NPR News: 01-21-2026 5AM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. President Trump is scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland today. Trump's threat to impose tariffs on eight European countries if they don't back his efforts for the U.S. to acquire Greenland is underscoring Trump's visit to Davos, as Villa Marks reports.
Against a backdrop of corporate optimism, the free market optimism at Davos is colliding with anxiety over President Trump's renewed tariff threats against European allies. The apparent rupture of recent days seems to have unsettled many leaders visiting the Swiss ski resort. Fronters President Emmanuel Macron warned of a world without rules, criticising unilateral economic pressure, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged countries to act together, a message that drew a standing ovation. But California Governor Gavin Newsom was sharper still, warning Europe that Trump is a wrecking ball, even as U.S. officials have insisted America first does not mean America alone. For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx in Davos, Switzerland.
President Trump's trip to Davos was interrupted not long after takeoff by what the White House describes as a minor electrical issue aboard Air Force One. It prompted the crew to return to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. Trump and those traveling with him to Switzerland then boarded a different aircraft before resuming the president's first overseas trip of the year. The U.S. military has seized another sanctioned oil tanker linked to Venezuela. The U.S. Southern Command says the ship was boarded by American forces yesterday without incident. It's the seventh such tanker apprehended by the U.S. in recent weeks. The man who pleaded guilty to assassinating Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Nara, where Abe was shot.
The 45-year-old gunman was convicted by the court before the sentence was handed down. Abe was shot at a political rally in July of 2022 while campaigning for a parliamentary candidate. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today on whether President Trump can fire a member of the Federal Reserve's governing board. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, Trump has been waging a campaign to try to get the Fed to cut interest rates more aggressively.
Trump tried to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook with a social media post last August, but the courts have so far allowed Cook to remain on the job. In oral arguments today, the administration will argue that Trump is justified in ousting Cook over allegations she made false statements on mortgage applications. Cook has denied any wrongdoing. By design, the Fed is supposed to be insulated from political pressure in making decisions about interest rates, but Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to bend the central bank to his will. After news that the Justice Department is investigating the Fed, Chairman Jerome Powell said he and his colleagues will not be intimidated. Powell will be in the audience for today's Supreme Court hearing.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
This is NPR News from Washington. The National Weather Service says millions of people from Texas to the Carolinas could be dealing with what one scientist describes as a potentially catastrophic winter storm in the coming days. Forecasters say conditions are favorable for a winter storm to develop, bringing with it heavy snow as well as sleet and freezing rain Friday through Sunday, moving west to east across the U.S. They say widespread power outages are possible from ice on trees and power lines. A blast of Arctic air from Canada is set to move southward as precipitation moves eastward. The American Heart Association says deaths from heart disease in the U.S. have declined following a COVID-era spike.
Still, as NPR's Allison Aubrey reports, heart disease remains the top cause of death for men and women.
Heart disease and stroke account for more than a quarter of all deaths in the U.S., with a death occurring about every 34 seconds.
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