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This message comes from Carvana, who makes buying and financing your next car easy. Thousands of vehicles terms up front and 100% online even get it delivered to your door. Buy your car the easy way with Carvana. Delivery fee may apply.
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 50,000 mark for the first time today. NPR's Scott Horsley reports. Today's rally on Wall street has erased the losses from 30 sell off.
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Big tech companies like Alphabet and Amazon are investing hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence, and it's not entirely clear all that spending is going to pay off. Shares of both companies are down today, but the broader market is on a tear. The recent volatility in the stock market just highlights the uncertainty about AI's profit potential as well as its effects on the job market.
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That's NPR's Scott Horsley reporting. A federal judge in Boston has blocked a data sharing between the Internal Revenue Service and Federal immigration officials. NPR's Jude Joffe Block reports. This is the second time a federal judge has ruled against efforts to use IRS data to find and deport people.
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Last August, the IRS shared the addresses of 47,000 non citizens with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But a federal judge in D.C. found last year that data exchange was unlawful. Now a second federal judge, this one in Boston, has blocked ICE and the Department of Homeland Security from inspecting or using that data and has paused the data sharing agreement while the case goes forward. The judge cited taxpayer privacy laws and also raised concerns about immigration agents misidentifying people and wrongfully arresting them at their homes. A DHS spokesperson told NPR the agency disagreed with the ruling and said the government is, quote, sharing information across the federal government to solve problems. Jude Joffe Block, NPR News.
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A racist meme that President Trump had posted on his social media platform late last night has been removed. The president shared a video with Election Misinformation. It included an animation of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama portrayed as apes. This is a long time racist trope from the Jim Crow era. Russia launched an attack on cities ACROSS Ukraine today. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports.
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Sirens wailed in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine around 9:00am as Russia launched drones, missiles and glide bombs. It's nothing new for Ukrainians who come under attack most every night. Oleksandr Matveychuk is a human rights lawyer whose organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. She says Russian President Vladimir Putin feigns interest in peace so that the Kremlin can stall and continue its onslaught.
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Putin decided to that he can do whatever he wants with civilians in Ukraine, and that is why I'm in Kyiv without heat, water and electricity.
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She says if the US really wants to end this war, it has to put greater pressure on Russia. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv.
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This is npr. Authorities in Canada say seven active police officers in Toronto and one retired officer are under arrest. They're accused of being involved with organized crime. The arrests stem from a crime and corruption probe that includes allegations of drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder. Finances at the U.S. postal Service continue to be on shaggy ground. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports. The USPS is reporting a net loss for the fourth quarter in a row.
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It is a government agency, but the U.S. postal Service generally receives no tax dollars to keep running. Instead, it relies on stamp and service fees. December is usually the busiest mailing and shipping season of the year, but in 2025, it apparently wasn't busy enough because as the Postal Service ended its first quarter of the fiscal year with a net loss of $1.3 billion, partly due to increases in workers compensation, retiree health benefit and operating expenses. The chair of the Postal Service's governing board, Amber McReynolds, says Congress should allow USPS to increase prices beyond the current limits.
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This would allow us to better respond to changes in the marketplace, recoup our costs and fulfill our universal service mandate.
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But many advocates of customers and businesses that rely on USPS are concerned raising prices won't help stabilize the agency. Hans Zi Luang, NPR News.
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Forecasters say the Northeast and Mid Atlantic will get hit with more frigid air this weekend. Strong winds could knock down power lines, and some areas may see snow squalls. It follows several days of record low temperatures across the region and parts of the South. Stocks continue to surge. On Wall street, the dow was up 1,106 points. This is NPR News.
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