NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Trump administration says the Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker linked to Venezuela. It's part of a broader U.S. effort to enforce sanctions on Venezuelan oil shipments, including tankers traveling to and from the country. NPR's Kerry Kahn is following the story from Rio de Janeiro. One U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly did tell NPR, the Coast Guard was in quote, quote, active pursuit of a ship. The official said that ship, the tanker was, quote, a dark fleet vessel attempting to illegally evade sanctions.

The official also stated that the tanker was flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order. That's NPR's Carrie Khan reporting. Japan is set to restart the world's largest nuclear reactor. The decision comes 15 years after it was shut down following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports the restart will move ahead despite residents' opposition. The Kashiwazaki-Karewa plant sits on the Sea of Japan and Ni-Gata Prefecture. It supplies electricity to the capital, Tokyo, about 136 miles to the southeast.

Ni-Gata's prefectural assembly passed a vote of confidence in the governor who supports the plant's restart, essentially green-lighting the move. From 2021 to 2023, Japan's nuclear regulators effectively banned the plant from restarting due to security breaches and falsified safety inspection records. An October poll found 61% of residents don't think conditions for the restart have been met, but the government plans to reactivate the plant's first reactor next month anyway. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. The Trump administration is awarding five new contracts for construction of high-tech security walls

along the U.S.-Mexico border. Jerry Clinton, with Texas Public Radio reports, these latest contracts involve sections of the border in Texas and Arizona. The new contracts total $3.3 billion for the so-called smart wall, which relies on electronic surveillance and data sharing to detect and respond to border crossings. The smart walls also include secondary physical walls and water barriers in some areas. The projects include one in the Del Rio sector, three in the Laredo sector, and one in Tucson, Arizona. The Trump administration has committed a total of $8 billion towards the smart wall project,

a key component of Trump's border security strategy. Democratic Senator Henry Quayar, who represents Laredo, was critical of the plans and called the Wall's 14th century solutions to 21st century problems. I'm Jerry Clayton in San Antonio. Stocks are trading higher on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial average is up 131 points. The NASDAQ composite also trading higher up 133. The SMP 500 up 32 points. This is NPR News.

A massive power outage left large parts of San Francisco in the dark this weekend, cutting electricity to about 130,000 customers. Officials say some of the outages were caused by a fire that broke out at a PG&E substation. The blackout darkened much of the city's north side, including areas around Golden Gate Park before spreading to other neighborhoods. As people prepare for the holidays, most feel like prices are. higher than usual. And many say it's harder to afford the things they want to get. And PR's Amy held reports on how shoppers are adapting. Dipping into savings, scouring for deals, and resisting pricey purchases. Just a few of the ways people are adjusting this holiday season, according to a new AP Norke poll. As more than half say it's harder to afford the gifts they want to give. High schooler Emerson Gates says school festivities are paired down this year. I have the same budget that I would usually have. and I got, like, way less items. Americans' outlook is dim about the overall economy and jobs, but as NPR polling finds, by far, the biggest financial factor straining Americans right now is prices,

up 2.7% from a year ago. They're belt tightening so they can still play Santa, even as 7 and 10 Americans say they're barely able to pay their bills. Amy held NPR News. The power ball jackpot now stands at an estimated $1.6 billion, making it one of the largest lottery prizes in U.S. history. No ticket matched all six winning numbers on Saturday. The next drawing is tonight. This is NPR News.