NPR News: 12-10-2025 3PM EST
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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Federal Reserve is making it a little cheaper to borrow money. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate today by a quarter percentage point.
The quarter point rate cut was widely expected, but it was not a unanimous decision. Two members of the Fed's rate setting committee wanted to hold rates steady today, while one wanted a larger half point reduction. By lowering its benchmark rate, the Fed hopes to prop up the job market, which has been showing signs of weakness. The economy saw a net loss of jobs in both June and August, and the unemployment rate has been inching up. The central bank has now cut interest rates at three consecutive meetings, but with inflation still running well above the Fed's target, policymakers signal they'll be cautious about cutting rates further next year. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
Bell chimes filling Oslo City Hall streamed by the Nobel Committee as members of the Norwegian royal family and distinguished guests gathered to present this year's Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuela's de facto opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado. Having been in hiding, Machado was unable to attend the ceremony but was expected to arrive later in Oslo. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the Peace Prize on her mother's behalf.
First, I want to express our infinite gratitude from my family, from an entire country, to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Thanks to you, the struggle of an entire people for truth, for freedom, for democracy and peace is today recognized around the world.
But the Nobel Committee has come under criticism for praising Machado as a champion of democracy. after she publicly supported President Trump's military strikes on alleged drug boats off Venezuela's coast, alleged drug trafficking boats off Venezuela's coast. Such operations in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed dozens of people, and in one case, the use of a secondary strike to kill survivors has come under scrutiny as a possible war crime. Canada's launching a sweeping new initiative in a bid to attract highly skilled foreign workers, including those holding H-1B visas in the U.S. NPR's Jackie Northam reports.
The Canadian government has pledged roughly $1 billion over the next few years to recruit scientists, researchers, and other specialists from all over the world. It's an effort to strengthen what it calls the country's innovation ecosystem and make its universities more competitive. Ottawa is also introducing a fast-track program for people currently or previously holding a US H-1B visa, many of which are skilled tech workers. The Trump administration recently raised the fee for an H-1B visa to $100,000. Canadian universities have also been actively recruiting foreign-born professors and researchers from U.S. institutions. Jackie Northam, NPR News. It's NPR.
The Trump administration's under court order to end the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles. A federal judge in California has ruled that President Trump must return control of the troops to the state. Despite objections from Governor Gavin Newsom, in June, President Trump put thousands of service members on L.A. streets to protect immigration facilities and forces. The vast majority have since left, but there are still around 100 in L.A. The court has stayed the order until Monday. Best-selling romance writer Sophie Kinsella has died. She was best known for a series that began in 2000 with the novel Confessions of a Shopaholic. NPR's Neda Ulabi has this appreciation.
Confessions of a Shopaholic was made into a movie in 2009. The main character at first prefers shopping to men.
You know that thing when you see someone cute and he smiles and your heart kind of goes like warm butter sliding down hot toast? Well, that's what it's like when I see a store.
The writer, whose real name was Madeline Wickham, was educated at Oxford University. She worked for a while as a finance reporter. She was interested in and concerned about young women's relationships with money as well as the opposite sex.
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