NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-17-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 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 Ryland Barton. President Trump ordered a blockade of all, quote, sanctioned oil tankers into Venezuela. The move comes after the U.S. seized a tanker.

of Venezuela's coast last week. Venezuela condemned Trump's threat, saying the country would defend its right to trade and sovereignty. Today, Venezuela's government ordered the Navy to escort ships from port. The GOP-led House voted down a pair of Democratic resolutions that sought to curtail Trump's actions against Venezuela. And PR's Greg Maury has more on those sanctioned tankers. We could certainly expect the U.S. to seize more oil tankers already on this U.S. sanctions list. In fact, the Coast Guard did that just last week with a ship that was off the coast. Now, a monitoring group tanker trackers said recently that around 30 of the 80 oil tankers in or near the waters of Venezuela were on a U.S. sanctions list. So these 30 could be potential targets, but others may not be.

NPR's Greg Myrie reporting, four House Republicans are joining Democrats to force a vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act's health subsidies. NPR's Sam Greenglass reports the pandemic-era subsidies are still on track to expire at the end of the year. The four Republicans signed on to a petition that would allow 218 members to circumvent House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson is pushing his own health bill that would not extend the subsidies. The four represent competitive districts and said this was a last resort after the speaker refused to allow a vote on the subsidies. Even though there's now enough support to force a vote on a three-year extension, That vote is not expected until January, and a three-year extension failed in the Senate last week. So the long-term fate of the subsidies is still unclear, even though they are all but certain to lapse,

spiking premiums for millions of Americans come January 1st. Sam Greenglass, NPR News, Washington. The House approved a different health bill today, narrowly passing provisions meant to lower insurance costs for some, including small business employees. The bill did not include any effort to extend those Affordable Care Act subsidies. It's not clear if the Senate will consider the bill. A new NPR PBS News, Maris poll, finds Americans struggling financially. NPR's Dominico Montanaro says the economic pressures are more acute for certain groups of people. 70% of people say the areas they live in are no longer affordable for average families.

That's up 25 points from just this summer. Prices are the top concern for 45% of respondents. Nothing else comes close. Housing is second at 18% in tariffs are behind that. Six and ten say the economy is not working well for them personally, and there were big divides by race, age, income, education, and gender. Three-quarters of those who are black and two-thirds of Latinos say the economy isn't working for them compared to 56% of white respondents who say the same thing. Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington.

This is NPR News from Washington. Billionaire Ray Dalio is pledging to give $250 to $300,000 to 300,000 Trump accounts for children in Connecticut. The investment accounts were created as part of President Trump's tax and spending bill. Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell already pledged $6.5 billion to put $250 into the accounts of 25 million children ages 10 and under. California says that Tesla must change how it advertises its driver assistance software or stop selling vehicles in the state.

As NPR's Camilla Dominovsky reports, the dispute centers on Tesla's use of the words autopilot and full self-driving to describe software that requires human oversight. Tesla's autopilot can control speeds and steering on highways. Full self-driving supervised can take over driving on surface streets with close monitoring. Supervised was added to the name after regulators objected. But now an administrative judge in California found Tesla is still misleading consumers with the word autopilot, which makes the tool sound more autonomous than it is. Tesla now has a few months to change course or it will lose its license to sell cars in California.

In a post on X, Tesla said that no customer had complained about the terminology and, quote, sales in California will continue uninterrupted. Camila Dominovsky, NPR News. Saturn's giant moon, Titan may not have a vast underground ocean after all. New research suggests Titan instead may hold deep layers of ice and slush more akin to Earth's polar seas. scientists say there may also be pockets of melted water where life could possibly survive and even thrive. 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. T's and C's Apply.