NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-02-2026 7PM EST

Episode Date: January 3, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. It's been two weeks since the Justice Department was supposed to release all of the Epstein files in its possession. And Pierre-Steven Fowler reports there are well over a million more pages yet to be released. The DOJ has failed to fully meet a deadline set by a law signed by President Trump. The relatively few documents that have been made public have extensive redactions, and the government also says some of what's released should not be trusted. While there's no public estimate of how many files remain or when they'll be made public, according to some emails released in the files, the number of documents collected as evidence in the criminal investigation in Epstein alone is well north of a million.

Stephen Fowler, NPR News. Swiss investigators say sparkling candles on top of champagne bottles may have ignited the deadly fire at a ski resort in the Alps on New Year's Eve. Officials say they'll look into whether the sealing material that was designed to muffle sound conformed with regulations. The candles, which give off a stream of upward shooting sparks, are commonly available for parties. At least 40 people died more than 100 were injured in the blaze at the ski resort that was filled with partygoers. Representatives for federal employees filed a complaint against the Trump administration to restore insurance coverage of gender affirming care. The coverage

ended yesterday for people on certain government health plans. And Pierce Sidney Lubkin has more. The Human Rights Campaign filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It follows an announcement that starting in January 26, quote, chemical and surgical modification of an individual's sex traits through medical interventions would no longer be covered by federal employee's health insurance. That means neither the employee nor their covered family members on their health plans would be able to get coverage for gender-affirming care. The complaint calls this discrimination on the basis of sex. The human rights campaign asked to restore the health insurance coverage.

Sydney Lupkin and PR News. China is defending big military drills it held around the island of Taiwan earlier this week. The demonstration of military might was criticized by the U.S. and the European Union. And peers Emily Fang reports Beijing as calling the exercises, quote, necessary and beyond report. A Chinese defense ministry spokesperson says the exercises were to ward off, quote, any sinister plot to block Beijing's claims over Taiwan. The drill saw Chinese ships and aircraft encircling Taiwan earlier this week, as well as more than two dozen rockets fired at the self-governed island. The European Union said the drills, quote, endanger international peace.

And the U.S. State Department urged Beijing to, quote, exercise restraint in the Asia-Pacific region. But China says the drills were a show of force to punish what it calls separative among Taiwan's government, namely the Democratic Islands president, Lightingda. Emily Fang and Pierre News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Tonight's the first full moon of 2026, and it comes at the moon's closest approach to Earth, which means it's known as a super moon. As NPR's Nell, Greenfield voice reports, the moon might look a little bigger and brighter,

but it's hard to tell with the naked eye. If you were hoping to see the peak of the quadranted meteor shower, the full moon is a bummer, as it will wash out the shooting stars. But if you like to moon gaze, you can also check out bright Jupiter, which will be right below the moon. This is the last super moon until November. But 2026 will have 13 full moons, because the month of May will have a second full moon, aka a blue moon. There will also be a total lunar eclipse in March and a total solar eclipse in August, but that solar eclipse won't be visible from the United States. You'd have to go someplace like Greenland or Spain. Nell Greenfield, Boyce, NPR News. In Tell Your Eye, Colorado, there appears to be no end in sight for a ski patroller's strike that's been going on for about a week now after contract talks broke down. And that means ski resorts are closed in the town. ski patrollers want increased pay in an area where the cost of living is extremely high.

The resort says the ski patrol members are asking for too much money. The Telluride Tourism Board says bookings for short-term rentals are down 54% since the strike started. Wall Street ended the day in mixed territory. The Dow up 319 points, the NASDAQ down 6. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News, in Washington.