NPR News: 01-11-2026 1AM EST
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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Demonstrations continued in Iran on Sunday. It's been two weeks now since people took to the streets there to protest the state of that country's economy.
This one started at the end of December when shopkeepers turned out in large numbers to protest against the economy.
What are the current protests in Iran about?
Inflation is red hot, close to 50 percent, and the local currency, the riel, has lost half its value since September. But, you know, the economy is often the trigger for protests in Iran, but this one quickly spread.
That's NPR's Jackie Northam. Iran's internet is down and phone lines have been cut off, so it's difficult to know exactly what's happening there. But human rights groups say at least 116 protesters have been killed over the past two weeks. And Iran's attorney general warned this weekend that anyone protesting will be considered an enemy of God. Despite officials in the U.S. and Venezuela saying that a significant number of high-profile political prisoners would be released from jails, so far only 18 people have been freed so far. President Trump says the U.S. requested the release and that Venezuelan officials were complying. NPR's Kerry Kahn in Colombia has more on our story.
Relatives and friends of political prisoners continue waiting in front of the infamous prison known as El Acorde, waiting the promised releases. The mountainous, multi-level building was designed to be a shopping center, but is known as the most feared detention facility in the country. In announcing the release on Thursday, Venezuela's congressional leader, Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of the interim president, said the move should be considered a gesture seeking peace. Those released so far include members of the political party led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado and five Spanish citizens. Human rights groups decry the paltry number of releases and say more than 800 political opponents remain imprisoned.
Carrie Khan, NPR News, Bogota, Colombia.
President Trump is increasing his rhetoric about the U.S. taking over Greenland, and he says it will happen one way or another. But political leaders of the strategically located island, which is a semi-autonomous region of Denmark, are saying they don't want to join the U.S. and Trump should stop threatening them. Terry Schultz has more on that.
The leaders of Greenland's political parties issued a joint statement demanding that, quote, the United States' disregard for our country must come to an end. The political chiefs said Greenlanders will decide our country's future ourselves without pressure to make hasty decisions, without delays imposed from outside, and without external interference. We do not wish to be Americans, they went on. We do not wish to be Danes. we wish to be Greenlanders. In a survey conducted last week for Danish news organization Ritzau, nearly four out of 10 Danes responded that they believe the U.S. will launch an invasion of Greenland during Trump's term. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz.
I'm Dale Willman, and you're listening to NPR News. Bob Weir, a co-founder of the Grateful Dead, has died. He was 78 years old. According to a statement from his family, Weir died from underlining lung issues. NPR's Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento reports.
Bob Weir helped form one of the greatest American jam bands when he was only a teenager. As the youngest member of the Grateful Dead, he earned his dues through his cowboy guitar licks and throaty vocals. For decades, Weir and his bandmates transformed their improvisational, psychedelic sound from an output of San Francisco's hippie scene to a massively appealing subculture across the country and around the world. Weir stayed with the Dead until lead singer Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. He reunited with his bandmates repeatedly over the years, spurring new iterations that kept the Dead's explosive live shows running until the very end of his life. Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento, NPR News.
A 24-year-old man has been charged with murder after six people in West Point, Mississippi, were killed in a series of shootings Friday night.
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