NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-11-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

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This message comes from Bayer. Science is a rigorous process that requires questions, testing, transparency, and results that can be proven. This approach is integral to every breakthrough Bayer brings forward. Innovations that save lives and feed the world. Science Delivers.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Trump administration says it will seize the oil from a tanker commandeered off the coast of Venezuela. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says the tanker was transporting oil to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. The Department of Justice requested and was approved for a warrant to seize a vessel because it's a sanctioned shadow vessel known for carrying black market sanctioned oil to the IRGC, which you know is a sanctioned entity. So the president is committed to stopping the illegal flow of drugs into our country. He's also fully committed to effectuating this administration's sanction policy.

and that's what you saw and the world saw take place yesterday. The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado praised the tanker seizure during her first public appearance in nearly a year. She said Trump's actions against Venezuela have left Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government at its weakest point. The House voted today to rebuke President Trump's efforts to end collective bargaining rights for roughly a million federal workers. 20 Republicans joined Democrats in backing the bill to overturn one of Trump's executive

orders. NPR's Andrea Shoe reports prospects in the Senate seem slim. The Protect America's Workforce Act targets an executive order President Trump signed back in March. It ended collective bargaining rights for most federal workers. Since then, agencies including FEMA, the VA, and the Environmental Protection Agency have canceled their union contracts, ending agreements over policies such as telework, disciplinary procedures, and parental leave. The House bill would vacate Trump's executive order, restore. storing those contracts and employees' rights to be represented by a union, but it faces long odds in the Senate. So far, only one Senate Republican has signed on as a co-sponsor.

The bill only got to the House floor thanks to some procedural wrangling that forced a vote. Andrea Shue and PR News. The obesity drug market could be in for another shakeup. An experimental drug made by Eli Lilly could help patients lose even more weight than drugs already on the market. NPR's Sydney Lupkin reports. Lily is the company behind Blockbuster Obesity Drug Zepound. Now it's working on a next generation medicine.

Eli Lilly's experimental new drug is called Redatrutide. It's still being studied and hasn't yet been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for approval, but new study results show that patients taking the highest dose of the drug lost an average of 72 pounds over 68 weeks, according to the company. patients in the trial had knee arthritis. And researchers found that the drug also markedly reduced patients' knee pain. Side effects for retitrutide included nausea, constipation, and vomiting. Lilly said the results will be presented at a future medical meeting and published in a peer-reviewed journal. Sydney Lopkin, NPR News.

U.S. stocks rose to new records today. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Senators from both parties are pushing to change a massive Defense Policy Bill working its way through Congress after crash investigators and victims' families warned it could undo key safety reforms. The recent reforms stem from the collision between a plane and an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C. in January, which killed 67 people. The bill would once again allow military helicopters to fly without broadcasting their locations. The Walt Disney Company has signed a billion-dollar deal with Open AI, allowing Disney characters onto the AI company's

video platform, SORA. The agreement also involves Disney becoming a, quote, major customer of OpenAI. NPR's Andrew Limbong has more. Starting in 2026, users will be able to use SORA to gin up their own videos using Mickey Mouse, Ariel, Captain America, Luke Skywalker, and 200 other characters from Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel Worlds. According to a joint statement put out by the two companies, the agreement does not include any talent likenesses or voices.

As a part of the deal, Disney will be using Open. AI technology to build products and tools. And a few of the videos created on SORA will be available to stream on Disney Plus. Andrew Limbang and Pear News. The UN's cultural agency has listed Switzerland's Yodeling among 67 traditions honored in its list of intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO added yodeling to this year's list along with traditions like Italian cooking, Haitian compa music, and the fermented Kyrgyz beverage, Maxim. The Swiss say yodeling is far more than mountain cries of yesteryear. it's also a popular form of singing. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

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