NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-02-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: February 2, 2025

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Extreme weather disasters like wildfires and floods can devastate communities. On the Sunday story from Up First, we ask, are there places that just aren't safe to live anymore? People are going to die. They will be me and my neighbors, and I don't want that to happen. How we respond to disasters in an era of climate insecurity. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from Snyder Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. President Trump's decision to impose stiff tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China is getting an immediate reaction. Canada and Mexico are planning retaliatory tariffs, and China says it will file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization. NPR's Scott Horsley says the reaction is more mixed within the U.S.

The White House passed along a lot of supportive statements from Republican allies like Tommy Tuberville and Marsha Blackburn, but business groups are less enthusiastic. The Chamber of Commerce put out a statement saying tariffs are not the answer. Democrats are warning these import taxes will drive up prices for working families. And the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed from former GOP Senator Phil Graham and former Democratic Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Those two don't agree on much, but they both say tariffs are bad for the economy. President Trump has said the tariffs are a way to get the three countries to crack down

on the illegal flow of drugs and immigration into the U.S. Elon Musk's social media platform Axe is suing Lego, Tyson Foods, and Shell Brands International. NPR's Bobby Allen reports that the suit claims the corporations conspired against Axe by participating in a 2022 advertising boycott. In the suit, lawyers for Axe say the companies took part in a brand safety protest that deprived the platform of billions of dollars in ad revenue. The suit was originally filed against the World Federation of Advertisers and CVS and video streamer Twitch, but has now been expanded to include half a dozen others. Musk, a top advisor in the Trump administration, says many big advertisers haven't returned

to X. It comes as other companies, including Metta and ABC, pay out millions of dollars to settle Trump suits filed before he took office. Critics, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, said Metta's $25 million settlement to Trump, quote, looks like a bribe. The Trump administration didn't immediately return

a request for comment. Bobby Allen in PR News. Overseas now to Sudan, where more than 50 people were killed at a market in the Sudanese city of Abderban and shelling blamed on rebels. Kate Bartler reports that the casualties include many women and children. The Ministry of Health said 54 people were killed and 158 wounded in the attack on the open market in the city that lies on the River Nile. Doctors Without Borders said in a statement that it was quote a scene of utter carnage. The NGO said that the hospital they support there was

filled with victims and the morgue packed with dead bodies. The government blamed the rebel militia, the Rapid Support Forces, for the attack, which they denied. The war between the two forces broke out in 2023 and has killed tens of thousands of people. For NPR News, I'm Kate Butler in Johannesburg. President Trump has ordered the first airstrikes of his second term in office, the strikes aimed against ISIS militants in Somalia. Defense Secretary Pete Hegson says they were coordinated with Somalia's government and that an initial Pentagon assessment assesses that several ISIS operatives were killed. This is NPR.

assesses that several ISIS operatives were killed. This is NPR. Authorities in Philadelphia have confirmed the death of a seventh person in Friday night's fiery crash of an air ambulance in a crowded neighborhood. Officials say the person was in a car when the plane crashed, killing six people who were flying home to Mexico. Investigators say it could take weeks to recover the debris. Journalists are taking Indiana to court over secrecy surrounding the state's purchase of a drug used in lethal injections. George Hale of member station WFIU reports that the supply of pentobarbital made it possible for Indiana to restart executions last year. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Indiana Capitol Chronicle, a nonprofit newsroom based in Indianapolis.

The news outlet accuses the State Corrections Department of failing to disclose how much it spent on the drugs. Indiana's legislature passed a law in 2017 protecting the identity of execution drug suppliers, but editor-in-chief Nikki Kelly says the Chronicle isn't asking for names. We never asked for who provided it. We just asked for the cost of it. In December, Indiana used pentobarbital in a lethal injection for the first time in 15 years. The state is seeking to execute another prisoner this year.

For NPR News, I'm George Hale in Bloomington, Indiana. Grammy awards are to be handed out in Los Angeles tonight. Beyonce leads the nominations with 11. She now has a career total of 99, making her the most nominated artist in Grammy history. The Grammys are being held as crews clean up from those wildfires that devastated whole neighborhoods in L.A. Officials said this weekend that the two biggest, the Palisades and Eaton fires, are fully contained. This is MPR News.

Want to know what it's like to play behind the tiny desk? If you've got the talent, we've got the desk. of palisades and Eaton fires are fully contained. This is NPR News.