NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 7AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, says hundreds of National Guard troops will soon be sent to New Orleans. The announcement came shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issued an emergency decision blocking President Trump's deployment of troops to Chicago. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports. The court ruled 6 to 3 against President Trump, one of only a handful of times the conservative court has ruled against the president on the emergency docket this term. The court said the president failed to cite any law that would justify using the guard under federal control for law enforcement.

Trump federalized the guard against Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker's wishes back in September for what he said was the protection of federal immigration officers and facilities. This ruling from the court applies only to Illinois, and the issue could come before the high court again. Meanwhile, Governor Landry of Louisiana, a Republican, has requested for federal authorization to send the guard to New Orleans in the coming weeks. Kat Lansdorf, MPR News, Washington. The Trump administration says it will begin garnishing wages for millions of student loan borrowers

who are in default. They'll be given 30 days notice before garnishment begins. In May, the White House ended a Biden-era freeze on student loan payments that had been in place since the pandemic. Two explosions at a nursing home northeast of Philadelphia have led two people dead. A large fire broke out. at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center, causing the building to collapse. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says an investigation into the blast is ongoing.

We believe preliminarily that it was a gas leak that led to that. The explosion was really quite catastrophic. Fire officials say everyone who was in the facility at the time has been accounted for. Israel's defense minister says the military will help establish Jewish settlements in northern Gaza. Those remarks contradict President Trump's ceasefire plan signed by Israel. NPR's Aya Betrawi reports the minister appeared to walk back his remarks just hours later. Defense Minister Israel Katz was addressing Jewish settlers in the West Bank to mark the expansion of 1,200 new housing units there when he said,

God willing, in due time, Israel will establish Israeli communities in areas of northern Gaza, where Jewish settlements were dismantled 20 years ago. And he said, quote, we will not leave all of Gaza. But only hours later, the Israeli defense minister issued a statement saying the government has no intention of establishing settlements in Gaza and that his remarks were made solely in a security context without elaborating. But his initial comments had already grabbed headlines in Israel and were welcomed by a far-right settler group. Aibotrae, NPR News. On Wall Street, Dahl Futures are trading lower at this hour.

This is NPR. Two similar murals have appeared in central London this week, one of which the mysterious street artist Banksy has so far claimed as his own. And PR's Chloe Veltman reports its meaning is a cause of debate. Banksy posted an image of the mural on Instagram on Monday, the artist's usual system for authenticating works. It received close to one million likes within a day. The artwork depicts two children lying on their backs in coats, hats,

boots. One child has their hands in their pockets, the other points are finger skywards. It looks just like another mural that recently appeared in a different central London location, though Banksy has not yet acknowledged its authorship. The image presents a cosy, wintry scene in time for the holidays, but art world publications like art news are also interpreting the image as a statement on the UK's escalating child homelessness crisis. According to a report published earlier this year by the British government, more than 160,000 homeless children are currently living in temporary accommodation, the highest number on record. Chloe Valtman, NPR News.

Workers at the Lube Museum in Paris are installing new security bars on the same window where thieves broke in earlier this year and stole more than $100 million worth of historic jewelry. Four people have been arrested, but the stolen items have not been recovered. Crews used a freight lift on Tuesday to install the bars. The Louvre has not commented on the upgrade. I'm Windsor Johnston, and you're listening to NPR News from 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.

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