NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-12-2025 2AM 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. Catastrophic wildfires, which started six days ago, are continuing to burn in and around Los Angeles. Elise Hue has our latest. The LA County Sheriff is working with the coroner's office and FEMA to conduct searches. LA County Sheriff Robert Luna says specialized search and rescue teams will use cadaver dogs to search for missing people as well as remains.

Due to safety concerns, we are unable to safely search the impacted areas during the hours of darkness. So this will only be taking place while there's light firefighters have struggled to contain the biggest palisades fire in west los angeles it grew by about one thousand acres overnight for npr news i mean these few in los angeles the fate of tick tock is now up to the supreme court which heard arguments friday over a potential ban of the video app. TikTok argues it's a free speech issue, but NPR's Bobby Allen says the government sees

it as a potential existential threat to the country. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogger argued that Congress passed the TikTok divest or ban law as a way to address the app's national security problem. As long as data flows between Beijing and China, and as long as ByteDance controls TikTok's algorithm, she says Americans are just too exposed to the Chinese government. She argued that the problem isn't TikTok's foreign ownership. The problem is ownership by an enemy of the United States that, you know, wants to spy on Americans and create havoc. Under the law, TikTok will be banned in a week unless its China owner sells the app

or the Supreme Court allows a stay while they make their decision. A new study is raising concerns about the hundreds of US hospitals that are controlled by private equity firms. Researchers at Harvard Medical School find that patient satisfaction declines when public facilities are turned over

to private equity control. For Member Station WBUR, Priyanka Thayal-McCluskey has our reports. Many patients said their experience at hospitals worsened after private equity takeovers, and they've reported staff were less responsive. Dr. Rishi Wadhera co-authored the study and says it adds to a growing body of evidence pointing in the same direction. When private equity takes over a hospital, things generally get worse for patients. He says as private equity grows, there really is an urgent need for greater transparency,

monitoring and regulatory oversight. Lawmakers are paying attention. The Senate Budget Committee this week published a bipartisan report saying private equity investors are making millions on hospital deals while patients suffer. For NPR News, I'm Priyanka DeYal-McCluskey in Boston. Airports in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina continued to report major disruptions to air traffic Saturday as a major winter storm continued its move through the region.

Snow was melting in some areas, but dropping temperatures overnight is turning the water back into ice and creating dangerous conditions throughout the region. You're listening to NPR News. A new government program rolling out this year will allow consumers to know which products have been designed with cybersecurity in mind. NPR's Jenny McLaughlin reports. While browsing the shelves in store or online for home security cameras, fitness trackers, baby monitors and other smart devices, U.S. consumers will soon be able to look for a special cybersecurity label. That label, the U.S. Cyber Trustmark, was launched by the White House and will be administered by the Federal Communications Commission or the FCC.

Like the Energy Star labels that help promote green and energy-efficient products, the Cyber Safe label will help consumers know products have been tested using U.S. government cybersecurity standards. And companies have committed to maintaining security as new vulnerabilities are uncovered. Best Buy and Amazon have already committed to highlighting products with the special label. Jenna McLaughlin, NPR News. President Joe Biden honored Pope Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction

on Saturday. It's the highest civilian award given by a president. Biden had planned on giving the medal to the pope in person, but his trip was canceled because of the wildfires in Southern California. Sudanese officials say that country's military has taken back the strategic city of Wad Medani. The city has been occupied by the opposition rapid support forces for more than a year. The military says forces are continuing to clear RSF forces from the city. The loss is another major blow to the RSF, which has suffered a number of battlefield losses in recent months. More than 28,000 people have died in the fighting

there. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. The Indicator is a podcast where daily economic news is about what matters to you. Workers have been feeling the sting of inflation. So as a new administration promises action on the cost of living, taxes and home prices, the S&P 500 biggest post-election day spike ever, follow all the big changes and what they mean for you. Make America affordable again.

Listen to The Indicator, the daily economics podcast from NPR.