NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-20-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: December 21, 2025

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Support for NPR, and the following message come from Yarl and Pamela Mohn, thanking the people who make public radio great every day and also those who listen. Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam says the U.S. Coast Guard, quote, apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela early today. On social media, she says the U.S. will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that she says, is used to fund narco-terrorism. This after President Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela. Apple and Google are telling employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. MPIR's Bobby Allen has more. In internal memos reviewed by NPR that Apple and Google recently sent to employees, the message is clear. If you're on a visa and can avoid leaving the country, you should do that. And that's because of reports that some visa. holders are having renewal appointments canceled, leaving them stuck in their home countries for months. The Trump administration's recently increased vetting for visa applications includes a review

of up to five years of an applicant's social media history. That has caused long delays and cancellations over what used to be routine visa appointments. Apple and Google, which together employ more than 300,000 people, both rely heavily on highly skilled foreign-born workers. The companies and the White House declined to comment. Bobby Allen and PR News. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill left for the holiday break without addressing premium subsidies for Obamacare. Imperial Simmons-Duffin reports, open enrollment runs until January 15th. On average, premium costs are doubling in Affordable Care Act plans. Congressional Democrats have been pushing for months to extend enhanced subsidies that helped keep premiums low,

but Republicans have blocked those efforts, offering alternative health bills that are not likely to become law instead. However, a bipartisan effort called a discharge petition reached the required number of signatures this week. That process can force the House to consider a bill that would extend the subsidies for three years, but it likely won't be voted on until January. Millions of enrollees are expected to become uninsured. Salinas Simmons-Duffin, NPR News, Washington. The world's leading food security organization says there's no longer famine in Gaza. NPR's Hidal-Al-Sholchi reports.

The integrated food security phase classification, or IPC, said that there were, quote, notable improvements in food security and nutrition in Gaza. This comes after a ceasefire deal. The IPC still warned that the situation is, quote, highly fragile, and the Gaza Strip as a whole could still face starvation. The Israeli military branch, responsible for coordination in Gaza, rejected the report's findings, saying it was allowing the agreed amount of aid into Gaza, according to the UN standards. The IPC declared famine in Gaza City last August. The latest report said that some Palestinians are now able to have two meals a day. Hedil al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

Today, hundreds protested the Trump administration's decision to eliminate a weather and climate hub in Boulder. Colorado Public Radio's Ishan Tokor has more. The Trump administration recently, announced that it would dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, which is headquartered in Boulder. The center has pioneered key weather models and developed technology to prevent plane crashes. At the protest, Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper said he was holding up a Senate spending bill to make sure N-car is fully funded. We're going to stop this appropriation bill

unless they pass this bill to make sure that N-car is funded. The move comes as the administration has canceled or withheld hundreds of millions of federal climate dollars awarded to Colorado. For NPR News, I'm Ishaun Takor in Boulder. Comedian Boen Yang is leaving Saturday Night Live. His performance tonight will be his last as a regular cast member. He joined the sketch show in 2018 as a writer, earning five Emmy nominations as both a writer and a performer. He's the show's first Chinese American cast member and only one of a handful of LGBTQ cast members in his Some of his most memorable characters include the Chinese weather surveillance balloon,

the iceberg that sank the Titanic and the Digital Short. Big dumb line. The Powerball Lottery Jackpot has risen to an estimated $1.5 billion. The drawing is tonight. Powerball says it's the fifth biggest game and the seventh largest among U.S. lottery jackpots. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from Wise. 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.