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Today's top stories
Firefighters were able to slow the spread of wildfires in Los Angeles yesterday after the Santa Ana winds eased, allowing crews to drop water from above. Red flag warnings, which indicate that a combination of warm temperatures, low humidity and strong winds is expected to heighten the fire risk, have been extended through today. At least 10 people have died and thousands of structures have been destroyed in Pacific Palisades and other affected communities.
- 🎧 NPR's Greg Allen tells Up First he spent yesterday in the Altadena community of Los Angeles, where he talked to Teandra Pitts, whose house caught fire. She returned to salvage what she could and was shocked to find her door was kicked down and the place ransacked. Looters took her family's things, including her son's sneaker collection. The Los Angeles sheriff has promised to crack down on looting, and communities are imposing a curfew. President Biden says California Gov. Gavin Newsom has assured him that generators are being deployed to supply power to water pumping stations.
- ➡️ Jinghuan Liu Tervalon packed a few keepsakes and clothes before evacuating her Altadena home, thinking her family would return the next day. Now, the house is gone.
- ➡️ See before and after satellite images showing the California wildfires' destructive force.
President-elect Donald Trump will take a quick pause today from his transition to power to attend his criminal sentencing in Manhattan. He was convicted last year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to an adult film star. With a narrow majority, Supreme Court justices declined to give Trump a last-minute reprieve. The former and future president is unlikely to face punishment, but he will have a criminal record, which he can attempt to appeal.
- 🎧 NPR's Ximena Bustillo says it's key to note that Trump was one Supreme Court justice away in the vote from not having to be sentenced today. He has tapped several of his personal lawyers on the case to join his next administration, including John Sauer, who appealed the case to the Supreme Court. Trump has vowed to appeal the case, but some ethical questions remain over his lawyers' ability to do so if they are confirmed to serve in the executive branch.
Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether TikTok should be banned in the U.S. Lawyers from the China-based viral video app's legal team and the Justice Department will make their respective cases. The oral arguments come in light of a law passed by Congress and signed by President Biden that set a Jan. 19 deadline for the app to sell off its U.S. operation or be banned over national security concerns.
- 🎧 TikTok argues that shutting down the media platform violates the free speech of the U.S. operation and the millions of Americans who use it daily, says NPR's Bobby Allyn. The app's lawyers are expected to argue that it has worked to distance itself from its parent company ByteDance. Meanwhile, the Justice Department's response is expected to be that anything less than a complete separation isn't enough. A ruling isn't expected today, but the court could delay the law's start date. Allyn says the Supreme Court is trying to ensure Americans are not silenced but also safeguard against possible covert influence from China.
- ➡️ Here's how TikTok creators are preparing for the possible shutdown of the app in the U.S.
25 goals for 2025
Can't decide on a resolution for 2025? NPR's Life Kit has expert guides to make any goal a reality. We'll share a few of them every week this month. View all 25 guides here.
Constantly aiming to make other people happy can come at a high price. When one of your top priorities is to be liked, you may find you aren't in touch with what you need. People pleasing isn't reserved for pushovers; perfectionists tend to do it too. But this is a changeable habit. Here are some tips:
- 💖 Take note of how often you say yes, no or maybe to a request. How did each request make you feel? This can reveal the kinds of requests that might cause you anxiety.
- 💖 Try documenting your energy level and your calendar. Assess your time before taking on new responsibilities.
- 💖 Start to learn when requests align with your values or make you feel good versus when they feel like obligations.
Life Kit has several more guides to help you navigate relationships in 2025. Check out some of them here:
- ➡️ Want to be a highly effective communicator? Here are four habits to achieve this.
- ➡️ Check out this comic about making peace with your guilty feelings.
- ➡️ The secret to lasting love could be knowing how to fight. Here's how to resolve conflict with your partner.
Weekend picks
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Movies: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is the latest film in the stop-motion animation series. Inventor Wallace and his pooch Gromit are dealing with a robotic garden gnome, Wallace's latest invention. The adventure includes having to face down an army of evil robots.
📺 TV: Medical dramas, Westerns, cop shows and documentaries are just some of the offerings for the beginning of the year. Here's a list of returning and new series to add to your watch list.
📚 Books: From fiction to nonfiction, here are 10 books hitting the shelves soon that you might want to add to your to-be-read list.
🎵 Music: With the Grammys looming, Billboard's charts see another big week for the usual suspects: Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. But, here are some of the fresh faces gaining momentum on the charts.
❓ Quiz: The quiz is back and I started the year off right with a perfect score. Do you think you can keep up with that momentum? Give it your best shot.
3 things to know before you go
- A cardinal with a rare mutation has been photographed in St. Louis by Taka Yanagimoto, the director of photography for the St. Louis Cardinals. This male specimen displays yellow feathers instead of the typical red. (via St. Louis Public Radio)
- Today, after 17 years, co-anchor and Hoda & Jenna co-host Hoda Kotb will make her final appearance on NBC's Today show.
- Lebanon's parliament appointed Joseph Aoun, the head of the armed forces, as the country's next president. The position has been vacant since October 2022.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
Copyright 2025 NPR