NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-03-2026 5PM EST

Episode Date: January 3, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump says the U.S. will run Venezuela after U.S. forces captured President Maduro and his wife in Caracas overnight. They will face drug trafficking and weapons charges in federal court in Manhattan, President Trump. The overwhelming evidence of their crimes will be presented in a court of law. And I've seen it. I've seen what we have. It's both horrible and breathtaking that something like this could have been allowed to take place.

And peers Ryan Lucas has more. A new indictment unsealed in New York charges Nicolas Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and other charges. His wife, Celia Flores, is also charged. The indictment says that Maduro presided over a vast conspiracy over the past 25 years to flood the U.S. with cocaine. Maduro and senior Venezuelan officials allegedly partnered with drug cartels, providing law enforcement cover and logistical support to ship tons of cocaine to the United States. Prosecutors say the alleged scheme enriched Maduro and his co-conspirators

while thoroughly corrupting Venezuela's public institutions. This follows in earlier indictment against Maduro that was announced by the Justice Department during President Trump's first term in office. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Meanwhile, Nobel Prize winning opposition leader, Maria, Marino Machado, whose long-wanted Maduro ousted, says Edmundo Gonzalez should be allowed to take office. Election results show he won the presidential election by a two-to-one margin, and she also urged her country's military to help get him back from Spain, where he's been living in exile. Maduro claimed victory in that contested election, but data showed otherwise. President Trump

says it would be difficult, though, for her to run the country, saying without providing evidence that she doesn't have the respect of Venezuelans. The head of the UN says he's deeply alarmed over the U.S. actions in Venezuela. As M. Pierce Jackie Northam reports, Venezuela has requested an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting over the U.S. attack. In a statement delivered by his spokesperson, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez said the U.S. strike on Venezuela and the capture of Maduro set a dangerous precedent and warned of the, quote, worrying implications for the region. Gutierish stressed the importance of respecting international law. Venezuela, Colombia, along with China and Russia have asked for a Security Council meeting to address the situation.

No date has been said. The Security Council met twice recently over the increasing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. In a social media post the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, said Maduro was an illegitimate dictator and that the U.S. action in Venezuela is not regime change, it's justice. Jackie Northam, NPR News. Listening to NPR News from Washington.

The three-judge federal appeals panel says a California open carry ban is unconstitutional. The ban affects countries with more than two, counties rather, with more than 200,000 people. The court says the ban violates a 22 Supreme Court decision, striking down laws requiring a special permit to openly carry a gun in public. Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the decision and a request for. the entire court to rule is expected. Well, Hollywood had a lackluster year at the North American box offices, but as NPR's Bob Mandelao reports, the global picture is much brighter. U.S. moviegoers proved hard to pry away from their TV sets in 2025,

but international audiences seemed happy to return to cinemas. This world goes much deeper than you imagine. Avatar, Fire, and Ash, and the car racing movie F1, which each did quite well in the U.S., did twice as, as well in other countries, and almost all Hollywood blockbusters did at least half of their business overseas. So where North American box office increased just over 1%, international numbers rose 16% to $24.6 billion. That includes the year's biggest box office smash, the Chinese animated fantasy, Nexia 2. The global totals were up substantially from 2024.

They still trail pre-pandemic records by about 20%. Bob Mondello, NPR News. Stocks lost ground this holiday short and trading week, but still notched double-digit gains for 2025. For the Dow, the Dow was down two-thirds of a percent for the week. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News, in Washington.