NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-01-2025 1PM EST

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Trump administration is re-examining its vetting process of Afghan nationals after last week's attack in Washington, D.C. They killed one National Guard member and seriously wounded another. The man accused of the shooting had resettled in the United States in recent years as part of a program for Afghan nationals who worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan. NPR's Jimenez-Bustillo reports that the vetting process can take years. before someone is approved to enter the U.S. Now the administration is reconsidering those already here. I obtained a memo issued by the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services late last month.

That memo calls for reviewing all refugees admitted into the country under the Biden administration, essentially reopening their cases. They may need to be re-interviewed and some may lose their status. The memo says the agency should, quote, only admit refugees that can fully and appropriately assimilate. Immigration advocates have called the recent changes on refugee reviews, visa, and green card applications, deeply destabilizing to families already in the U.S. NPR's Jimenez-Bustia reporting. Results from Sunday's presidential election in Honduras showed two opposition candidates in the lead. NPR's Ada Peralta reports President Trump

endorse one of the conservative candidates. Two opposition candidates, Titozvura, the right-wing candidates and Salvador Nasrallah, the centrist, are leading. the race according to preliminary results. President Trump jumped right in the middle of Honduran politics last week, saying if anyone other than conservative candidate Asfura won the elections, the U.S. would rethink its aid contributions. This follows a similar approach earlier this year as he weighed in on Argentina's midterm elections. Trump has had a tense relationship with Honduras' leftist president, Yomara Castro, who has allied herself with Venezuela and Cuba. Early results show Hondurans are choosing a new way forward with Castro

party in a distant third place. Adapralta, NPR News, Mexico City. The scientists say the hole in the ozone layer is the fifth smallest since 1992. NPR's Lauren Summer with details. High in the atmosphere, there's a layer of ozone gas that acts like sunscreen for the earth. It helps block harmful UV radiation from the sun. But in the 1980s, scientists discovered a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. It was caused by chemicals produced for refrigerators and air conditioners, which break down ozone once

they released. Countries came together in 1992 to phase out the use of those chemicals. Scientists at NASA and NOAA say the improving ozone hole shows those policies are working, and they expect the hole in the ozone layer to be mostly repaired by mid-century. Lauren Summer, NPR News. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 200 points. This is NPR News. and appeals court finds President Trump's former personal lawyer, Alina Habup, was illegally appointed to the role of acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. Today's decision upheld a lower court ruling. Last week, a federal judge found acting U.S. attorney Lindsay Halligan was unlawfully appointed to her role in Virginia.

And as a result, the judge dismissed criminal indictments against New York Attorney General Letitia and former FBI director James Comey. Children who get their own smartphones early in adolescence may be at higher risk of depression, obesity, and loss of sleep. NPR's Maria Godoy reports on the findings of a new study published in the journal, Pediatrics. About half of all children in the U.S. have their own smartphone by age 11. To find out how this might affect health outcomes in early adolescence, researchers looked at data from more. more than 10,000 youth in more than 21 states who'd been tracked since late childhood. They found that tweens who had their own smartphone at age 12 were more likely to have

obesity, symptoms of depression, and report insufficient sleep compared to their peers without phones. And the younger they got their phones, the higher their risk for some of these conditions. The researchers say they hope their findings will help inform the creation of guidelines on the appropriate age at which kids should first get their own smartphones. Maria Godoy, NPR News. U.S. stocks trading lower this hour. The NASX off 29. S&P's down 11. The Dow is off 198 points.

It's NPR.