NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-03-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

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You care about what's happening in the world. Stay informed with NPR's State of the World podcast. In just a few minutes, we take you to stories around the globe. You might hear the latest developments in world conflicts or about what global events mean for the price of your coffee. Listen to the State of the World podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly.

Defense Secretary Pete Higgseth is saying, more about U.S. military strikes on suspected drugboats in the Caribbean, especially one in September. As NPR's Greg Myrie reports, Hegset says he did not order a follow-up attack that killed survivors of an initial strike. Defense Secretary Hegsef described his actions during the first U.S. attack in the Caribbean on September 2nd. I watched that first strike lot. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So I didn't stick around, so I moved on to my next meeting. Nine people were killed initially, but two people survived. A second U.S. strike killed them,

but Hegss said he only learned hours later that this follow-up strike took place. He said the commander of the operation made the correct decision to, quote, sink the boat and eliminate the threat. But critics have raised the possibility the attack could be a violation of U.S. law or the laws of war. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington. No breakthroughs on ending Russia's war with you. Ukraine are reported following yesterday's high-level talks in Moscow. President Trump's special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Putin for about five hours.

Afterwards, a Kremlin spokesman described the talks as constructive, while adding some aspects of the latest U.S. peace proposal remain unacceptable to Moscow. Key sticking points include Ukraine giving up territory to Russia. A survey of U.S. diplomats finds morale at the State Department, is extremely low with President Trump's second term in the White House approaching the one-year mark. Here's NPR's Michelle Kellerman. The president of the American Foreign Service Association,

John Dinkleman, calls it a dire situation. 98% of the Foreign Service officers surveyed reported low morale, and 86% said the Trump administration's changes have affected their ability to advance U.S. diplomatic priorities. The diplomatic core of the United States feels the effect. of what has been undertaken in the form of managing their workplace to the ground. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he's been streamlining what he calls a bloated bureaucracy. He dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and then laid off another

1,300 State Department employees in July. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. Republican Matt Van Epps is celebrating a win in Tennessee's special election for the 7th District congressional seat. Van Epps defeated Democratic candidate Afton Bain in the race to replace GOP Congressman Mark Green. He left the House for a job in the private sector. Bain is a progressive state lawmaker who carried Nashville in yesterday's election. Donald Trump carried the district by 22 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race. This is NPR News. It's been nearly 12 years since a Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared over the Indian Ocean. Before the end of the

month, the country's transport ministry says it will resume the search for the Boeing, Triple Seven. It's believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean in March of 2011 after varying from its flight path with 239 people aboard. Flight 370 was destined for Beijing when it disappeared. Some pieces of wreckage from the flight were later discovered, having washed ashore along Africa's Coastline. That was in 2014. Michael and Susan Dell, the billionaires behind the tech company Dell, say they're donating more than $6 billion to establish investment accounts for children. NPR Stephen Besahop says the money will be used to help millions of kids through so-called Trump accounts.

25 million children under the age of 11 will get $250 invested in Trump accounts that will include kids born too early to get one of the $1,000 investments that will be set up for eligible children, born between the beginning of 2025 and the end of 2008. Michael and Susan Dell also said the money will only go to children in zip codes where the median income is less than $150,000. These accounts can be used for education, buying a home, starting a business, or saving for their future. The Dells are hoping this will inspire philanthropists and employers to donate more funding to the accounts. Stephen Besaha, NPR News. All straight futures are hired this morning. I'm Dave

Mattingly, NPR News, in Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply.