NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-28-2025 7AM EST

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

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Hey, it's Robin Hilton from NPR Music. Many years ago, I helped start the Tiny Desk Concert Series. And 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 Kristen Wright. President Trump has issued four new executive orders related to the US military. One of the orders ends diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the armed services. NPR's Ayanna Archie has more. In the order,

Trump said quote, no individual or group within our armed forces should be preferred or disadvantaged on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, color or creed. Pete Tegseth, the newest Secretary of Defense, has about three months to show the Trump administration all the Defense Department's current DEI programs and offices, and 30 days to submit a plan to achieve the mandates in the order. The order also stops the military from teaching gender ideology or that the documents America was founded on are racist or sexist. Last week, the president signed an executive order cutting DEI programs from the federal

government and placed employees in those offices on paid leave. Ayanna Archie, NPR News. NPR has learned the acting Attorney General is taking steps to fire several Justice Department employees who worked on the criminal investigations into the president. James McHenry writes in termination letters they can't be trusted to faithfully implement the president's agenda. President Trump says he plans to meet with the leaders of Israel and India in the near future. NPR's Asma Khalid reports on Trump's remarks while traveling aboard Air Force One.

Asma Khalid, NPR News, CNN News, News 8. Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the United States to meet very soon. This trip could come at a critical moment amidst the fragile ceasefire hostage deal. Trump also doubled down on his prior comments that Palestinians ought to move out of Gaza. You know when you look at the Gaza Strip it's been hell for so many years. He said he'd like to get people living in areas that are quote safer and maybe more comfortable. Trump also said he'll be meeting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon likely in February. The two men have had a close

relationship though Trump is pushing India on trade and immigration. Asma Khalid, NPR News. Investors are watching tech stocks closely. They took a dive yesterday, a reaction to reports that a Chinese company developed a competitive AI model called DeepSeek at a fraction of the cost compared to American models like ChatGPG.

NPR's John Ruich reports from China there is a caveat. DeepSeek says that it spent under $6 million to make this thing. That's tiny relative to the hundreds of millions of dollars that others are investing, even billions. But analysts say that that low figure is easy to misinterpret because it doesn't include, for instance, the cost of developing various versions from which this latest version was distilled. Shares of chip company Davidia lost nearly $600 billion in market value yesterday. In pre-market trading today, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is rebounding.

You're listening to NPR News. Climate change has boosted the number of days that temperatures are dangerously hot, while also trimming the number of dangerously cold days. As NPR's Alejandra Burunda reports, a new study focused on Europe suggests human-driven climate change will soon alter the global balance of those risks. Humans are sensitive to temperature. When it gets too hot, people die, not just from heat stroke, but from all kinds of other medical problems, like heart attacks or even mental health issues.

But people also die when it gets really cold. And in many parts of the world, cold causes more deaths than heat. That balance could change in coming decades, at least in Europe, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine, because climate change is likely to balloon the risks of heat. The scientists write it's a warning to cut greenhouse gas emissions quickly to keep climate

change from getting even more dangerous. Alejandra Burunda, NPR News. The three largest wildfires in Southern California are more than 95 percent contained, and rain has now moved out of the area without major mudslides that were anticipated. Whole Foods workers in Philadelphia are poised to be the first in the Amazon grocery chain to unionize. Employees of the Center City supermarket voted in favor of joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Union yesterday

by a margin of 130 to 100. The Whole Foods workers want higher wages and affordable health care benefits. The National Labor Relations Board still needs to certify the results. Amazon could also challenge any ballots. This is NPR News from Washington. Support free. This is NPR News from Washington. Support for you. It's a new year. And according to Pew, 79% of resolutions are about one thing, health. But there are so many fads around how to keep ourselves healthy.

On It's Been A Minute, I'm helping you understand why some of today's biggest wellness trends are, well, trendy. Like, why is there protein in everything? Join me as we uncover what's healthy and what's not on the It's Been A Minute podcast from NPR.