NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-27-2025 2PM EST

Episode Date: January 27, 2025

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Lyle, from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. On his first full day on the job, Defense Secretary Pete Hagsteth is heralding sweeping changes at the Pentagon. They include additional military support at the U.S. border with Mexico. We are reorienting. This is a shift. This is not the way business has been done in the past. This is the Defense Department will support the defense of the territorial

integrity of the United States of America at the southern border to include Reservists, National Guard and active duty in compliance with the Constitution, the laws of our land and the directives of the Commander in Chief. JADE morning, Hexeth was also asked about support for U.S. allied Afghans in light of an executive order that imposes a 90-day suspension of all foreign development assistance pending further examination. We're going to make sure there's accountability for what happened in Afghanistan and that we stand by our allies. Well, thousands of Afghans who worked for or fought alongside Americans and hoped to

come to the U.S. are now in limbo after President Trump ordered the suspension of the country's refugee program. NPR's Dehadid reports from Mumbai the suspension is being condemned by former service members who have been advocating for the resettlement of Afghans. Resettlement advocates say Afghans who allied with the United States before the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 faced the risk of death for their actions. There's about 50,000 Afghans waiting to have their asylum applications processed. Many of them have

been waiting in neighbouring Pakistan, but they aren't welcome there. The Pakistani government has been deporting hundreds of thousands of Afghans, arguing it cannot shoulder the burden of hosting so many people. Five Afghans who are expecting to fly to the United States with their families told NPR they feel abandoned and betrayed. Dhiya Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed rebels and the Congolese army are locked in street battles in Goma. The city is an important trade and transport hub for the mineral-rich

region. Competing factions have been fighting for years for control of DRC's potential wealth and Rwanda wants a piece of that. Emmett Livingstone is in Goma where rivals are exchanging fire across the nearby border. In the morning, the fighting kicked up a notch with deafening mortar blasts sounding in central neighborhoods. M23 rebels are engaging in street-level fighting with shooting reported right in front of the main UN peacekeeping base. Last night, Congolese special forces were mounting a last-ditch defense in the center of the city, and there still appeared to be pockets of Congolese resistance across Goma the next day.

Internet is completely cut and people have taken shelter. In the Lakeside Hotel where I'm staying, mortar shells landed in the water a few hundred meters away. Emmett Livingstone reporting from Goma. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 174 points. The Nasdaq has fallen 668 points. From Washington, this is NPR News. The most prestigious awards in children's books were announced this morning. The big winner was The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly, which won the Newbery Medal.

And Pierre's Andrew Limbong tells us it's about a time traveler at the turn of the century. The book takes place in 1999 and centers Michael Rosario, a 12-year-old boy fretting about the coming Y2K crisis, who then meets a time traveler from the future obsessed with 1999 culture. Announced at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards, the Newbery honors the best in children's literature. This is Erin Entrada Kelly's second Newbery Medal, a Kelly one in 2018 for her book Hello Universe.

The Caldecott Medal goes to the illustrator of the most distinguished picture book. This year, it went to Chooch Helped Illustrated by Rebecca Lee Coons. That book is about a young girl who gets frustrated when her two-year-old baby brother makes a mess of things as he insists on helping all the time. Andrew Limbong and Pure News. Preparations are underway for the Lunar New Year, a celebration people in China and around the world mark with colorful festivals, parades, and various traditional Asian foods. This Wednesday, it'll be a holiday in parts of the United States, including in the state of New York. Two years ago, Governor

Kathy Hochul declared Asian Lunar New Year holiday for public schools, which means no class this Wednesday. At last check on Wall Street, the NASDAQ Composite Index is down 681 points or 3.4 percent. At 19,267, the S&P is down 1.8 percent. You're listening to NPR News.