NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwa Halifai Coutel. The Trump administration did not meet the legal deadline to make public every possible document about Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in 2019. And today, in an official social media post, the Justice Department says it received over a million more documents from the Southern District of New York to be reviewed and released to the public. NPR political correspondent Sarah McCammon reports. Well, DOJ has been under a lot of pressure, at least from some members of both parties, to disclose more information. They had a deadline to release all of their files on Friday, and they only released an initial batch, which further angered the White House's critics. More documents have been trickling out since then. And there's still a lot to sort through, but the contents of the files appear to be, if nothing else, embarrassing for the president and potentially a lot of other people.

And Pierre Sera-McKammon reporting. President Volodymyr Zelensky says he's open to pulling back troops for. from areas of eastern Ukraine still under Kiev control as part of a potential peace deal. And Perez Joannica Kisses reports. Zelensky revealed the details of the latest peace plan to reporters in Kiev during a briefing. He said Ukraine was against withdrawing troops from the eastern Ukrainian area known as Donbass, but that U.S. negotiators are pushing for demilitarization so it can become a free economic zone. Zelensky says he might agree if Russia also pulls back its troops in the region.

region. The latest peace plan includes NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine and stationing international forces on the front line. Zelensky said the U.S. and Ukraine have not agreed on who should control Ukraine's Zaporizia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces. Joanna Kekisos, NPR News, Kiev. On one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, people who use wheelchers tell NPR, they expect to find repeated problems when they check into hotels. NPR's Joseph Shapiro reports. It's been 35 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act became law and required hotels to be made accessible for people with disabilities. But 200 wheelchair users responding to an NPR

survey say they run into repeated problems. Most common is that they reserve an accessible room, either online or with a phone call, when they show up, the room isn't available. Or they get the room that's called accessible, but it isn't. Maybe the shower is too small or the bed is too tall. These should be easy things to fix, but the problems continue. An official for the hotel industry told NPR, it values disabled travelers and that hotels want to get things right. Joseph Shapiro, NPR News.

The Associated Press reports Christian music is growing in popularity. This is NPR News. The European Union, France, and Germany are condemning the U.S. and accusing Washington of intimidation and censorship after the Trump administration announced U.S. visa bans on five prominent European citizens who have been working on legislation to combat disinformation and hate online. Germany's Justice Ministry said in a statement the rules by which

We want to live in the digital space in Germany and in Europe are not decided in Washington. The United Nations has issued an appeal today to assist those fleeing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Michael Koloki has details. In a statement posted on social media, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has described the conditions faced by those who have led the fighting in Eastern Congo as terrible. The agency warns that there is not. not enough food and water to cater for those who have fled, citing that they are also facing inadequate shelter and healthcare provision. Fighting in Eastern Congo between the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and Congolese forces has been

going on for decades now. In mid-December, the UN warned that within a period of two weeks, over 84,000 people had fled to neighboring Burundi, overwhelming reception sites that had been set up to provide assistance. For NPR News, I'm Michael Kaloki in Nairobi. Pope Leo the 14th will soon deliver his Christmas homily to 1.4 billion Catholic followers during midnight mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. His message is expected to be one of peace, especially in war-torn countries. This is NPR.