NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-11-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Winds worked against fire crews battling the Palisades fire in Los Angeles overnight, forcing expanded evacuation orders. Alice Hu reports. National Guard troops are helping enforce the mandatory curfew for the burn areas around the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire. Troops are helping support and secure those zones as crews continue to try and get control of the fires and prevent looting. Those caught in evacuation burn areas past curfew are subject to fines and six months in jail.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonald. We still have fire resources coming in from all over the country to be able to help deal with this major disaster and so we want to be able to keep it as safe as we possibly can. Despite an earlier break in the weather, winds shifted to make the Palisades Fire in West Los Angeles more active. Crews are working against time as Santa Ana winds are forecasted for Monday.

For NPR News, I'm Elise Hough in Los Angeles. Officials say at least 11 people have died since the fires began Tuesday. More than 10,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. Groups of House Republicans are visiting Mar-a-Longo this weekend to meet with President-elect Trump just over a week before he takes office. NPR's Amy Held reports the GOP is strategizing over how to push through its priorities. As they prepare to take the trifecta of power in Washington, the GOP has a lot of issues

they want to address, like immigration and border security, tax and spending cuts. And they want Trump to weigh in on how to prioritize and structure them. He met with Republican senators on Capitol Hill earlier this week and said he cares less about process, more about results. We're looking at the one bill versus two bills and whatever it is, it doesn't matter, we're going to get the results. Not if Democrats have their way. Republicans are considering tools to get around a filibuster, including the high-risk, high-reward

reconciliation process that would allow for a simple majority to pass legislation. Amy Held, NPR News. On the subject of immigration, the White House says hundreds of thousands of people from Venezuela, El Salvador, and Ukraine who are living in the U.S. legally under temporary protected status can remain in the country. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports it's not clear they will remain in place for long. The declaration could be reversed when President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month. He's repeatedly threatened mass deportations at the outset of his presidency

and has vowed to dismantle the Biden administration's immigration policy. TPS designation gives people the legal right to be in the U. the US based on security or if there's a humanitarian crisis in their home country. It's not a long-term path to citizenship. NPR's Windsor Johnston, this is NPR News in Washington. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today, Ukrainian forces have captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk border region, and they've been taken to Kiev for questioning.

They had been fighting alongside Russian troops who are attempting to take back ground that Ukraine had captured in Kursk in August. In a new report, the U.S. intelligence community says it has not found evidence that a foreign country is behind the so-called Havana Syndrome that's caused health problems among U.S. officials overseas. NPR's Greg Myrie reports.

The new assessment is the work of seven intelligence agencies that have been seeking the cause of ailments that first afflicted U.S. officials in Cuba's capital in 2016. Once again, they say it's unlikely or highly unlikely a foreign government is responsible for problems that include chronic migraines, balance issues, and memory loss. However, two of the agencies, which are not named, have shifted their position. They now say it's possible a foreign power has developed a weapon that could inflict such harm.

One agency estimates a 50-50 likelihood that such a weapon has been used. The other agency says it's unlikely it's been used. Greg Myhre, NPR News, Washington. The Supreme Court is considering whether to delay a law that could force TikTok to shut down in the U.S. The China-based parent company has until January 19th to sell the popular video-sharing app or be banned on national security grounds. The justices heard arguments yesterday.

I'm Noor Aram, NPR News in Washington.