NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-12-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: January 12, 2025

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What's in store for the music, TV, and film industries for 2025? We don't know, but we're making some fun, bold predictions for the new year. Listen now to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The two largest wildfires in Southern California right now are in Malibu and Los Angeles. Fire officials say that more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed and both fires are still less than 15% contained. Erin Stone with Member Station LAist reports. Officials say fire danger will remain high at least through Wednesday due to another

round of Santa Ana winds and ongoing dry conditions. In the community of Altadena, hundreds of homes have been leveled by the Eaton fire. Altadena resident Anna Martinez still has a home, but her neighbor and multiple family and friends have lost theirs. My heart like feels very heavy. I feel guilty at the same time.

I don't know how to explain it like, OK, I can't be really happy because there's people who are suffering. You know firefighting crews have come from all over the country to help fight LA's fires, as tens of thousands remain under evacuation orders. For NPR News, I'm Erin Stone in Pasadena. In the eastern U.S. meanwhile, a major storm that brought snow and ice to the southern coast is finally moving offshore.

Atlanta resident Kelsey Bond says weather patterns in the region appear to be changing, but for the worse. I think in general we've seen really extreme weather these past few years, like this summer had record heat. It was 96 degrees and above for multiple days this summer and now we're seeing snow. In major airports including those in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina continued to have major disruptions to flight operations on Saturday and Police are warning motorists to be cautious because melting snow is now turning into ice as temperatures drop tonight President Joe Biden awarded Pope Francis with the nation's highest civilian honor on Saturday

It's the presidential medal of freedom with distinction an honor on Saturday. It's the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction. Francis became the first person to receive that added level of honor from Biden. NPR's Julianna Kim has more. President Biden was scheduled to travel to the Vatican this weekend to meet with Pope Francis, but canceled in order to monitor the California wildfires. The White House said the two were able to speak over the phone on Saturday. The White House says Pope Francis received the award for his commitment to serving the poor as well as advocating for world peace and the environment. President Biden is the second Catholic president in U.S. history, while Pope Francis is the third pope to receive the medal.

The two have had a good rapport for many years, well before Biden took office. Julianna Kim, NPR News. In what appears to be a sign of progress in the Gaza ceasefire talks, Israel's prime minister has sent the director of the Mossad Foreign Intelligence Agency to the negotiations which are currently underway in Qatar. It's not clear when he will arrive there, but the U.S US is pressuring Israel for a deal before the inauguration of Donald Trump. There's been just one ceasefire in the 15-month long war. This is NPR News. Sam Moore, the soul and R&B duo Sam and Dave has died. The singer died Friday in a Coral Gables

Florida hospital after undergoing surgery. He was 89 years old. Ampere's Chloe Veltman has this remembrance. Sam Moore was the higher in a Coral Gables Florida hospital after undergoing surgery. He was 89 years old. And Pierce Chloe Veltman has this remembrance. Sam Moore was the higher voice of the duo, Dave Prater the lower. They were best known for songs they wrote in the 1960s, like Soul Man. I was soul man.

Yeah! I was soul man. And Hold On I'm Coming. I'm coming. I'm Coming. Sam Moore was born in 1935 in Miami and started out singing in church. He and Prater met at a Miami nightclub in the early 1960s. After early success, their careers went through ups and downs. They broke up more than once and pursued solo careers.

Prater died in a car crash in 1988. Sam and Dave were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. The duo received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2019. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. Thousands of people demonstrated outside a convention of Germany's far-right Alternative Party on Saturday.

They blocked some roads and delayed the start of the convention, which is taking place just before next month's general election. The party's candidate for chancellor thanked delegates for, quote, defying the left-wing mob to get there. Officials in Syria say the new government stopped a plan by the Islamic State group to set off a bomb at a Shiite shrine in a Damascus suburb. State media reports say members of the Islamic State cell were planning the attack when they were arrested.

The shrine has been the site of previous attacks on Shiite pilgrims by the terrorist group. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have outlined their plans to slash the federal workforce with the help of a team of quote small government crusaders. What's in store for federal workers and how are they planning for change? This January 1A's.gov series guides you through various government agencies and the people working for you. Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR.