NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-04-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

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It's been a great year for TV, movies, and music, and we are highlighting the best of the best, including K-pop demon hunters, and severance. We're talking about our favorite moments of the year, including some of the best pop culture you might have missed. Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. A Pentagon Inspector General's report concludes that U.S. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth put U.S. troops in harm's way by sharing sensitive information on a pending U.S. attack. At issue is Hexeth's use of a messaging app, signal, to discuss plans for the U.S. attack on rebels in Yemen last March. As NPR's Greg Myru reports, HECD

shared those messages with the journalist. He was sending messages in the hours and minutes even leading up to the U.S. start of the bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen. He provided the exact times that the U.S. was launching F-18 warplanes as well as drones and Tomahawk missiles. He also laid out the timeline when these weapons would begin to strike information that's obviously very closely held when an operation is getting underway. And this operation against the Houthis lasted for weeks. It ultimately ended when the Houthi attacks diminished against those commercial ships in the Red Sea. NPR's Greg Myrie reporting. U.S. Russian negotiations to end the war in Ukraine ended this week without any significant progress.

But NPR's Eleanor Beersley reports that Ukraine's negotiating team is preparing to soon meet with U.S. envoys. The Russians and Americans called the talks constructive and productive, but the negotiators said there was not enough common ground to even continue. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the Europeans for scuttling President Trump's peace plan, saying they had altered the original draft to make it impossible for Russian. to sign so they could blame the failure on Moscow. Speaking to the Irish Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Europeans to keep the pressure on Russia.

Ukrainians say Putin will not end his war on their country until he is beaten. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kiev. The Department of Homeland Security is ramping up its scrutiny of legal migrants. This after an Afghan national was charged with shooting two National Guard members. NPR's Hemanabustillo has details. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in a memo on Tuesday said it would pause reviewing all pending applications for green cards citizenship or asylum from immigrants of 19 countries listed in a previous travel ban. President Trump in June announced the travel ban against 12 countries, including Afghanistan, and partial restrictions against seven others. U.S.CIS also plans to re-review all approved immigration-related requests for anyone from those 19 countries that entered the country.

since the Biden administration. That means people who are already approved to be refugees or get green cards could see their applications reopened or newly denied. The changes come after the agency already paused the processing on all asylum applications after the shooting. Jimenez-Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. Newest futures are flat and after I was trading on Wall Street, Asia-Pacific markets are higher.

This is NPR. Border Patrol agents are now participating in an immigration crime trackdown in New Orleans. The Department of Homeland Security says the operation targets undocumented migrants accused of committing crimes. DHS says more than 200 border patrol and immigration enforcement agents are taking part in the operation. Some business owners in New Orleans say they'll keep their doors closed until the effort is over. A California doctor who supplied ketamine to Matthew Perry weeks before the actor's death has been sentenced to prison. Details from Steve Futterman in Los Angeles.

Salvador Placencia was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the judge accusing him of putting Matthew Perry on the road that eventually killed him. Before the sentencing, the court heard emotional statements from Perry's family. His mother, Suzanne Morrison, told Placencia, I want you to see his mother. She accused him of putting aside his oath to protect people in order to make money. When it was his turn to speak, Placencia turned to address Perry's family and said, I should have protected him. Placencia, who pleaded guilty in July, was immediately taken into custody. Other defendants in the case are set to be sentenced in the next few weeks.

For NPR news, I'm Steve Futterman at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles. Giant talapot palms in Rio de Janeiro Park are now producing flowers, roughly six decades after being brought to Brazil. When it blossoms, millions of tiny flowers shoot up a central plume that cascades above the talapot's massive fan-shaped leaves. It's a rare phenomenon that occurs only once during the telepop palms lifespan. This is NPR. 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.

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