NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-30-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

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Want to get strong in 2026? Turns out you don't need to spend hours at the gym every week. Even just one session, 30 to 45 minutes a week, doing about one or two sets per exercise, that can be quite effective. How to get started with strength training. This week on the Life Kid podcast. Listen in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay. Stevens. President Trump says the U.S. has struck a dock in Venezuela, where he says drugs were

being loaded onto boats. Trump also says he recently spoke with Venezuela's leader, Nicholas Maduro. As NPR's deepest Chivaram reports, this comes as the U.S. ramps up aggression towards Venezuela. President Trump was about to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he confirmed to reporters that the U.S. had, quote, hit a Venezuelan dock. There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs, so we hit all the boats. Trump did not provide further detail, but such a strike likely indicates an escalation in aggression toward Venezuela. In recent weeks, Trump announced a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela,

and the U.S. has struck multiple boats off the coast of the South American country, alleging that they're carrying drugs. More than 100 people have been killed in those attacks. Deepa Chivaram, NPR News. President Trump is warning Iran against reconstituting its nuclear program, saying its enrichment sites were destroyed in U.S. air strikes last June. Trump spoke as he welcomed Israel's prime minister to his home in Florida. Israeli officials have recently expressed concern about Iran's ability to strike their nation.

China has launched rockets on the second day of military exercises around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory. The Chinese war games are simulating the seizure and blockade of key parts of the self-governing island. The BBC Stephen MacDonald has more from Beijing. According to journalists on Pingtan Island, which is close to Taiwan, volleys of rockets were fired into the air from mainland China this morning. As the People's Liberation Army exercises move into the second day, live fire operations have been increased on all sides of Taiwan.

The Chinese military says it's carrying out simulated strikes and a dress rehearsal for a blockade of the territory Beijing considers a rogue province. US President Donald Trump said he wasn't worried by the mass exercises as they'd happened before. The BBC Stephen MacDonald in Beijing. Cities across the US are ramping up security ahead of New Year's Eve. New Orleans Homeland Security Secretary Colin Arnold says

the Coast Guard, National Guard, and police will all be present to assist local and state law enforcement. It appears that we're going to have close to 800 law enforcement downtown in the French Quarter, and I think that that's going to be outstanding. You're going to see an incredible visual presence in the French Quarter and throughout downtown over the rest of this week. Some 14 people were killed last year during New Year's Eve celebrations in New Orleans when a man drove a vehicle into a crowd in the French Quarter. You're listening to NPR. A powerful weather system is threatening harsh conditions across much of the northern U.S.

The so-called bomb cyclone is bringing strong storms and winds and heavy snow to the region, causing havoc on roads and highways. An emergency declaration has been issued for New York State ahead of a major snowstorm there. The weather system has already caused thousands of power outages that stretch from Michigan to New Hampshire and into Virginia. A retired public school teacher is suing San Francisco and the city's police department over the use of flock safety license plate reader cameras. KQED's Rachel Myro reports the plaintiff alleges the practice amounts to unconstitutional mass surveillance. The federal complaint argues San Francisco is feeding a surveillance dragnet accessible by federal agencies, including ICE. Similar lawsuits have been filed against Oakland.

England and San Jose. If successful, though San Francisco suit could have implications far beyond the city, as license plate reader systems are now used by thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country. Plaintiff's attorney Ramsey Abadu. We believe it's a violation of the Fourth Amendment to track everyone all the time without their consent and without a warrant. In a statement, the chief communications officer for the company that makes the cameras flock safety wrote the lawsuit seeks to overturn long-standing nationwide legal consensus. For NPR News, I'm Rachel Myro. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours training on Wall Street

on Asia-Pacific markets. Shares are mixed up nearly 1% in Hong Kong. This is NPR.