NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-21-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

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This message comes from the NBC News original podcast, Here's the Scoop. Every evening, join NBC News reporters for a deep dive into the day's top stories, from the front page to the zeitgeist in 15 minutes or less. Search, Here's the Scoop to follow now. Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. The U.S. says it's pursuing a third tanker in the Caribbean, the second this weekend, that's attempting to evade sanctions over transporting Venezuelan oil. And peers, Kerry Kahn has more.

A U.S. official tells NPR that the U.S. Coast Guard, quote, is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion. The official was not authorized to speak publicly, but did add that the tanker is, quote, flying a false flag and is under a judicial seizure order. The Pentagon and the U.S. Coast Guard referred all inquiries to the White House, which has yet to comment. President Trump said last week that he was ordering a total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers coming and going from Venezuela. On Saturday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nome said the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded an oil tanker, which a White House official later said was flying a false Panamanian flag. Kerry Kahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. Several lawmakers say the Trump administration is violating the Epstein Transparency Act,

which required the Justice Department to release all its files related to convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, by yesterday. It released some, but not all. And Pierce Deepa Chivaram has more. Congressman Rokana, he's a Democrat who co-sponsored the legislation on the Hill to release these files, he called this release of documents on Friday incomplete at best. There were witness interviews with the FBI that he says should be released as well as a draft indictment from the first Epstein case that was also something he was looking for. And he wants an explanation from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on the timeline of when the rest of these files are going to be made public.

On the other side of the aisle, Congressman Thomas Massey, a Republican, he's been posting a lot on social media agreeing with Kana, saying that not releasing all of these documents means that Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche are violating the law. And Pirastipa Shibaram reporting. Australia's Prime Minister ordered a review of national law enforcement and intelligence agencies. As thousands gathered on a beach in Sydney today, a week after two gunmen targeted a Jewish festival killing 15. Christina Kugula has more. The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the review will examine if federal police and intelligence agencies have the right powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australian safe. That's after Australia's domestic intelligence agency revealed it had investigated the surviving suspect,

24-year-old Navid Akram in 2019 and deemed him not to be a threat. The review is due to be completed in April and the findings released to the public. The Domestic Intelligence Agency says it will cooperate fully with the process. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukala in Melbourne. This is NPR News. Thousands of people gathered at the prehistoric Stonehenge monument in southern England today to watch the winter solstice sunrise. The stones at the Neolithic site

are deliberately placed to line up with the sun's movements during the two solstices, marking the changing of the seasons. The BBC's Bernadette Kehoe has more. Some people travelled for hours to be amid the ancient stones as the sun broke through the clouds, marking the occasion with drumbeats, cheering and traditional Morris dancing. From now, the days get longer in the northern hemisphere.

Winter solstice is marked by different traditions around the world. In Ireland, people gathered at New Grange in County Meath, where an ancient inner chamber is illuminated at dawn. Across Iran and Central Asia, there were celebrations for the Persian Festival of Yelda. In China, it's been marked by the Donji Festival, which roughly translates as winter's arrival. The BBC's Bernadette Kehoe reporting. Well, there was no jackpot winner in last night's Powerball lottery drawing,

which means the jackpot for tomorrow night's drawing has grown to an estimated $1.6 billion. Powerball says it's the fourth biggest jackpot for the game, and it's the second time there have been two back-to-back jackpots over a billion dollars. The odds of winning the entire prize, 1 and 292 million. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher at this hour. Dow futures are up about 2 tenths of a percent. NASDAQ futures are up about 3 tenths of a percent. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News, in Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.

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