NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-23-2026 11PM EST

Episode Date: January 24, 2026

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua Lisei Kautau. The winter storm working its way across the U.S. this weekend will put stress on the nation's electric grid. NPR's Kamila Dominovsky reports it comes five years after a major winter storm caused widespread blackouts in Texas. More than 40% of the nation's electricity comes from burning natural gas. And during extreme cold snaps, natural gas production and transportation can both be disrupt. right as demand for the fuel spikes. Power plants can be shut down by cold too. Karen Panetta of ICCI, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, also says

that ice on power lines, combined with high winds and falling branches, create a, quote, perfect storm ripe for an outage. Utilities in the storm's path have been trying to prepare by trimming trees and positioning teams of workers to respond to downlines. Camila Dominovsky in PR News. Thousands of protesters filled the streets for blocks in downtown Minneapolis, many chanting for federal immigration officials to get out of the city. This despite sub-zero temperatures, as NPR's Kat-Lonsdorf reports. Hundreds of businesses are closed across the state and people called out from school and work.

Becky, an elementary school teacher who asked to be identified by her first name only for fear of retaliation from ice at her job, says she showed up because right now she feels like a bodyguard for her students. We have sheltered in place when ICE has been in our vicinity. We walk our kids to their cars now instead of just dismissing them. Meanwhile, President Trump has put another military battalion on standby, meaning more than 2,000 active duty troops are ready for possible deployment to Minnesota. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Minneapolis. Over at Minneapolis, St. Paul International Airport, police arrested about 100 clergy members who chanted in protest calling on ice to end its operations in Minnesota. In Washington, D.C., thousands of people attended an anti-abortion rights rally.

Vice President J.D. Vance touted new policies aimed at restricting abortion access and promoting traditional families. NPR's Tamara Keith reports. Vance, who announced this week that he and his wife were expecting another child, addressed the crowd on the national mall. To our fellow Americans, we say you're never going to find great meaning in a cubicle or in front of a computer screen. but you will find great meaning if you dedicate yourself to the creation and sustenance of human life. Some in the anti-abortion movement are disappointed the Trump administration hasn't moved more quickly to limit medication abortion. Vance acknowledged that while talking up other new policies like banning the use of fetal tissue in federal research. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the White House.

This is NPR. Public health officials in South Carolina, are now reporting 700 confirmed cases of measles in what is currently the largest outbreak in the nation. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, that includes 54 new cases since Tuesday. The outbreak is centered in Spartanburg County in the northwest part of South Carolina. Officials say there are currently 485 people in quarantine and 10 in isolation. At least 12 people, adults and children have been hospitalized with complications from the disease. Measles is very contagious. A single case can infect up to 18 other unvaccinated people on average.

The vast majority of cases to date have occurred in unvaccinated kids and teens. Health officials stress that the measles vaccine is the best way to protect yourself against infection, and high vaccination rates are needed to prevent community outbreaks. Officials say uptake of the vaccine has been slower than is needed to stem the outbreak. Maria Godoy, NPR News. The immensely popular TikTok video app used by more than 200 million Americans has new non-Chinese investors, allies of President Trump, billionaire Michael Dell, Larry Ellison of Tech Giant Oracle, an MGX, an Emirati investment firm. The Chinese owner, ByteDance, agreed to let these new owners create a U.S. TikTok to avoid a permanent ban by Congress with new, quote, defined safeguards in Oracle's cloud environment. President Trump wrote on his truth social platform,

I'm so happy to have helped in saving TikTok. This is NPR. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get Wise. Download the Wise app today or visit Wise.com.

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