NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-06-2026 9AM EST

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, China's been speaking out against the U.S. capture of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro and his wife. Beijing's top diplomat says the U.S. needs to stop acting like the world's judge. NPR's Emily Fang reports China had bought most of Venezuela's oil before the U.S. blockade of the South American country. China used to purchase more than two-thirds of Venezuela's oil exports, and Venezuela said it was in trade discussions with China before the U.S. detained Maduro. Still, China gets far more oil from the Middle East and Russia and has been shifting away from Venezuela. Mu Yu Xu, senior analyst at the commodities research firm Kepler, says China increasingly relies on Russian energy. Chinese independent refiners are snapping up Russian barrels as fast as they can. And she says part of the shadow fleet of ships that once covertly transported oil from Venezuela to China may now be diverted to Iran and Russia.

Emily Fang and Pure News. Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, appeared in federal court yesterday in New York City. They faced several U.S. criminal charges, including drug trafficking. Both pleaded not guilty. Maduro's next appearance in federal court will be on March 17th. Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says January 3rd will be a day that, quote, justice defeated tyranny. She's praising President Trump's action to remove Maduro from power.

I do want to say today, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, how grateful we are for his courageous vision, the actions, historical actions he has taken against this narco-terrorist regime to start dismantling this structure and bringing Maduro to justice. She spoke to Fox News. The Pentagon is undertaking a six-month review of women in ground combat jobs in the U.S. military. That's according to a memo obtained by NPR. The review is to determine the effectiveness of having several thousand female soldiers and Marines in infantry, armor, and artillery, a decade after those positions were open to them. NPR's Tom Bowman has more. The memo from Defense Undersecretary Anthony Tata calls for Army and Marine Corps leaders to provide data on the readiness, training, casualties, and command climate of ground combat units. Tata is also asking for any internal studies on the integration of women in ground combat,

which was open to them in 2015. Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson tells NPR the review is designed to make sure the military is the most lethal. She said Defense Secretary Hegseth will not compromise standards. As a Fox news anchor, Hegseth opposed women in ground combat, but he said during his confirmation hearing in January that women can serve in ground combat if they meet the same requirements as men. Tom Bowman, NPR News. This is NPR.

The leaders of several European nations have released a joint statement today about the status of Greenland. President Trump has demanded that the U.S. take over the world's largest island. It's controlled by Denmark. In the statement, the European leaders say Greenland's future can only be decided

by Greenlanders themselves along with Denmark. Some daycare centers in Ohio that are owned by Somali, America, Americans say they've been harassed. This comes after allegations that Somali American daycare centers in Minnesota have engaged in fraud. One Ohio daycare center increased security and called police. From member station WOSU, George Shilcock reports it had not yet opened for business. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine says the state regularly audits child care centers and that these daycares are required to have a security plan to prevent adults from just walking in. That's what happened to 161 child care. Director Hamda Muhammad says she had to call police twice on intruders alleging fraud. A person hacked the center's voicemail greeting, which now says hateful things about Muslims. I do know every community has problems and like there is bad people in every community, but you don't have to target a whole community for this.

With the way daycare's work, we get audited. We have unannounced inspections. 161 child care now has no trespassing signs and cameras, not how Muhammad says she pictured her first day in business. For NPR News, I'm George. Shilcock in Columbus. Weather forecasters say that a winter storm is hitting parts of the northern rocky mountains. High wind warnings are up for western Montana when gusts could reach tropical storm's strength today. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.