NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-05-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: January 5, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Members of the public are paying their respects to the late former president Jimmy Carter. Carter will lie in repose at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta through Tuesday morning. NPR's Stephen Fallow reports on this weekend's ceremony honoring his humanitarian work. Carter's first funeral service Saturday was held in front of staff members who worked at his presidential library and his nonprofit Carter Center, where he spent more than 40 years after the White House fighting to advance democracy and advance public health goals. His grandson Jason Carter said their work honors his legacy.

We will spend this week celebrating this incredible life. And a life that I think we can all agree is as full and powerful as any life can be. As someone said, it's amazing what you can cram into a hundred years." Carter will lie in repose until Tuesday before traveling to Washington, D.C. for services at the U.S. Capitol and Washington National Cathedral. Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta. Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quintin Lucas says his city is prepared for that winter storm that's socking the region. This is not something that's unusual for us.

Major winter storms are a thing that we have. It doesn't mean that we are unserious about them. It does mean that we're realistic and our city will reopen in the days ahead. The storm system stretches from the central United States to the nation's capital. The National Weather Service says it will dump heavy snow and damaging ice accumulations through late tomorrow night. Ice in Kansas City led to the temporary closure of the International Airport there yesterday. Dozens of flights were canceled. Overseas, heavy snow has disrupted flights in the UK and the Netherlands. The White House says

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will be in New Orleans tomorrow as the city grieves the loss of 14 people in a New Year's truck attack. On Bourbon Street last night, people paid tribute to the attacks victims at a candlelight vigil. A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Washington Post resigned after the editorial page editor killed her sketch depicting tech and media titans bowing before president-elect Donald Trump. NPR's David Fokinflick reports that among those shown in the cartoon was Washington

Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The backdrop for all this is Bezos' decision back in October to kill the paper's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris just days before the neck-and-neck election. About 300,000 people canceled digital subscriptions between revelation of his decision and election night. Telnez tells NPR that she's used to editing but has never had an editor say she cannot address a particular subject at the post. Editorial page editor David Shipley says he values her contributions but that two colleagues had written columns on the same subject. Too much repetition.

Telnez says media magnates have an obligation to protect the free press, and that cartoonists need those protections, too. David Folkenflick, NPR News. And from Washington, you're listening to NPR News. Supporters and opponents of impeached South Korean Korean President, Yoon Sung-kyo, held vigils outside his residence overnight amid a stalemate. MPR's Anthony Koon reports from Seoul that Yoon's security detail thwarted attempts to arrest him on Friday. Police separated the two opposing camps of protesters, who braved snow and freezing temperatures, and shut down a major north-south artery in Seoul on Sunday. The week-long arrest warrant for Yoon is valid through Monday, but it's not clear if prosecutors and police will make another attempt to arrest Yoon.

Yoon has defied three summonses to appear for questioning on charges of insurrection, related to his brief imposition of martial law on December 3. Yoon sought a court injunction against the warrant, but the court rejected his request. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to discuss the ongoing crisis on a visit to Seoul Sunday and Monday. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. The Italian Prime Minister made an unexpected visit to Florida last night to meet with President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his return to the White House.

The BBC's Sasha Schlifter has more. Georgia Meloni is clearly a lady after Donald Trump's heart. He described her as a fantastic woman who had taken Europe by storm. According to US media, the two had dinner and watched a film. Such naturally good relations with Donald Trump is rare for a major European leader, so many of Miss Maloney's fellow prime ministers will be hoping she could help avert a trade war with America. The BBC's Sasha Schlickter reporting and I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News.