NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwayla Lysa Kautel. Today, CBS's news's new editor-in-chief stopped the network from broadcasting an unfavorable story about the Trump administration. The story had already been promoted earlier and featured interviews with the people the Trump administration sent to a prison in El Salvador. NPR's David Fulkenflik explains shares context on what happened. She said, we had reached out for comment to the White House, to the Department. Department for Homeland Security. This involved the, you know, sending Venezuelan migrants in this country had been taken by U.S. authorities and sent down to El Salvador to this notorious center. She said they'd also reach out to the State Department. No one had been wanting to comment. And she said, look, to give the administration the imperative that if it doesn't appear on the camera, it means we can't run our story, gives them a veto. It is like giving them a kill decision. She was, you know, lacerating in her assessment of this. NPR's David Fulkenflik reporting. Across the country, thousands of immigrants without legal status are not showing up to their scheduled court appearances fearing arrest.

NPR's Jimenez-Bustia reports those absences are leading to a rise in deportation orders. We found that in nearly every immigration court in the country, more people are getting these orders, saying they basically didn't show. That's early analysis unique to NPR that relied on data from January through November. it's more than 50,000 people in that time, nearly three times the number from the last fiscal year. And it's a big jump from trends of prior years. The spike is really noticeable starting in summer around June, and that lines up with anecdotal observations I've been hearing. NPR's Jimenez-Bustia reporting. China is criticizing the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan ships.

It says doing so is a violation of international law. NPR's Emily Feng reports the statement came after the U.S. announced it was pursuant. the seizure of a third Venezuelan oil tanker. The U.S. seized a second oil tanker just over the weekend, and Reuters citing documents reports the ship and its oil had been bound for China. China opposes all, quote, unilateral and illegal sanctions, China's foreign ministry said. It also said Venezuela has, quote, the right to develop relations with other countries. Venezuela has slammed the U.S. seizures as outright piracy. China buys about 80 percent of Venezuela's oil now, some of it shipped on unregistered boats to evade U.S. sanctions, but for China, that's just a figurative

drop in the bucket. About 4% of its total crude oil imports come from Venezuela. Emily Fang, NPR News. Stocks continue to rise on this shortened holiday week for Wall Street, with AI companies leading the way. The S&P, the Dow and Nasdaq all gained roughly about half a percent. You are listening to NPR News from New York City. When the sun set in Sydney yesterday, a moment of silence was observed at exactly the time one week earlier when gunfire was reported at the Bondi Beach in Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed when he arrived at the memorial event, signaling that some feel he hasn't done enough to protect against rising anti-Sembourg.

medic attacks locally. Today, police released documents showing that a father and son accused of killing at least 15 people at the Hanukkah festival conducted firearms training in New South Wales. The government says the son, Navid Akram, was wounded and appeared in a video courtroom from his hospital recently. He's now been transferred to a jail. Scientists believe they have discovered new species in a deep part of the Pacific Ocean. And peers, Sean Lee's duster has more on what the researchers found. A team of researchers from the California Academy of Sciences retrieved 13 reef monitoring devices that have been placed in deep coral reefs in Guam

nearly a decade ago. They found 20 potential new species, including crabs and sponges. Louise Rocha, a marine biologist and diver on the team, says there could be more new species. It's probably going to be higher because we confirm it everything with genetics. So we see what the DNA of the species before we make absolute sure that they're new. Researchers have also started a two-year expedition to retrieve 76 more deep reef monitoring devices across the Pacific Ocean. Chandelis Duster, NPR News.

And I'm Dua Lysa Kautel, NPR News in New York.