Particulars on the lethal assault in New Orleans. And, Amazon employees return to the workplace

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As we speak’s high tales

A pickup truck plowed right into a crowd on New Orleans’ Bourbon Road early on New 12 months’s Day, killing no less than 15 individuals and injuring dozens extra. The motive force, recognized as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed in a gunfire change with police. The FBI is investigating the assault as an act of terrorism. Jabbar is believed to haven’t acted alone. Here is what we all know to date.

• 🎧 The truck Jabbar was driving had an ISIS flag sticker on it, Drew Hawkins with the Gulf States Newsroom, an NPR community station, tells Up First. President Biden acknowledged final night time that regulation enforcement is on the lookout for attainable co-conspirators or associations. Officers say Jabbar received previous police as a result of the automated bollards put in on the road over a decade in the past have not labored shortly. The bollards go up and down routinely and block the road. Police cruisers parked on the intersection to stop visitors from getting into, however the suspect drove round and started rushing down the highway. Many within the metropolis are indignant this occurred and are grappling with shock.
• 🎧 Jabbar’s final identified tackle has been traced to a neighborhood in northwest Houston by reporters from Houston Public, Lauren McGaughy with The Texas Newsroom says. He served within the navy from 2007 to 2015 earlier than switching to the reserves. A U.S. official says Jabbar was honorably discharged however had disciplinary issues whereas within the navy.
• ➡️ See images of the aftermath of the assault.
• ➡️ The Sugar Bowl was postponed in New Orleans final night time because of the lethal assault. A new kickoff time is ready for this afternoon.

A Tesla Cybertruck exploded in entrance of a Trump lodge in Las Vegas yesterday, killing the driving force and injuring no less than seven individuals. A joint job power is investigating the blast however has not but stated if it was an act of terror. Las Vegas police say they’re taking a look at any attainable connections between the explosion of the Cybertruck and yesterday’s assault in New Orleans.

• 🎧 Las Vegas police say the Cybertruck, which was rented, pulled into the valet parking space round 8:40 a.m., sat there for round 15 to twenty seconds after which started to smoke. NPR’s Frank Langfitt says fireworks then shot out of the automobile, and it caught on hearth. Investigators have identified similarities between the 2 assaults: Each occurred on the identical day in vacationer cities, and each autos had been rented by way of an app known as Turo. The assaults haven’t been linked to one another.

Beginning immediately, a overwhelming majority of Amazon’s employees are returning to the workplace 5 days per week. Office consultants are watching carefully to see if this coverage will affect different firms. In the course of the pandemic, Amazon let managers select what number of days company staff would work within the workplace. Monica Nickelsburg with NPR community station KUOW speaks with some Amazon staff about how the change to in-office work will affect them.

Editor’s Be aware: Amazon is amongst NPR’s latest monetary supporters.

Deep dive

Activists attraction for a $15 minimal wage close to the Capitol in Washington in 2021. With the beginning of the brand new yr, minimal wage will increase in Delaware, Illinois and Rhode Island will attain $15 an hour, that means that 10 states and Washington, D.C., can have minimal wages at or above $15.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP

This yr, minimum-wage employees in 21 states will see larger paychecks. Wages will affect round 9.2 million employees and lift pay by a complete of $5.7 billion, in keeping with the Financial Coverage Institute. California is without doubt one of the 14 states which have adjusted their minimal wage resulting from inflation. In the meantime, the federal minimal wage of $7.25 has not elevated in 15 years. The greenback spending energy shouldn’t be what it was once, placing employees in a tricky spot as costs have risen over time.

• 💰 A full-time minimal wage employee incomes $7.25 an hour makes simply $20 over the poverty tips for a single-person family. If children or different relations are factored in that employee is beneath the poverty degree.
• 💰 A “true living wage” that helps a person’s fundamental meals and housing wants would be $20 to $26 or extra per hour, relying on the state, Drexel College’s Middle for Starvation-Free Communities present in 2021.
• 💰 Ladies and Black and Hispanic employees most straight profit from wage will increase are girls. Nearly 60% of the employees seeing the elevate are girls.

Are minimal wages growing the place you reside? Try a chart displaying the state-by-state adjustments.

Image present

Dua Lipa

Grace Widyatmadja/NPR

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Grace Widyatmadja/NPR

NPR’s Tiny Desk noticed some superb artists grace their mic and placed on a present in 2024. As viewers, all of us have a favourite. So do the NPR photographers who seize the second. See images from their favourite live shows of final yr and examine why they picked it.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

Kate Beckinsale (left) and Abigail Breslin are sharing tales of on-set harassment and retaliation, impressed by Blake Energetic’s public accusations in opposition to Justin Baldoni.

Amy Sussman/Getty Photos and Valeria Macon/AFP by way of Getty Photos

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Amy Sussman/Getty Photos and Valeria Macon/AFP by way of Getty Photos

1. Blake Energetic’s civil rights grievance in opposition to Justin Baldoni has impressed different actresses to talk out in opposition to poisonous masculinity and on-set harassment. Kate Beckinsale and Abigail Breslin made posts about their experiences, describing them as an industry-wide downside. Different actresses have issued a joint assertion of solidarity with Energetic.
2. The looming shutdown of TikTok within the U.S., anticipated this month, will affect creators on the app. Some use it as their foremost stream of revenue. Here is how a few of these creators are making ready for the ban.
3. Police have recognized the girl who was set on hearth and killed on an F practice 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 practice when it occurred. (by way of Gothamist)

This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.