NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-29-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

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Lie from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Florida for a face-to-face with President Trump and other administration officials. The two are meeting as complications have risen over the Gaza peace deal between Israel and Hamas that the U.S. help broker earlier this year. NPRC-Bashivaram has the latest. The 20-point peace plan was unveiled in October when both sides agreed to a ceasefire. But since then, progress has slowed. and phase two has yet to come about.

Trump has said he wants to move to the next phase as quickly as possible, but also that Hamas must disarm, a condition that Netanyahu has been intent on. It has to be at this armament, you know, that disarm with Hamas. The two are also likely discussing Iran in their meeting. Trump has said that if Iran resumes building its missile program, the U.S. would, quote, knock the hell out of them. Trump also says he would support Israel attacking. Iraqing Iran if it continues building missiles. Deepa Chivaram, NPR News.

A winter storm has brought ice, rain, snow, and heavy winds to states across the northeast. Some counties were placed under states of emergency. New York imposed travel restrictions. NPR's Brian Mann has worn. Here in upstate New York, rain-coated trees and power lines overnight with thick layers of ice in some areas. The power company National Grid says crews are working to clean up debris and restore power to thousands of customers. customers. Heavy rain and snow with white-out conditions are expected to continue through New Year's Eve in some areas because of wind and road conditions a ban on empty tractor-trailer trucks is in effect in western New York. The National Weather Service has also issued ice storm

warnings for parts of eastern Vermont. Writing on social media, Vermont Governor Phil Scott said travel is expected to be hazardous through Monday afternoon with more power outage as possible. Brian Mann, NPR News, Westport, New York. A new report finds that more than a third of U.S. teenagers who are using AI chatbots are turning to them for personal companionship. NPR's Ritu Chatterjee reports that's raising concerns about emotional and developmental risks. ORA is an online safety company that released the report. Psychologist Scott Collins is ORA's chief medical officer. He says 37% of conversations between teens and their chatbot companions involve violence.

Role play that is interaction about harming somebody else, physically hurting them. Parents should keep a close eye on how their kids are using chatbots, says pediatrician Dr. Jason Nagata at UC San Francisco. Parents don't need to be AI experts. They just need to be curious about their children's lives and ask them about what kind of technology they're using and why. And tell their teens explicitly that chatbots come with risks. Read Through Chatterjee, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. The Utah judge presiding over the trial of the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk is allowing the release of most of a redacted transcript and audio from a closed-door hearing

related to the process of the case. He is denying the media's special status for covering the proceeding saying they don't need it. Tyler Robinson faces seven criminal counts related to Kirk's assassination in September if convicted he could face the death penalty. The Prime Minister of Australia is ordering a multi-agency review. Weeks after a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach that killed 15 people. Lindsay Arkley says a victim's families have been demanding more federal action. In an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,

17 families of the Bondi Beach victims called for a federal inquiry known as a Royal Commission to investigate a rise in anti-Semitism in Australia since the Israel-Hamas war began in They say the Royal Commission, the highest level of public investigation in Australia, should address alleged security agency failures. So far, Albanese has resisted calls for a Royal Commission, saying a top-level review he's already commissioned should be adequate to address potential failings in procedures and laws that led to the shooting, which was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State Group.

For NPR News, I'm Lindsayakli in Melbourne. Images are still circulating online of the man who tackled one of the gunman and disarmed him before he was shot and wounded by another gunman. Amid al-Amed al-Amed is now out of the hospital. He told CBS News in an exclusive interview he felt sorry for those who were lost and also knew he had saved lives. It's NPR News.