NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-30-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shays Stevens. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed mutual praise for each other. After Monday's meeting on the next phase of the Israel-Gaza peace plan, Netanyahu sounded optimistic in his remarks at Mar-a-Lago. We work together. We talk about our ideas. Sometimes we have different ideas, but we work it out. And most of the time we see eye to eye.

but it's been a remarkable experience and this was a very, very productive meeting. Trump says the two leaders are making progress with some serious issue still remaining. Well, we have had a discussion, big discussion for a long time on the West Bank and I wouldn't say we agree on the West Bank 100%,

but we'll come to a conclusion on the West Bank. Trump added that Hamas will have to disarm or there will be, as he put it, held to pay. The president is also warning Iran against trying to restart its nuclear program, insisting that it was destroyed in U.S. strikes last summer. For the second day in a row, China has launched rockets during military exercises around Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. The Chinese war games are simulating the seizure and blockade of key parts of Taiwan days after the U.S. announced

a huge weapons sale. The BBC Stephen McDonald is in Beijing. These mass war games, are moving well and truly into the live fire exercise portion of it. Now, yesterday there was some shooting, but that will be increased significantly today. And already journalists have seen rockets being fired into the ocean near Taiwan. The Taiwanese military said that already in the last 24 hours, 130 aircraft have flown part two of the dress rehearsal is to practice attacking Taiwan from different sides.

see Stephen MacDonald in Beijing. NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has been studying the scientific instruments they will be using on Jupiter. As Joe Palka reports, one of the mission's goals is to look for signs of life on one of the moons orbiting the planet. Europa is one of the moons of Jupiter, Galileo, discovered in 1610. It's of particular interest to scientists today because there appears to be a liquid ocean underneath the moon's icy outer crust. And where there's water, there might, maybe, possibly be life. In addition to a suite of cameras, Europa Clipper has instruments to measure the gravitational and magnetic fields around the moon. It also has ice penetrating radar. To reach Jupiter, the probe needs gravity boost from two planets. It got one of them when it flew past Mars last March.

The second boost comes next December when the probe flies by Earth. It's on track to arrive at Jupiter, in 2030. For NPR news, I'm Joe Palka. This is NPR. A powerful storm called a bomb cyclone is carrying damaging winds and heavy snow across parts of the upper Midwest and northeast. New York is under a state of emergency after forecasters warned of blizzard conditions in some areas. Sub-freezing overnight temperatures are in effect as far south as northern Florida. FIFA President Gianni Iffantino is defending the

high ticket prices for the 2006 World Cup. NPR's Rafael NAMM reports that he says the tournament is attracting unprecedented demand. Fans have reacted with outrage at the ticket prices for the World Cup being held across the U.S., Canada,

and Mexico. Benefentino justified the high ticket prices by saying FIFA had received a record 150 million ticket requests already this month. And according to this video released at the World Sports summit in Dubai where he spoke, most of the proceeds will be invested towards growing soccer.

What is important and what is crucial is that the revenues that are generated from this are going back to the game all over the world. People can apply for a chance to get tickets until January 13. Rafael NAMM in PR News. The state of California is no longer suing the Trump administration for withdrawing $4 billion in funding for high-speed, rail line connecting Los Angeles to the Bay Area. The administration says the entity overseeing the project has failed to come up with a viable plan for completing it. The California high-speed rail authority says the project will continue with private funding. This is NPR News.