NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-14-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

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Matt Wilson spent years doing rounds at children's hospitals in New York City. I had a clip-on tie. I wore Heelys, size 11. Matt was a medical clown. The whole of a medical clown is to reintroduce the sense of play and joy and hope and light into a space that doesn't normally inhabit. Ideas about navigating uncertainty. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. The largest wildfire still burning in Los Angeles is now 14 percent contained, but Steve Futterman reports that the return of powerful winds could cause a setback in

the next day or so. Steve Futterman Los Angeles is a city on edge. The new winds have arrived. Stronger Santa Ana winds are coming and residents are being warned. The next couple of days could be dangerous. We're not in the clear. I want to make sure of that. We are not in the clear as of yet.

LA City Fire Chief Kristen Crowley. We must not let our guard down as we have right now extreme fire behavior. The strongest winds are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fire crews and engine companies have been strategically pre-positioned in areas where new fires could start or where previously extinguished fires could reignite. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. Authorities in Los Angeles are warning of stiff punishment for people who use the wildfires to loot or gouge victims. NPR's Martin Costey reports that nine people are already facing felony charges of thefts and burglaries in evacuation zones.

L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hockman says the charge has come out of three separate cases of alleged thefts from homes and fire zones, including one in Altadena. Among the property that you'll see that was stolen in that particular incident was actually the Emmy Award of the resident who lived there. But despite these cases, it's not clear there's been a big wave of looting or burglaries. Sheriff Robert Luna says crime report data from the fire zones is sparse right now, especially in areas where residents have not been allowed to return to check their homes. Martin Costi, NPR News, Los Angeles.

In his final report on the Hunter Biden investigation, the lead prosecutor criticizes the president for calling the probe politically motivated. NPR's Ryan Lucas has the story. The report from special counsel David Weiss details his years-long investigation into Hunter Biden. Weiss's team brought felony gun charges against the president's son in Delaware, where a jury convicted Biden on all counts. The president's son later pleaded guilty to tax charges in a separate case brought by Weiss in California. Both convictions though were wiped away when President Biden pardoned his son in December. The president said the cases were politically motivated and a miscarriage of justice. In his report, Weiss rejects the president's allegations.

He says the prosecutions were thorough and impartial. Hunter Biden was prosecuted, Weiss says, because he broke the law. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. HUNTER BIDEN WAS PROSECUTED, WEISS SAYS, BECAUSE HE BROKE THE LAW. RYAN LUKAS, NPR NEWS, WASHINGTON. The Justice Department has released its final report on the special counsel probe of President-elect Trump. Jack Smith charged Trump with trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election. The charges were dropped in November, and Smith resigned last week. This is NPR.

The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to a Maryland law requiring safety, training, background checks and a waiting period in order to buy a handgun. The law was enacted in response to the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The High Court will soon decide whether to review a 2022 Delaware ban on assault-style weapons. The High Court has also declined to hear a challenged lawsuit seeking to hold the oil and gas industry liable for climate change. Several Texas-based companies argue that the

lawsuits pose a serious threat to their industry and should be moved back to federal court. At least 16 people are dead and many more are injured after a military plane bombed a community in northern Nigeria over the weekend. And Faiyar's Jewel Bright has the story. Officials in Nigeria's Zamfara state say the military jet dropped several bombs on Tugankara community in the Gidangowa district of the state. Scores of people were injured in addition to those killed. A local lawmaker says the strike was targeted at bandits operating in the area but accidentally hit residents and members of a local vigilante group. A spokesperson for the Nigerian Air Force says it has launched an investigation into the strike. This incident comes barely three weeks after another airstrike killed 10 civilians in the

northern state of Sokoto. Riot groups have condemned the Nigerian military for the high rates of civilian casualties resulting from its fight against militant groups. For NPR News, I'm Joel Bright in Lagos.