Chapter 1: What are the implications of Black Friday sales trends for 2025?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. It's Black Friday, the traditional start to the holiday shopping season, which retailers hope will put them in the black for the year. The National Retail Federation expects sales to top $1 trillion for the first time. But a recent report from the Conference Board finds consumer confidence has fallen. NPR's Alina Selyuk explains.
The key here is who is doing the shopping. Most of the spending has been propped up by wealthier people while others are trying to tighten their budgets. So you see these two things happening at the same time. You see discount stores like TJ Maxx and Dollar General doing really well, but so is Coach on the higher end and Ralph Lauren, which is luxury.
NPR's Alina Selyuk. Last night, President Trump announced that National Guard Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom had died after being shot Wednesday near the White House. National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition. Both grew up in West Virginia. NPR's Dave Mistage went to the Martinsburg area to see how the community is doing.
Most everywhere around Martinsburg, West Virginia, was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. But in the handful of bars and restaurants that were open yesterday evening, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe were on many minds. Amy Fraley was behind the bar at the Big Apple Lounge in Inwood.
It's tragic. They're young. It's unnecessary.
Jason Barrett serves the Martinsburg area as a Republican in the West Virginia Senate. Barrett says the conversation is warranted on the Guard's continued deployment to D.C., but he says the shooting also does show the need for the nation's capital to be kept safe. For now, though, he says his focus, like others here I spoke with, is on supporting the Wolfe and Beckstrom families.
Dave Mistich, NPR News, Martinsburg, West Virginia.
Federal prosecutors say the suspect in the shootings will be charged with first-degree murder. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he remains open to elements of a new U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine, but he says the war will continue if Ukraine refuses to make key concessions. NPR's Charles Mainz has more.
The Kremlin often says it would prefer to achieve its goals in Ukraine through diplomatic rather than military means. That was the core message of a lengthy press conference by President Putin in Central Asia. Putin said he still considered a U.S. peace proposal a loose roadmap towards ending the conflict...
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Chapter 2: How is the community responding to the recent shooting near the White House?
For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
The grand old Opry turned 100 years old today. The country music radio broadcast debuted on this date in 1925 in Nashville, Tennessee. It launched the careers of some of the biggest stars in country music, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, and Patsy Cline. It's where Johnny Cash met June Carter. It's still one of the longest-running radio broadcasts in U.S. history. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News.