NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-25-2025 4PM EST

Episode Date: December 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Doa Lisei Kautau. Pope Leo celebrated a Christmas Day Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican today. He's the first pontiff to do so in more than 30 years. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports the Pope urged the faithful to care for those in the world who are suffering. During the mass, Pope Leo blessed the faithful. In this first week, Christmas Day message, he highlighted the plight of those caught in war in Gaza and of refugees and the displaced. He spoke of young people conscripted into militaries who, quote,

on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths. He said peace is possible and urged people not to remain cold to people suffering because he said, when the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News. The Department of Homeland Security is changing the rules for H-1B visas, set to take effect in late February. NPR's John Ruich reports it's a kind of visa that allows skilled foreigners to work in the United States. The new rules will be in place for the 2027 fiscal year. The big change is that they do away with the lottery system that has

for years determined who gets H-1B visas. Instead, there will be a weighted selection process that favors people with higher skills and higher salaries. The idea is to prevent employers from using the program to import low-wage foreign labor and to protect wages and job opportunities for U.S. workers. The cap on the number of H-1B visas will stay at $65,000 with an additional $20,000 for foreigners with advanced U.S. degrees. H-1Bs have been widely used in the tech sector, and analysts say changes to the way they're

issued, including a $100,000 fee per visa announced by the Trump administration in the fall, could be disruptive. John Rewich, NPR News. The vote count in Honduras' presidential election took more than three weeks, but a winner has been announced. NPR's Ada Peralta reports he's a construction entrepreneur and a conservative candidate backed by President Trump. It seems that Trump made a cold calculation that the most robust U.S. ally in Honduras would be the National Party, Asfuta's party. And now this may seem odd because the U.S. has had major problems with the National Party.

The last National Party president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, was extradited to the U.S. and convicted of drug trafficking. But just before this election, Trump pardoned Hernandez and endorsed his ally Nasri Asfura. In a statement yesterday, the State Department congratulated Asfura and said that they looked forward to working with the new Honduran government. Nasri Asfura won by less than 1% of the vote. You are listening to NPR. News from New York City. Dominion Energy has filed a lawsuit challenging an order by the Trump administration, directing

the company to stop work on an offshore wind project along Virginia's coast. And Perez Michael Copley reports the stop work order cited national security concerns. Dominion's offshore wind facility was one of five projects targeted by the Interior Department's latest stop work order as the Trump administration escalates its attacks on the offshore wind industry. The Interior Department said the construction pause would give the government time to work with project developers to address national security concerns raised in a recent classified report. Dominion said in a federal lawsuit that its project has already undergone an extensive national security review and that the pause is costing the company more than $5 million a day. The project is expected online next year generating enough electricity to power around 660,000 homes.

Michael Copley, NPR News. named Palestinian actor and controversial filmmaker Mohamed Bakri has died in northern Israel. One of his sons, Salé Bakri, wrote on Instagram, with profound sorrow and deep grief, we announced the passing of our beloved father. Bakri's acting career began in the 1980s when he performed in both Arabic and Hebrew in Palestinian and Israeli theaters. But he's best known for his roles in films such as Beyond the Walls, fellow travelers, and Cup Final.

His most controversial and some say his best work was his film, Janine Janine, about war crimes allegedly committed by Israeli soldiers in a West Bank refugee camp. Bakri was 72 years old. This is NPR News. I'm Dwahli Saikautau.