NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-08-2026 2AM 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 Shay Stevens. Large crowds gathered in Minneapolis late Wednesday after an ICE officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen. In a post on social media, President Trump blamed the kids.

killing on what he calls the radical left. NPR's Deepa Shiveram has the story. Without citing any evidence, Trump accused the, quote, radical left of attacking law enforcement officials, including ICE officers, on a, quote, daily basis. The Department of Homeland Security alleges that an ICE official fired defensive shots at a 37-year-old woman in her car. The Minneapolis police say that preliminary information shows the woman was blocking the street in her car and was approached by law enforcement. The shooting happened as the vehicle drove off and the woman was later pronounced dead with a gunshot wound to the head. The investigation into the use of deadly force is being led jointly by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Dipa Shiveram, NPR News, the White House. Russia is accusing the United States of violating maritime laws when it seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker with ties to Venezuela. U.S. forces boarded the ship in the North Atlantic saying it was in violation of sanctions on Venezuela and oil exports. NPR-Strails-Mains has more from Moscow. In a statement, Russia's transport ministry says the vessel had received temporary permission to sail under the Russian flag back in late December. Russia lost contact with the vessel after, according to Moscow, U.S. naval forces boarded the ship in violation of freedom of navigation principles

laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Separately, Russia's foreign ministries calling for the safe, return of Russian nationals on board, the U.S. had been in pursuit of the tanker for nearly two weeks on suspicion it was carrying sanctioned Venezuelan oil. Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow. A mass shooting outside of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Meeting House has claimed at least two lives. From member station KUER, Elaine Clark, reports.

Salt Lake City Police say at least six others are injured, three of them in critical condition. It happened just after 7.30 Mountain Time. There was a funeral going on at the church. Police say they have solid leads, but the suspects are not in custody. The FBI says it has offered assistance. In a statement, the church, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, said it is cooperating with law enforcement. It also expressed deep concern that, quote, any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence. For NPR News, I'm Elaine Clark. Payroll Services Company, ADP, says its data shows employers added roughly 41,000 jobs in December.

It also says most of the job games were in education, health care sectors, and in entertainment. Meanwhile, the Labor Department says private businesses posted fewer jobs in November than in the previous month. This is NPR. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced new dietary guidelines, and it flips what many Americans have long considered healthy. The new food pyramid puts meat and dairy at the top alongside fruits and vegetables. It backs away from recommendations to limit saturated fats and whole grains fall somewhere near the bottom of the chart. Kennedy says the new guidelines emphasize whole foods, proteins, and healthy fats over processed foods. Nearly 600 Palestinians working for the biggest UN agency in Gaza have been fired.

Details from NPR's Anas Baba in Gaza City. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, told NPR 571 employees have had their contracts terminated, citing extremely dire finances. Many were teachers without pay for months now who fled the war to neighboring Egypt. The U.S. cut funding to UNRWA under both presidents, Biden and Trump, accounting for a third of the agency's budget. Before the war, UNRWA ran schools, clinics, and many basic services. It is Gaza's largest humanitarian agency. in blowing around 13,000 people in Gaza. Israel's SAID-19 were involved in the Hamas-led deadly attack in 2003

and has moved to shut the agency down entirely. Hundreds of vulnerable staff were killed in Israeli attacks in the war and its school destroyed. And as Baba and current news, Gaza City. U.S. futures are flat and after hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mixed, down 1.6% in Hong Kong and Tokyo. NPR News.