NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Jail Snyder. The Justice Department says it may take a few more weeks to finish releasing the investigative files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Congress had set a deadline for last Friday to release all of the records. NPR's Sam Greenglass reports on what's behind this latest delay. The Justice Department has released hundreds of thousands of records since Friday, and now reports receiving a million more documents potentially related to the end. Epstein case from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI. The Justice Department wrote on social media that lawyers are working around the clock to make

required redactions and will release the documents as soon as possible. Members of Congress who pushed to make the records public have already complained about the missed December 19th deadline. So far, the initial batches have not contained any explosive revelations and some of the remaining records could be duplicates of files already made public. Sam Greenglass, NPR News, Washington. The Department of Veterans Affairs has been ordered by Federal Appeals Court to build more than 2,500 housing units at its location in Los Angeles. Steve Futterman has details. The battle has been going on for years.

Veteran groups have been trying to get the VA to build homes on the land to help vets who need housing. In recent years, the land has been leased out, and some of it has been used as a sports complex for a private school. Attorney Mark Rosenbaum, who represented the veterans in their lawsuit, says this all goes back to when the land was originally donated. In 1888, 388 acres was given to the predecessor of the VA with the specific requirement that had become a soldier's home for disabled veterans. And Rosenbaum says this could impact other VA properties across the nation that have also been leased out. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Cain is among those pushing back on the Trump administration's military strikes against suspected drug trafficking boats. We're more than 100 days into this set of military actions that's killed nearly 100 people in a couple of dozen strikes.

But Congress has yet to have a single public hearing in either the House or the Senate about this military action. And I think the reason for that is they understand that, putting this out in the public light of day, would convince the American public that the administration doesn't really have a strategy that would be supported. Senator Kane serves on both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees. He has co-authored a bill banning the use of federal money for a war against Venezuela without congressional authorization. U.S. military has now launched at least 29 strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats

that have killed more than 100 people. and you're listening to NPR News. People are gathering in Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas for the first time since the war in Gaza began. NPR's Hadeal Al-Shalchi reports on the hopeful and bittersweet mood. It's been two years since the city where Christians believe Jesus was born held its traditional Christmas scouts parade. Young men and women playing the bagpipes and drums march through the city. Hundreds of people summon their Sunday best crammed into manger square to watch, the massive Bethlehem Christmas tree towering over them.

Asir Jajajah said that the celebrations came at a necessary time. People need to release some of the pressure they felt, she said. That pressure was from worry over what's happening to Palestinians during the war in Gaza. Those in Bethlehem today said they will dare to allow themselves some hope this Christmas. Hadeal Al-Shalchi and PR News, Bethlehem. The cause of Tuesday's deadly explosion at a nursing home outside Philadelphia remains under investigation. A gas leak is suspected. The police chief of Bristol Township says the smell of gas was in the air amid the rescue operation

and that searchers have accounted for everyone considered missing. Two people were killed, 20 others hospitalized. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles, a powerful holiday storm lashing southern California with heavy rain and gusty winds. of Los Angeles scorched by wildfires nearly a year ago under evacuation warnings because of the threat of floods and mudslides. Much of the state is under weather warnings, forecasters warning of whiteout conditions in parts of the Sierra Nevada. This is NPR News.