seven protesters have been killed in Iran as demonstrations grow and tensions mount over the nation's economic collapse. MPIRS Michelle Kellerman reports President Trump says the U.S. will come to the rescue of Iranian citizens unless the violence against them stops. In a post on truth social, President Trump warns Iran that, quote, we are locked and loaded and ready to go if Iran kills peaceful protesters. Iran has accused the U.S. and Israel of stoking the protests. Ali Larajani, who's on Iran's National Security Council, writes on X, that the American people should know that Trump started this adventurism. The Trump administration carried out a massive bombing campaign of Iran's nuclear sites last year, and Israel is now sounding the alarm about Iran's ballistic missile

program, a topic Israel's prime minister raised with Trump earlier this week. The protests in Iran are about the economy and the collapsing currency. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Swiss officials continue to investigate the cause of the blaze early New Year's day at an alpine ski resort that left at least 40 people dead and more than 100 injured. Terry Schultz reports, officials say it appears sparklers that were lit inside the bar, set the ceiling on fire. Flowers and candles are piled along the path leading to their constellation.

the bar in Crammontana, 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 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 FBI says it disrupted a New Year's Eve attack plot in North Carolina, arresting an 18-year-old who allegedly pledged loyalty to ISIS. Christian Sturdivant is in custody, charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson says the suspect has been planning the attack for about a year, It was a very well-planned, thoughtful attack that he had planned and that was fortunately foiled here. He was preparing for jihad and innocent people were going to die. And we're very, very fortunate. They did not.

Authorities say he shared attack plans with an undercover FBI employee. The investigation began last month after authorities linked Sturdivant to a social media account that posted content that was supportive of ISIS. You're listening to NPR News. from Washington. A strong earthquake rattled southern and central Mexico today, interrupting President Claudia Shanebaum's first press briefing of the new year, as seismic alarms sounded. Mexico's National Seismological Agency says the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.5

and that its epicenter was near the town of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero, near the Pacific Coast Resort of Alcapulco. There are no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Another prominent artist has withdrawn from appearing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Stephen Schwartz, the songwriter of Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell, among other musicals, has pulled out from a program highlighting his music next May. Jeff London has more. While the gala on May 16th is still on the Kennedy Center's calendar,

Schwartz said in an email sent to Newsday that the Performing Arts venue, quote, no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be. Schwartz has a long history with the Kennedy Center. He contributed lyrics to Leonard Bernstein's Mass, which was the center's first production. And his Broadway hit Pippin tried out there. Since President Donald Trump took over as chairman of the board, ousted many of its members, and added his name to the center's title, many artists have withdrawn from performing there.

For NPR News, I'm Jeff London. And I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News, in Washington.