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Today's top stories
A pickup truck plowed into a crowd on New Orleans' Bourbon Street early on New Year's Day, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more. The driver, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed in a gunfire exchange with police. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. Jabbar is believed to have not acted alone. Here's what we know so far.
- 🎧 The truck Jabbar was driving had an ISIS flag sticker on it, Drew Hawkins with the Gulf States Newsroom, an NPR network station, tells Up First. President Biden stated last night that law enforcement is looking for possible co-conspirators or associations. Officials say Jabbar got past police because the automatic bollards installed on the street over a decade ago haven't worked in a while. The bollards go up and down automatically and block the street. Police cruisers parked at the intersection to prevent traffic from entering, but the suspect drove around and began speeding down the road. Many in the city are angry this happened and are grappling with shock.
- 🎧 Jabbar's last known address has been traced to a neighborhood in northwest Houston by reporters from Houston Public, Lauren McGaughy with The Texas Newsroom says. He served in the military from 2007 to 2015 before switching to the reserves. A U.S. official says Jabbar was honorably discharged but had disciplinary problems while in the military.
- ➡️ See photos of the aftermath of the attack.
- ➡️ The Sugar Bowl was postponed in New Orleans last night due to the deadly attack. A new kickoff time is set for this afternoon.
A Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas yesterday, killing the driver and injuring at least seven people. A joint task force is investigating the blast but has not yet said if it was an act of terror. Las Vegas police say they're looking at any possible connections between the explosion of the Cybertruck and yesterday's attack in New Orleans.
- 🎧 Las Vegas police say the Cybertruck, which was rented, pulled into the valet parking area around 8:40 a.m., sat there for around 15 to 20 seconds and then began to smoke. NPR's Frank Langfitt says fireworks then shot out of the vehicle, and it caught on fire. Investigators have pointed out similarities between the two attacks: Both happened on the same day in tourist cities, and both vehicles were rented through an app called Turo. The attacks have not been linked to each other.
Starting today, a vast majority of Amazon's workers are returning to the office five days a week. Workplace experts are watching closely to see if this policy will influence other companies. During the pandemic, Amazon let managers choose how many days corporate employees would work in the office. Monica Nickelsburg with NPR network station KUOW speaks with some Amazon employees about how the change to in-office work will impact them.
Editor's Note: Amazon is among NPR's recent financial supporters.
Deep dive
This year, minimum-wage workers in 21 states will see bigger paychecks. Wages will impact around 9.2 million workers and raise pay by a total of $5.7 billion, according to the Economic Policy Institute. California is one of the 14 states that have adjusted their minimum wage due to inflation. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 has not increased in 15 years. The dollar spending power is not what it used to be, putting workers in a tough spot as prices have risen over time.
- 💰 A full-time minimum wage worker earning $7.25 an hour makes just $20 over the poverty guidelines for a single-person household. If kids or other family members are factored in that worker is below the poverty level.
- 💰 A "true living wage" that supports an individual's basic food and housing needs would be $20 to $26 or more per hour, depending on the state, Drexel University's Center for Hunger-Free Communities found in 2021.
- 💰 Women and Black and Hispanic workers most directly benefit from wage increases are women. Almost 60% of the workers seeing the raise are women.
Are minimum wages increasing where you live? Check out a chart showing the state-by-state changes.
Picture show
NPR's Tiny Desk saw some amazing artists grace their mic and put on a show in 2024. As viewers, we all have a favorite. So do the NPR photographers who capture the moment. See photos from their favorite concerts of last year and read about why they picked it.
3 things to know before you go
- Blake Lively's civil rights complaint against Justin Baldoni has inspired other actresses to speak out against toxic masculinity and on-set harassment. Kate Beckinsale and Abigail Breslin made posts about their experiences, describing them as an industry-wide problem. Other actresses have issued a joint statement of solidarity with Lively.
- The looming shutdown of TikTok in the U.S., expected this month, will impact creators on the app. Some use it as their main stream of income. Here's how some of these creators are preparing for the ban.
- Police have identified the woman who was set on fire and killed on an F train in Brooklyn, N.Y., earlier this month as 57-year-old Debrina Kawam from Toms River, N.J. NYPD says she was sleeping on the train when it happened. (via Gothamist)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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