NPR News: 01-18-2026 8PM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Active duty troops from Alaska are preparing for possible deployment to Minnesota. A U.S. official confirmed to NPR that the troops are now on standby. NPR's Luke Garrett has more.
What recent military deployment is being discussed in Minnesota?
Up to 1,500 active duty soldiers in Alaska are preparing for a possible deployment to Minnesota. The prepare to deploy orders come after Trump said Thursday he'd implement the Insurrection Act unless local officials stop protesters from, quote, attacking immigration agents. The rarely used law allows for domestic military use. In Minneapolis, protesters and federal officers have clashed after U.S. immigration and custom enforcement agents surged into the city. ICE agents have shot two people in the city this month, leaving one dead. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to NPR, quote, the Department of War is always prepared to execute the orders of the commander-in-chief if called upon.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry has called on city residents to remain peaceful and not give Trump an excuse to deploy the troops. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington.
European Union leaders held an emergency meeting in Brussels today over President Trump's calls for Greenland to be sold to the U.S. and his threats of an additional 10 percent tariff on eight European countries if that doesn't happen. Empire's Eleanor Beardsley reports.
Greenland is not for sale.
Thousands gathered in Copenhagen this weekend to show solidarity with Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU and NATO member Denmark. On Sunday, European and NATO members issued a joint statement. France, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden say Trump's threats over Greenland risk accelerating a dangerous downward spiral in relations between transatlantic and NATO allies. We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland, they said. We are ready to engage in dialogue with the U.S., but a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.
A survey by the National Home Builders Association and Wells Fargo found builder confidence was down in January. And here's Stephen Basaja has more.
There were signs of a return to optimism among single-family home builders at the end of the year. The housing market index saw three straight months of gains, but that's now ended. The index fell two points to 37. Anything below 50 means an overall negative outlook. Builders are dealing with rising construction costs and high interest rates. Most of the builders responded before the Trump administration announced new housing policies, like ordering Fannie and Freddie Mac to buy up $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities to lower mortgage rates. The average 30-year mortgage is down. It's just over 6%. But that's still well above COVID-era rates that make many homeowners reluctant to sell. Stephen Passaha, NPR News.
Wall Street is closed tomorrow in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. This is NPR News. Wildfires in Chile have left at least 16 people dead in the southern Nioble and Bobio regions, as John Bartlett reports from the capital, Santiago.
Since Tuesday, wildfires have ripped through Chile's southern forests, leading to the evacuation of more than 50,000 people. The government has declared a state of catastrophe, restricting movement in the region, and a curfew will be put in place in the areas affected. President Gabriel Boric has arrived in the region to oversee the response, and the Forestry Commission said that it had 24 planes and 10 fire brigades battling the blazes. Wildfires hit Chile every summer, and the country's National Forestry Commission says that there are currently 80 fires burning up and down the country, covering an area of nearly 21,000 hectares. This latest wave of fires has been exacerbated by a heatwave in the south of Chile, with temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit and winds of up to 55 miles per hour.
For NPR News, I'm John Bartlett in Santiago, Chile.
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