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

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

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As we say goodbye to 2025, our reporters are looking back at some of the most memorable international stories they covered in the last year. From a city in Africa emerging from war to resilient Indian turtles, liberated refugees to defiant Austrian nuns. Global favorites from the last year, listen to State of the World on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. The Justice Department has reposted. one of the photographs that had early removed from the publicly accessible Epstein files. As MPR's Andrea Shue reports, the photograph in question showed President Trump. NPR reported on Saturday that more than a dozen files released by the Justice Department a day earlier had been taken down from the Epstein Files website.

They included an image that showed a desk covered with photos, including at least one of President Trump. That led to questions about why the photos had been removed. On Sunday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC's Meet the Press that the images were pulled down because a judge had told them to listen to concerns from victims and victim rights groups. Later, the Justice Department posted on X that it had reviewed the photo of the desk and found no evidence that any Epstein victims were depicted. It has been reposted without any alteration or redaction, the post said. Andrea Shue and PR News. The Coast Guard is pursuing a sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean. one day after stopping another tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Clayton Siegel of the Center for Strategic and International Studies says if the Trump administration continues this campaign against Venezuela, it could have a major effect on oil prices and international shipping. You should keep your eye on a tightening sanctioned tanker market around the world. All those suppliers, Russia, Iran, that depend on this so-called shadow fleet, are going to be paying close attention because costs are going to rise, risk is going to rise, and there is the possibility of this new tool being wielded more broadly around the world. The U.S. says it has judicial orders that allow it to board vessels it believes

are violating U.S. sanctions. White House envoy Steve Whitkoff says talks this weekend with representatives from Ukraine and Europe were productive. Whitkoff said the talks were aimed at creating a shared strategic approach between the U.S., Ukraine, and leaders of Europe. Sumlin representative, meanwhile, also says the talks are proceeding constructively. GDP data for third quarter comes out this week on Wall Street. MPR's Raphael NAM has more on our story. On Tuesday, the U.S. is set to release an important report card detailing how much the economy grew in the July to September period. It's backwards-looking, so it's not going to provide the latest snapshot of the economy. Nonetheless, the GDP report is coming at a time when Americans are not feeling great about the economy.

Recent polls have shown the cost of living and affordability are becoming a top concern at many households. That's putting a lot of pressure on President Trump, who's aggressively defending his economic record. And it means this GDP data could attract even more attention in the days leading up to Christmas. Rafael NUMM, NPR News. you're listening to NPR News. A flash flood warning remains an effect for parts of Shasta County, California at this hour. The National Weather Service says life-threatening flooding is occurring along parts of the Yuba River, and a fire weather warning is in effect along parts of Colorado's front range,

where high winds and dry conditions have increased the danger of fire there. The lights are coming back on in San Francisco. After a widespread power outage, Saturday night, left 130,000 homes and businesses, is in the dark. For member station, KQED, Dana Cronin, as I reports. PG&E, the city's utility company, is investigating the cause of the outage. The San Francisco Fire Department responded to a fire Saturday afternoon at a PG&E substation in the city, but says it's unclear whether that was the root cause. The outage paused transit services and caused traffic jams across the city

due to malfunctioning traffic lights and driverless taxis stuck in intersections. For NPR News, I'm Dana Cronin in San Francisco. Colorado Governor Jared Paulus is accusing President Trump of playing political games. The Trump administration's Saturday night denied disaster declaration requests from Colorado. The declarations would have covered damage from fires and flooding in Colorado this year. Polis says the state will appeal to denials. A life ring and the remnant of a lifeboat from a Great Lakes shipwreck have sold at auction for $150,000. The sale came a month after the 50th anniversary of the sinking.

of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. The sinking was memorialized in a song by the Lake Gordon Lightfoot. None of the 29 crew members survived the accident in 1975. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. Tease and Cs apply.