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Lakshmi Singh
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Minnesota educators are demanding federal immigration agents stay away from their schools as tension across the state heightening in the wake of a Minneapolis woman's death at the hands of an ICE agent two days ago. @ a press conference, the president of Education Minnesota, Monica Byron, said agents have been seen circling school property waiting for families to pick up their.
Monica Byron
Children. We have seen our students assaulted and our colleagues wrongfully detained. Every moment ICE remains near our schools endangers children, educators and.
Lakshmi Singh
Families. Meanwhile, state and local officials in Minneapolis are demanding their federal counterparts work with them to investigate this week's fatal shooting. The Department of Homeland Security maintains the woman was a rioter who put an agent's life in danger. Critics dispute the DHS's account. Immigration authorities are also involved in a shooting in Portland, Oregon, that wounded two people. Five Democratic led states are suing the Trump administration over its move to block funding for low income families. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports. The administration has accused the states of allowing.
Nick Guinn
Fraud. The administration has offered no evidence of ongoing fraud in these states, but it's demanded more data going back years on people who get cash aid and other social services, says Nick Guinn of the center on Budget and Policy.
Jennifer Ludden
Priorities. They've asked for huge amounts of information, confidential information relates to where families live, et cetera. That would be really difficult for states to come up.
Nick Guinn
With. The states California, Colorado, New York, Illinois and Minnesota say freezing this money is unlawful. But policy experts say fraud happens in every state blue and red, and blaming only Democrats politicizes the issue. Jennifer Lutton, NPR news.
Lakshmi Singh
Washington. The U.S. coast Guard has boarded and seized another tanker that was carrying oil from Venezuela. NPR's Greg Myhrey reports. This is the third U.S. takeover of a ship this week and the fifth in the past.
Kristi Noem
Month. The secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, said U.S. coast Guard forces boarded the tanker Olena in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea. She said the vessel was on the US List of sanctioned oil tankers that often try to conceal their role in transporting oil from countries that include Venezuela, Russia and Iran. Noem wrote the ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality. U.S. forces began taking control of sanctioned oil tankers a month ago to put pressure on Venezuela's government and the practice has continued following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro last Saturday. Greg Myrey, NPR News.
Lakshmi Singh
Washington. At last check on Wall street, the Dow Jones Industrial average is up 275 points, roughly half a percent at 49,541. It's NPR News. The U.S. is coming off its weakest year of job growth since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It ended 2025 with fewer hirings, 50,000 instead of 30, the projected 70,000 in the month of December. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4% for all of 2025. Employers added 584,000 jobs, compared with 2 million new jobs in 2024. The administration is slated to provide $45 million in aid to the US Trade Partners Thailand and Cambodia as it attempts to keep a U S Brokered ceasefire between the Southeast Asian neighbors from collapsing. U.S. assistant Secretary of State Michael de Saint remade the announcement in an online media briefing in Bangkok. Pope Leo has called for the world to step back from what he called diplomacy based on force in an unusually sharp and urgent speech to foreign diplomats. Here's NPR's Ruth.
Ruth Sherlock
Sherlock. Pope Leo, the first American pope, used a speech to foreign ambassadors to the Vatican to warn against the weakening of international organizations, including the United nations, set up to maintain peace after the Second World War. A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, Leo told the room of 184ambassadors. War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. He spoke out against the United States sudden ouster of Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, and called for the will of Venezuelans to be respected and for the safeguarding of their civil and human rights. Ruth Sherlock, NPR.
Lakshmi Singh
News. It's.
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This five-minute NPR News Now installment delivers concise updates on hot-button national and international issues, including immigration enforcement controversies in Minnesota and Oregon, a legal battle over federal funds for low-income families, continued U.S. crackdowns on sanctioned oil tankers, weak job growth figures for 2025, U.S. efforts to stabilize a ceasefire in Southeast Asia, and a powerful address from Pope Leo criticizing force-based diplomacy.
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This fast-paced update episode delivers urgent snapshots of the day’s top headlines, blending incisive reporting with sharply quoted statements from officials and advocates. The tone is urgent, factual, and often directly relays the voices and viewpoints of those involved.