NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-20-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

NPR News: 01-20-2025 12AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts, you wish you could get more of all your favorite shows, and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Three Israeli women held hostage by Hamas in Gaza were freed today and are now safely back in Israel. They were released as part of the ceasefire agreement intended to end the war.

Israel, meanwhile, also released some Palestinian prisoners, NPR's Greg Myrie reports from Tel Aviv. Hamas released the three Israeli women in a chaotic scene in Gaza City. Masked Hamas gunmen drove a van carrying the women to a crowded square packed with Palestinians. The women were handed over to the Red Cross which in turn delivered them to the Israeli military. They were then whisked back to Israel. Video footage showed the women ages 24 to 31 were all able to walk on their own but there was no word on their overall condition. All

three were seized by Hamas and the attack that ignited the war on October 7th 2023. These exchanges of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are set to carry on for weeks. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Tel Aviv. President-elect Donald Trump moved his Monday inauguration indoors after reports that frigid temperatures are descending on Washington, D.C. It's the first time it will be held indoors in 40 years. Now, as NPR's Amy Held reports, President Joe Biden, members of Congress, and other select guests will all be attending the event in the Capitol Rotunda.

The Rotunda can hold 600 people. For almost everyone else, some 250,000 people. Plans to see proceedings in person are not panning out. Even though Luke Griffin says he came to D.C. equipped for the weather. We would show up. We're prepared. We've got gloves and hats and scarves and coats. We're ready to go. Capitol police say they can't go to the west front of the U.S. Capitol where the inauguration is usually held.

The House Sergeant at Arms says tickets can now be considered commemorative. Trump announced D.C.'s Capitol One arena with a 20,000-person capacity is open to those wanting to view the inauguration and said he would swing by after being sworn in. Amy Held, NPR News. The Justice Department has filed a voting rights lawsuit against a county in western Tennessee. As NPR's Hansi Lo Wong tells us, the federal lawsuit argues that the county's map of voting districts dilutes the collective power of black voters. About a half hour east of Memphis sits Fayette County, where the Justice Department argues voting is racially polarized, and the redistricting plan for the county commission violates section two of the Voting Rights Act by not giving black voters an equal opportunity to elect

candidates of their choice. The DOJ is asking a federal court to order the county to come up with a different voting map. This is one of three voting rights lawsuits the federal government has filed. Many voting rights advocates are concerned incoming Trump officials will de-prioritize these kinds of cases and scale back in forcing protections against racial discrimination under the Voting Rights Act. Anzila Wong, NPR News. I'm Dale Willman and you're listening to NPR News. India has opened up its border villages for what they're calling battlefield tourism. listening to NPR News.

India has opened up its border villages for what they're calling battlefield tourism, Amkar Kandekar reports. India's Defence Ministry has launched a website and mobile app to promote the tourism of more than 70 border areas where Indian soldiers have clashed with their counterparts in Pakistan and China over the last eight decades. Many of these areas are in the high mountains of the Himalayas and were earlier restricted for civilians. India's Army Chief Upendra Dwevedi said that the move is part of a series of initiatives

to support the residents of border villages, who have been moving out for years due to low employment opportunities. Analysts say that their absence was making these regions vulnerable to encroachment, especially around the Indo-China border. Omkar Khandekar, NPR News, Mumbai The draft lyrics to the Bob Dylan song Mr. Tambourine Man sold for more than a half million dollars this weekend. The auction in Nashville sold dozens of items related to the iconic singer, photos, sheet music, one of his guitars, and an oil painting.

The 83 year old singer is also a Nobel Prize winner and the focus of a new movie, A Complete Unknown. The Palmer Buddy comedy, One of Them Days, took first place in movie theaters this weekend. The R-rated movie earned eleven point six6 million in sales at North American theaters. Disney's Mufasa the Lion King was close behind in second place while the horror flick Wolfman was in third with $10.6 million. Overall, it's been one of the slowest Martin Luther King Jr. holidays since 1977. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. It's a new year and according to Pew, 79% of resolutions are about one thing, health. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.