TikTok is offline in the U.S. after Supreme Court upholds ban The app had more than 170 million monthly users in the U.S. The black-out is the result of a law forcing the service offline unless it sheds its ties to ByteDance, its China-based parent company. Read more on NPR

Trump’s border czar says immigration raids will begin next week, including in Chicago Prospects of a raid in Chicago come just a few weeks after Trump’s border czar Tom Homan visited the city and threatened to prosecute the mayor if he did not cooperate. Read more on NPR

Trump says he’ll likely give TikTok a 90-day extension President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the possibility of delaying a ban less than 24 hours from when the social media app is expected to shut down. Read more on NPR

‘All the hydrants up here are dead.’ Radio traffic recounts LA firefighters losing water NPR transcribed 2,000 hours of radio communications from the LA fires. It shows hydrants going dry and first responders fighting the fires despite scarce resources. Read more on NPR

South Korean court orders formal arrest of President Yoon over martial law decree South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, faces possible imprisonment over his declaration of martial law last month. The formal arrest comes days after he was apprehended. Read more on NPR

With TikTok’s future uncertain, creators ponder life without the app Barring a last minute sale by its Chinese parent company, TikTok could soon go dark in the U.S. Now, creators on the Chinese-owned platform pay tribute to it — and talk about what’s next. Read more on NPR

U.S. pays $590 million to Moderna to speed up development of bird flu vaccine The public health risk remains low, but bird flu variants have proven to be unpredictable, which is why the virus is a top priority for the federal government. Read more on NPR

In India, a police volunteer is convicted of rape and murder of a trainee doctor A court found a police volunteer guilty of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor, a crime that sparked protests and hospital strikes amid concerns over lack of safety for women. Read more on NPR

Opinion: Great writers on Los Angeles NPR’s Scott Simon reflects on the wildfires in Los Angeles, and the words of writers who were drawn to the city. Read more on NPR

Readers share wishes for 2025: Be kind to each other and Earth! Learn from birds! We asked our readers to make a wish for 2025. If even one of these wishes comes true, the world will definitely be a better place! Read more on NPR