NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

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Lai from NPR News in Washington. I'm Lakshmi Singh. President-elect Trump is addressing reporters at Mar-a-Lago right now. He has announced a $20 billion investment in the construction of data centers backed by an Emirati billionaire. Trump has also reacted to President Biden's decision to ban new offshore oil and gas development along most US coastlines. President Biden's actions yesterday on offshore drilling, banning offshore drilling, will not stand. I will reverse it immediately. It'll be done immediately. And we will drill, baby drill. Trump is addressing reporters one day after Congress certified his election victory and a New York judge turned down his request to delay his sentencing on a hush money payment conviction.

Trump's eldest son is taking a day trip to Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring and Denmark has repeatedly said is not for sale. No political meetings reportedly are scheduled with Donald Trump Jr., but his visit has political overtones given his father's vocal interest in a region that is strategically important to U.S., Russia, China, and other countries with competing Arctic interests. Former President Jimmy Carter's casket arrives today in Washington, D.C., where he will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Members of Congress and the public will have a chance to pay their final respects to the

39th president, who died last month at the age of 100. Here's NPR's Stephen Fowler. After thousands of mourners paid respects over the weekend at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Carter's casket is traveling to Washington, D.C. There will be a brief stop at the U.S. Navy Memorial before a processional to the U.S. Capitol for a ceremony in the Rotunda scheduled for 4.30 p.m. Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson

are set to deliver eulogies and lay wreaths. Carter's body will lie in state of the Capitol until Thursday morning's national funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. Stephen Vowler, NPR News, Atlanta. Russia says its forces have captured a key logistics hub in Ukraine's Donetsk region, and Piers Charles-Means has the latest. Russia's Defense Ministry said its troops seized the frontline town of Krakow, an achievement

the ministry insisted would allow additional advances in the Donetsk region at what it called an accelerated pace. Ukraine acknowledged enemy forces were conducting assault operations in the area. Separately, fierce fighting was reported in Russia's border region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have launched a counter-attack aimed at expanding a foothold inside Russia first seized back in August. The latest action comes as both sides prepare for the arrival of the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged he can negotiate and enter the war quickly without giving details how. Charles Mainz, NPR News. It's NPR.

Metta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and other major social media platforms, is announcing major changes to its content moderation practices. It plans to end its fact-checking program that was implemented to limit the spread of misinformation across its platforms. Meta is moving to community notes, similar to what's used on Elon Musk's ex social media platform Meta's decision reflects a broad shift among tech executives and other business leaders who are attempting to reposition themselves with the incoming Trump administration a New rocket developed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is preparing to launch from Florida later this week

Here's NPR's Jeff Brumfield. The rocket is called New Glenn. It's built by Bezos' space company Blue Origin. In many ways, it's similar to rockets being developed by another billionaire, Elon Musk. Musk's company SpaceX launches rockets that can fly back and land their lower stage, making them cheaper and more reusable. New Glenn will try a similar approach, but in other ways it's different. While Musk and SpaceX are currently attempting to develop the tallest rocket ever, Bezos

is focusing on girth. The New Glenn rocket will be nearly twice as wide as the one SpaceX currently uses for most of its launches. That added circumference should allow New Glenn to carry larger payloads. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. US stocks are trading lower this hour. The Nasdaq is down nearly 300 points or down 1.5%. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.