NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-26-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: January 26, 2025

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Hey, it's Robin Hilton from NPR Music. Many years ago, I helped start the Tiny Desk Concert Series. Right now, NPR is looking for the next great undiscovered musician to perform behind the famous desk. Think you've got what it takes? Submit a video of you playing an original song to the Tiny Desk Contest by February 10th. Find out more and see the official rules at npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder.

President Trump has told reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One that he'd like Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from Gaza, an area decimated by the Israel-Hamas War. NPR's Osmocallan reports. Trump described this idea of relocating Palestinians as a plan that could be temporary or could be long term. The president said he spoke about this with the King of Jordan. I said to him, I'd love you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip

right now and it's a mess. It's a real mess. Trump said he also plans to speak with Egypt's president over the weekend. He said Gaza right now is like a quote demolition site and he wants to get Arab nations to help build housing at a different location. Trump's comments come as additional Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were released over the weekend as part of a ceasefire deal. Asma Khalid, NPR News.

This place Palestinians are still being blocked from returning to northern Gaza. They were supposed to begin returning this weekend, but Israel says Hamas breached the terms of the ceasefire when an Israeli civilian was not included in yesterday's hostages for prisoner swap. Israeli troops also remain on the ground in southern Lebanon after the deadline passed for their withdrawal under a separate ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. Israel says the terms of the deal have not been fully enforced. Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli forces killed three people and wounded more than 30 others during protests against Israel's failure to withdraw by the deadline. A deal to save TikTok

being negotiated. NPR's Bobby Allen reports that software company Oracle and Microsoft are among the American investors involved. Sources close to talks in the White House about TikTok's future say Oracle is planning to offer tens of billions of dollars for a sizable share of TikTok's global operation. Microsoft and other U.S. investors are expected to also be part of the deal. NPR has agreed to not name the sources who aren't authorized to speak publicly about the talks. White House negotiators say China-based ByteDance will lose control of TikTok but would remain a minority investor in the app. For years, TikTok has been a national security concern over fears

that the Chinese government could use the app to spy or push disinformation. The discussions are in flux, but a senior staffer in Congress says if ByteDance doesn't have access to TikTok's data or algorithm, it could satisfy the law. Neither the White House nor any of the companies returned a request for comment. Bobby Allen in PR News. President Trump says he has not spoken to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, but that he has spoken to many people about TikTok and there's in his words great interest in TikTok. He says he'll make a decision on a U.S. buyer for part of TikTok over the next 90 days or

so. The rain falling in Southern California this weekend helping firefighters corral those wildfires that destroyed entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles, but officials are worried about the runoff of toxic ash, flood watches in effect in some burn areas. This is NPR News. The president of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council, Leslie Voltaire, is calling on Pope Francis to help after the Trump administration moved to freeze aid programs to support migrants and block refugees from entering the U.S. He will cut the aid that USAID was providing to Haiti, and I'm asking the Pope to intervene on behalf of Haiti. Voltaire spoke to reporters after meeting with Pope Francis in Rome this weekend, saying losing humanitarian assistance will make Haiti's situation dramatically worse.

He says the new policies being implemented by the Trump administration will be catastrophic. CBS's new drama, Watson, debuts today. The show reimagines Sherlock Holmes' sidekick, John Watson, as a medical detective running a clinic in Pittsburgh. Ampere's Eric Deggans reports its decision to cast a black man as Watson also opens up new storytelling opportunities. Morris Chestnut plays John Watson as the super-sharp leader of a medical clinic, with little patience for staffers who don't understand the assignment. CBS's Watson matches together several traditional TV genres, placing Watson in charge of a medical clinic while looking into the mysterious death of his friend Sherlock Holmes. Chestnut, a heartthrob known for films like The Best Man, offers a version of Watson as

a suave, handsome African-American hero, reinventing traditional takes on the character. Eric Deggans, NPR News. And I'm Joel Snyder. This is 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.