NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-03-2026 2AM EST

Episode Date: January 3, 2026

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. There's breaking news at this hour. There are reports tonight of multiple explosions in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. It's not yet known what has caused those blasts, but we're continuing to monitor this news story. Also breaking, a massive five-alarm fire is underway in Denver, where an entire city block is burning. Officials say an apartment complex under construction went up in flames. At least one firefighter has been injured, but there have been no other reports. of injuries so far. Residents of nearby apartment buildings, meanwhile, have been evacuated because

of the heat radiating off that fire, and an overnight shelter has been set up at an event center in nearby Glendale. State emergency management officials say the fire has caused significant power outages in Denver. A federal judge has ordered that the man accused of planting two pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., the night before the January 6th, 2021 Capitol riot, must remain in jail pending trial. MPR'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 argue 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, NPR News, Washington. The FBI says it stopped a potential attack on New Year's Eve in Charlotte, North Carolina. Investigators say 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant was arrested after he shared plans with an undercover FBI employee to use knives and hammers to attack people at a local fast food

restaurant. Special agent in charge James Barnicle says Sturdivant was willing to sacrifice himself for the Islamic State Group. This investigation highlights the very real threat posed by people who self-radicalize online and are inspired by jihadist ideologies, espoused by foreign terrorists for organizations. They seek to attack salt. targets with easily accessible weapons and with little to no warning. The FBI says Sturdivant had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State. A grandmother and her five-year-old grandson have died this weekend after their poorly constructed tent caught fire in a Gaza refugee camp.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, meanwhile, are enduring bitterly cold weather in those camps, in part because housing materials are scarce. Few supplies are being allowed to pass through border crossings into the enclave, of causing food and material shortages. This is NPR News. Physical adaptations for walking upright on two feet may go back seven million years in the human family tree.

That's according to a new analysis of some old bones. As NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boise reports, Walking Up Right was an important shift for early human ancestors. Walking upright freeze the hands and makes it possible to leave the trees and live in new places. Now a team of researchers led by

Scott Williams of New York University says they found skeletal features associated with upright walking in the fossilized leg bone of a primate that lived seven million years ago. This animal that otherwise looks very chimpanzee-like in its overall shape has these bipedal adaptations hafted on top. Their findings described in the journal's science advances are sure to be controversial. The oldest widely accepted evidence of upright walking is from human relatives that lived around 3 to 4 million years ago. Nell Greenfield, Boyce, NPR News. Kevin Jennings threw for 278 yards, including an 80-yard completion on a razzle-dazzle play

on the second play from scrimmage as SMU beat No. 21 Arizona 24 to 19 Friday in the Holiday Bowl. Navy, meanwhile, claimed its 11th win of the season by beating Cincinnati, 35 to 13. The Texas State Bobcats overpowered Rice 41 to 10. Wake Forest was dominant as they beat Mississippi State, 43 to 29, and SMU beat Weight Forest, 43 to 29. Hillary Knight will make her fifth Olympic appearance this year. She helps to lead the U.S. women's hockey team next month of the games in Italy. U.S. hockey released the roster for both the women's and men's teams on Friday. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.