NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-07-2026 9PM EST

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

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This message comes from Data Bricks, the data and AI company. Are your AI agents working? Most aren't reliable for business. You need AI that's accurate. Agent Bricks, AI agents grounded in your data and built for your goals. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. The Trump administration is giving Iowa more power to decide how it spends its federal education money. Iowa was the first state to apply for an exemption from certain spending rules

after Education Secretary Linda McMahon invited states to request the flexibility last year. Such waivers have been offered for years but are finding new interest under President Trump. Indiana and Oklahoma have made similar requests. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is calling on the state to keep the peace and for the country to ramp down political rhetoric after an ICE officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis. Minnesota Public Radio's Dana Ferguson reports. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Nome says an ICE officer shot the 37-year-old woman in her car, fearing she would ram him or others.

Witnesses at the scene say officers yelled contradictory orders at the woman and that she was attempting to turn her car around when the officer fired. The Minneapolis City Council identified the woman as Renee Nicole Good. Wall said local leaders warned about the potential danger of scaling up immigration operations in the state. I don't want to be right about this, but I said if they do this, they're going to create a chaotic situation where someone innocent is going to get killed, and they did it. And now we hear more political rhetoric, enough. Enough is enough.

He urged protesters to avoid violence and said he didn't want the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops to the state. For NPR News, I'm Dana Ferguson in Minneapolis. President Trump has abruptly changed his tone about Colombian President Gustavo Petro days after threatening his country with a military strike. Now Trump says they exchanged a friendly phone call and he invited the Colombian leader to the White House. Meanwhile, demonstrations took place across Colombia today after Petro denounced U.S. interference in Latin America. NPR's at Kerry Kahn is at a protest in Bogota.

The main plaza in downtown Bogota is packed with protesters. They're waving flags, Colombian flags, and shouting their support for Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Many people are expressing indignation over the recent U.S. attacks in neighboring Venezuela and the threats that President Trump has made against their president, Gustavo Petro, here. He's called him a drug addict, a drug trafficker, and has even threatened that maybe he would be next to be removed from office. I spoke to one man who called President Trump a psychopath, said there's no reason to dialogue with him, and they are just here to show their support from Petro. NPR's Carrie Khan in Bogota, Colombia.

stocks closed mixed today. At last check, the Dow dropped 1%. The SMP 500 dropped 3 tenths of a percent, and the NASDAQ nudged up two-tenths of a percent. I'm Ryland Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Trump administration is giving Iowa more power to decide how it spends its federal education money. Iowa was the first state to apply for an exemption from certain spending rules after education secretary Linda McMahon invited states to request the flexibility last year. Such waivers have been offered for years, but are finding new interest under President Trump, Indiana and Oklahoma have made similar requests. Pittsburgh is losing its biggest and oldest newspaper and will become the latest major U.S. city without a paper of record. From member station WESA, Rachel McDevitt reports the Post-Gazette announced it'll shut down,

following a court loss to its reporter's union. The paper's owner announced it would close this May. On the same day, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the company's request to pause reinstatement of health care for union members who had been on strike. Attorney for the union, Joseph Pass, says the company is choosing to fold instead of honor past contract agreements. During our negotiations, we have asked them more than once, are you folks claiming you don't have the ability to pay?

Oh, no, we are not claiming that. Journalists were on strike for more than three years, the longest running strike in the country. The Post-Gazette has been in operation in some forms since 1786. For NPR News, I'm Rachel McDevitt in Pittsburgh. A winter storm system brought snow, ice, freezing rain, and dangerous driving to in New England. The region is preparing for more unpleasant conditions later in the week. The combination of rain, snow, and slush have blanketed roads and caused dozens of school districts to close. six New England states were under a National Weather Service winter weather advisory today. It's

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