NPR News: 01-02-2026 5AM EST
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Thank you.
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Dozens of families in Houston, Texas are homeless after a fire tore through an apartment complex. It broke out early yesterday morning.
What happened in Houston that left families homeless?
Brian Sky Eagle is a deputy chief with the Houston Fire Department. He says it appears someone had been shooting off fireworks in the courtyard.
Not only is it illegal to have fireworks in the Houston area, but this is unsafe. We got children, we got families, and they're all put out of a home tonight. So this is a very tragic start to a new year.
No injuries were reported. The new mayor of New York City is promising to enact an aggressive agenda to make the nation's largest city more affordable for working people. Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani was sworn in yesterday. He had campaigned heavily on cost-of-living issues, including affordable rents, universal child care, and free bus service. Mamdani is the city's first Muslim mayor and, at 34, the youngest in decades. Ten years ago today, a group of anti-government militants took over a federal wildlife refuge in Harney County, Oregon. Oregon Public Broadcasting's Conrad Wilson reports.
The armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was led by folks from outside Harney County. Those who work near the refuge say a decade later, the occupier's message didn't stick.
I think we were moving on even when it was happening.
Brenda Smith runs a nonprofit in Harney County that for years has hosted conversations between ranchers, conservation groups, and federal land managers. Republican State Representative Mark Owens also farms in the county.
Living through that and working through that, I don't think it was as impactful for the community as it's impactful for people watching the community.
The occupation lasted 41 days, and before it was over, the leaders were arrested and one was shot and killed by police. For NPR News, I'm Conrad Wilson in Harney County, Oregon.
Voters will have less time to get mail-in ballots to election officials this year. Multiple states are eliminating grace periods for casting ballots by mail. NPR's Ashley Lopez reports.
Almost 20 states and territories count ballots that make it to officials after polls close. Most require that those ballots be postmarked by Election Day, though. These laws are in place to give voters wiggle room in case there are issues with the mail or other unforeseen problems. But four of those states passed legislation that require ballots to be received by the close of polls, regardless of when the voter mailed their ballot. Trump signed an executive order, much of which is currently halted by a court order that sought to eliminate these grace periods altogether.
What agenda is the new mayor of New York City promising?
Ashley Lopez, NPR News.
Swiss authorities say it may take days to identify all those who died in a fire at a ski resort yesterday. At least 40 people were killed when the fire swept through a New Year's celebration. More than 100 people were injured, some seriously. Authorities say they have yet to determine a final death toll because many of the bodies were badly burned. This is NPR News in Washington. China is now taxing contraception. For years, contraceptive products were not taxed. That was at a time when officials feared China could not support a large population and imposed the one-child policy, limiting families to one child. But now China wants to encourage people to have more babies as it faces a falling birth rate, leading to a smaller workforce.
As of January 1st, there is a 13% tax on contraception. The case of a flesh-eating parasite has been reported in a Mexican state along the border with Texas. Nina Kravinsky from member station KJZZ has details.
More than a year after Mexico's first reported case of the New World screwworm, the deadly parasite has been discovered in a cow in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The United States closed the U.S.-Mexico border to cattle for much of 2025 in an effort to protect its herds from the parasite, which so far has not been reported in the U.S. The new world screwworm has largely spread in southern Mexico, but there have been cases closer to the U.S.
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