NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-08-2026 4PM EST

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. The FBI will be the sole law enforcement agency investigating the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer Wednesday. And peers Meg Anderson has more. In a statement, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota had, quote, reversed course. Now the state agency won't have access to the evidence needed to do an independent investigation. of the shooting. Minnesota Governor Tim Walls is questioning whether an FBI investigation without the state would be fair. People in positions of power have already passed judgment from the president to the vice president to Christy Noem have stood and told you things that are verifiably false. Noam is the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary. The Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment. Meg Anderson and P. The Trump administration wants Venezuelan migrants to go back home

after U.S. forces seized President Nicholas Maduro over the weekend. But for many, returning is dangerous. And Piercerio Martinez Beltron has more. Luis Falcone has been living in the U.S. since 2017 after fleeing persecution for protesting Nicolas Maduro's regime in Venezuela. He's happy to see the toppling of the autocrat, but says it's still dangerous for him to go back, despite the U.S. government saying it is now safe.

Putting a foot back in Venezuela means I will be taken to jail, tortured, and potentially killed. Falcone says. The U.S. has advised U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela due to severe risk of wrongful detention and torture. Over a dozen journalists have been detained since Monday, and armed groups are already cracking down on those who support Maduro's ouster. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Austin. Meanwhile, Venezuela says it will release a number of political prisoners today in the first action of the interim government since the Trump administration ousted Maduro. The Commerce Department says the U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply this fall, and Pierre Scott Horsley reports.

The U.S. trade gap narrowed in October to a little over $29 billion. That's down 39 percent from the previous month. Exports rose in October while imports fell. U.S. workers got more productive in the late summer and early fall. The Labor Department says productivity rose by nearly 5 percent during the third quarter. order. That's important because when workers are more productive, they can earn higher wages without putting upward pressure on prices. Wage growth has slowed in recent months, however, as the job market has softened. New applications for unemployment benefits inched up last week. We'll get a full report

on December unemployment tomorrow. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. Wall Street, just at the close, is trading in mixed territory. The Dow up 270 points. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Ole Miss faces Miami tonight in the first semifinal of this year's college football playoffs. Undefeated and top-ranked Indiana faces off against Oregon tomorrow night in the other semifinal. As NPR's Becky Sullivan reports, few experts predicted Ole Miss to become one of the final four playoff teams. Sure, the number six seed had only lost one game this season, but last month the Rebs lost something else. Their head coach, Lane Kiffin, departed for a shining. new gig at rival Louisiana State. The school promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding into his first ever head coaching gig, and they haven't lost since. But Miami is a tall order. The Hurricanes just knocked off Ohio State, the defending champs. On Friday, two future NFL quarterbacks will

face off in the Peach Bowl. Oregon's Dante Moore is just 20 years old, but already electric viewing. And while Indiana's Fernando Mendoza has already won the Heisman Trophy, he and his Hoosiers have their eyes on a different prize, Indiana's first ever national title. Becky Sullivan and PR News. NASA is postponing a space walk so it can monitor what it calls a medical concern with an astronaut. The space agency hasn't named the astronaut but says the situation is stable. Two astronauts were set to do a six-and-a-half-hour walk outside the International Space Station today. But NASA now says it may end Crew 11's mission early as they evaluate all their options. There are four people on Crew 11, two Americans, one person from Russia, one from Japan.

The group arrived at the ISS in August and is nearing the end of its six-month stay. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.