NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-31-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

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Support for NPR and the following message come from the Limelson Foundation, working to harness the power of invention and innovation to accelerate climate action and improve lives around the world. Learn more at limelson.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump says that the administration is removing national guard troops from several major cities. As NPR's Franco-Werdonia's reports, the move comes after the Supreme Court ruled against the administration's emergency appeal over plans to do. deploy troops to Chicago. President Trump says in a social media post that he's pulling troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon. In his true social post, Trump credits the deployments with reducing crime and promises to come back in a different and stronger form. Trump has argued that the guard was needed in the democratically led cities to quell crime and protect federal immigration officers, but he's also faced legal defeats as Democratic governors have opposed the moves. This was the first time the Supreme Court waited into the matter, and while not press,

precedent setting, the ruling brings some clarity to Trump's presidential powers. Franco, Ordonez, NPR News, Palm Beach. The first order of business for New York City in 2026 will be swearing in a new mayor. As Bruce Convizer reports, Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani will be sworn in at one minute after midnight. Bomdani burst into the national spotlight this past year with the mayoral campaign that captivated the left and piqued the interest of centrist. In the end, it was enclosed. In a three-way race, he won one.

than 50% of the vote, thumping one-time New York political icon Andrew Cuomo by nine points. The 34-year-old Mamdani stands out as the first South Asian and the first Muslim to lead America's largest city. He will be sworn in using a Quran. Mammani made affordability the cornerstone of his campaign. He vowed to freeze rents on rent-stabilized apartments, implement free busing, and build city-owned grocery stores. He says raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5% will add $5 billion to the city's coffers. For NPR News, I'm Bruce Conveiser in New York. Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest level all year to just over 6% for a 30-year fixed mortgage.

NPR's Scott Newman has our reports. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, better known as Freddie Mac, released its final primary mortgage market survey of the year. It shows that at the close of 2025, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was at 6.15%. That's down from 6.85%. a year ago and well off the nearly 7.9% seen in October 2023. Since then, rates have largely reversed an upward trend. While current rates are comparatively low, that's likely little comfort to potential homebuyers who recall the average lows of less than 3% seen during the pandemic. The current average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage is 5.44%. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington.

The operator of the trains that moved through the channel tunnel between Europe and the UK say delays will likely continue after power issues yesterday temporarily stopped operations. The loss of power and the 32-mile-long tunnel is resolved overnight. You're listening to NPR News. The Kennedy Center honors got the lowest ratings in its history when it aired on CBS last week. NPR's Netta Ullaby has more. On the official White House webpage, a slideshow of this year, Kennedy Center Honors shows a packed auditorium and President Trump triumphantly clapping.

He became the first president to host the award show in 2025 and predicted his appearance would pull the highest ratings ever. Instead, the show saw a 25% drop from last year, according to numbers from Nielsen. About 3 million people tuned in. That's 1 million less than in 2024, although it should be noted that Nielsen has changed its data gathering methodology over the past 12 months. During the show, the president intimated his plans to change the name of the venue to the Trump Kennedy Center.

Since then, multiple artists scheduled to perform there have canceled shows. Nata Ulippi, NPR News. Russia's military attacked the Ukrainian city of Odessa overnight using missiles and drones to hit the city's power grid. Officials say six people were injured, including three children.

Two energy facilities were damaged in the strike. Russia has been intensifying its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as a bitter cold winter takes hold there. Officials in Indonesia have raised the alert level for Mount Burabitelong to the second highest level, the 8600-foot strato volcano on the island of Sumatra, has been showing increased activity, including a series of volcanic earthquakes over the past few days. Residents have been warned to stay at least two and a half miles away from that volcano. I'm Dale Wilman, and you're listening to NPR News.