NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-12-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: January 12, 2025

NPR News: 01-12-2025 11AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Fire crews in Southern California are scrambling to save more homes from the Palisades Fire, which officials say is already one of the most destructive natural disasters in Los Angeles history. Elise Hugh reports. Ground and aerial firefighters work to hold off the Palisades Fire from encroaching on the densely populated LA neighborhood of Brentwood and prevent it from reaching another major population center, the San Fernando Valley. For the first time since fires erupted on Tuesday, officials expanded evacuation warnings into Bel Air. At nearby UCLA, police told the university community to be ready to evacuate. The Palisades

fire is one of four major wildfires still burning in Los Angeles County. By Saturday night, the Palisades Fire alone burned more than 23,000 acres, destroying more than 5,000 structures. For NPR News, I'm Elise Hu in Los Angeles. President Biden had canceled a planned trip to Italy this weekend to monitor the fires. He's also promised federal help for hard-hit communities. NPR's Ozmucalled has more. President Biden has been continuing to speak with local officials on the ground. Last week

when fires began erupting, he declared a major disaster declaration, which is something that allows the federal government to step in and provide help. And he's been insisting that the federal government is going to stick around in California for as long as it takes. This is all happening at a big moment of political change here in Washington. NPR's Ozma Khalid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent the head of Israel's Foreign Intelligence Service to join negotiations for a ceasefire in the 15-month long Gaza War.

NPR's Jerome Sokoloski reports the sign of progress comes amid sustained fighting on the ground. Mossad chief David Barnea is heading to Qatar, where Israel and Hamas are talking through intermediaries. They're discussing the fate of the 98 remaining hostages. Israel says many are already dead. Hamas wants Israel to commit to ending the war, which Israel says it's not ready to do. In Gaza, the Israeli Air Force struck what it calls a Hamas command and control center located in a school building. Gaza's civil defense says civilians were sheltering there and that eight Palestinians were killed, including two women and two

children. Here in Israel, mourners are gathering for the funerals of four soldiers. The military says they were killed when their armored vehicle came under attack in northern Gaza. Jerome Sokolowski, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Top European and Middle Eastern diplomats are in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia today to meet with the new foreign minister of Syria. It's the first such meeting since rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad. The new rulers want the lifting of sanctions against Syria imposed over the Assad's government

brutal crackdown on dissent. This is NPR News. In South Korea, the first hearing in the impeachment trial of President Yun Song-yol is scheduled for Tuesday. His lawyer says he won't be there. Yun has been in his residence where his security detail has blocked police from arresting him on criminal charges of insurrection for his brief declaration of martial law last month. Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is urging Muslim leaders not to

legitimize the Taliban government in Afghanistan because it restricts education for girls and women. She spoke in Islamabad today at a summit on education in Islamic countries. She said, in Afghanistan, an entire generation of girls will be robbed of its future. Under their system of gender apartheid, the Taliban are punishing women and girls who dare to break their obscure laws by beating them up, detaining them, and harming them. Simply put, the Taliban do not see women as human beings. When Yousafzai was 15, she was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan for advocating for education for girls. She survived and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 2014.

Special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Department of Justice. In a court filing yesterday, Smith said he stepped down Friday. Smith had led the federal cases against Donald Trump, that the former president tried to overturn his defeat in 2020 and had mishandled classified documents. Neither case went to trial. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.