NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2026 6AM EST

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. President Trump says Venezuela will turn over 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. This follows the U.S. capture of the country's then-president. As NPR's Franco Ordonez reports, Trump says the Venezuelan oil will then be sold at market price. President Trump says in a social media post that he'll control the proceeds from the oil sales to, quote, ensure that the money is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States. that it will be transported by storage ships directly to unloading docks in the U.S. He says that his energy secretary, Chris Wright, is executing the plan. Venezuela, of course, has some of the largest oil resources in the world, but it has been

decimated by poor management. Oil fields are decaying, and the infrastructure is in horrible shape. Trump has said the U.S. will be strongly involved in reviving the country's oil industry and expects U.S. companies will help with the costs. Ordonias, NPR News. At least 35 countries have now agreed to contribute to a multinational military force to help ensure peace in Ukraine. Now, that would occur once the fighting stops. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports there is still doubt that Russia will come to the peace table.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Kirst Dahmer, who are leading this coalition of the willing, say their nations will put boots on the ground in Ukraine when the fighting ends. Martin Kinsei, head of the German Marshall Fund in Paris, says Europeans don't believe Russia is ready to end its nearly four-year offensive. However, it doesn't mean that you should not work now on the potential security guarantees for whatever comes next. There will be an end to this war at some point. Konsei says he does not believe the Trump administration wants to walk away from Ukraine either. It is important for the U.S. administration to remain in the game in Ukraine.

because he says that gives the U.S. leverage over many other issues in Europe. Eleanor Beardsley and Pierre News, Paris. There won't be any testimony today in the Texas trial of a former school police officer. Adrian Gonzalez is accused of failing to try to stop the gunman in the Evalde mass school shooting in 2022. The judge is reviewing new testimony yesterday from a witness that did not appear in prior witness interviews. This testimony could be a violation. Both sides still gave opening.

statements. Prosecutor Bill Turner claims Gonzalez did not try to get into the building to stop the shooter or distract or engage him. We're not asking Adrian Gonzalez to commit suicide. He has been trained to go to the corner of a building and distract, delay, and impede the gunman while help is arriving. But Gonzalez's defense attorney said that their client had about one minute to react when he got there. This is NPR. The Department of Homeland Security says it's launching a large immigration operation in Minnesota. Some 2,000 agents are to be deployed. It apparently targets alleged fraud involving people who are Somali or Somali American.

The Trump administration is claiming without evidence that daycare centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis have committed up to $100 million in fraud. An online influencer with ties to Trump supporters has been trying to get into the daycare centers, he says he wants to see the children indoors. California is drafting some of the toughest wildfire rules in the country. This comes one year after the extreme and deadly fires in Los Angeles. Some homeowners are pushing back against the changes, as NPR's Lauren Summer explains. A wildfire is largely spread by embers, tiny bits of burning debris carried by the wind.

So wildfire experts say it matters if something flammable is not. next to your house, which puts it at risk. California regulators are now drafting new rules for the vegetation that's within five feet of homes. Property owners would be required to clear some or all of it in areas at risk of wildfires. Some homeowners are pushing back, even in the Los Angeles neighborhoods that recently burned. They're concerned about losing greenery and that houses need to be made fire resistant too. With all the debate, California regulators will be working on the rules through April. Lauren Summer, NPR News.

caution scattered across the west, the National Weather Service says heavy mountain snow will continue across the northern Rockies. This is NPR.