NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-30-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 31, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all on the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The CIA struck a dock facility in Venezuela as the Trump administration continues to attack alleged drug operations in the region. That's according to an official not authorized to speak publicly. The U.S. has been targeting both, so allegedly transporting drugs, but as NPR's Tom Bowman explains, this is the first known attack against Venezuela on land. We also don't know what else the CIA is doing in Venezuela. If history is a guy that in past decades when the CIA gets involved in an effort to pressure or oust a political leader,

the agency would reach out to military leaders, maybe retired leaders, to see if they would either work with a new government, maybe remain cohesive, even Mount a coup. So that will be something to watch in the coming weeks. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting. A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a brief reprieve today for hundreds of people from South Sudan who have temporary protected status allowing them to live in the U.S. From member station GBAH in Boston, Craig LaMolt reports the Trump administration is seeking to end that legal status. The Trump administration announced in November that a review determined conditions in South Sudan no longer justify temporary protected status. for about 300 South Sudanese nationals living here. Diana Kanate is with the group African communities together,

which sued the government, along with four unnamed plaintiffs from South Sudan. Anybody who is even paying any attention to what's happening in South Sudan knows that South Sudan is not safe for South Sudanese TPS holders to be returned to. And so that was the reason for us bringing the lawsuit. Their temporary legal status was set to end on January 5th. For NPR news, I'm Craig Lamolt in Boston. A federal judge has stopped the Trump administration's latest attempt to dismantle the consumer financial protection bureau.

NPR's Stephen Bassaha reports. CFPB gets its funding from the Federal Reserve. The Trump administration argues that since the Fed has been operating at a loss, there is not the money to keep the financial watchdog running. But Judge Amy Berman Jackson rejected that argument. She already has a preliminary injunction preventing the White House from shutting down the CFPB, and she wrote in a ruling that this is an unabashed. attempt to just do that in a different way. Other legal battles have prevented several mass layoffs there, but President Trump has

been clear he wants the CFPB gone. Acting Director Russell Vote has stopped most of the Consumer-oriented Bureau's work, and Judge Berman Jackson wrote that the CFPB is hanging by a thread. Stephen Besaha, NPR News. More artists have canceled performances at the Kennedy Center after President Trump's name was added to the facility. Saxophone player Billy Harper criticized the venue's association with Trump, citing concerns over racism and cultural destruction. Kennedy Center President Richard Grinnell says

the cancellations are politically motivated and that the center has received inquiries from artists wanting to perform. Stocks fell slightly on Wall Street today. The S&P 500 slipped a tenth of a percent. It's NPR. Israel says it will suspend more than 30 humanitarian organizations for failing to meet its new rules to vet international organizations working in Gaza. Israel says the organizations did not meet its new requirements for sharing information about staff, funding, and operations. It accused doctors without borders of failing to clarify roles of employees. Israel accuses some of its staff of cooperating with Hamas. International organizations have said that Israel's rules are arbitrary and could prevent the provision of essential services

to people in both Gaza and the West Bank. In Minnesota, scientists are using pine needles to measure forever chemicals. Research has shown exposure may be harmful. Kirstie Morone from Minnesota Public Radio reports. The study aims to provide clues about how the human-made chemicals known as PFS move through the air and end up in lakes, rivers, and fish. Summer Streets is a research scientist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. She recruited volunteers to collect pine needles to test for PFS. And it's really that waxy surface that just kind of grabs onto those contaminants and holds them in place so that we can measure them later. Street says researchers will look for PFAS hotspots that can be traced back to a single source. For NPR News, I'm Kirste Marone in Buffalo, Minnesota.

The IRS has announced a two and a half cent increase in the standard mileage rate for business use of vehicles. Starting January 1st, it'll be 72.5 cents per mile. The change reflects adjustments for inflation. Using the standard mileage rates is optional. People can choose to calculate the actual costs of using their vehicle instead. This is 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. Join millions of customers and visit WISE.com.

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