NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-25-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: December 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. 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 Sam Greenglass reports on what's behind the 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 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. A powerful winter storm is slamming Southern California,

unleashing flash floods, mudslides, and debris flows. A flash flood warning remains in effect for a number of areas, including Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles. Resident Michael Burdick says he's doing what he can to get through the next few days. We got some sandbags, but we figured with, this whole downpour coming for the next couple of days. We have a pool, so the pool might overflow, and then plus we have all the debris from up there. The northern and central parts of the state have also seen flooded roads, power outages, and down trees as the storm moves inland and

interacts with mountain snow. The holiday period on Wall Street is often all about the Santa Claus rally. And as NPRs, Raphael Nomm explains, it's when traders get to discover whether stock market Santa will deliver gifts or a bunch of coal. For many households across the country, it's the time of family Christmas traditions. And for Wall Street, there's nothing more traditional than the Santa Claus rally. For reasons that have never been really clear, stocks have tended to do well in the last five trading days of the year, as well as the first two sessions of the new year. And so far, it's been a promising start.

Stocks rose on Wednesday with the S&P closing at a record high. But a warning here, it doesn't happen all the time. Last year, instead of a rally, traders got coal when Santa left behind a market sell-off. Rafael NAMM in PR News. Trading is paused on Wall Street today for the Christmas holiday. Stocks resume trading on Friday. Overseas markets across Asia closed higher today, shares in China, Japan and Hong Kong, all posted gains. This is NPR News.

Families are getting ready to sit down for Christmas and holiday meals. Many tables, especially those of Latino families, will be filled with tamales. Texas Public Radio's Joey Palacios reports, making them as often part of a labor-intensive party called Tamalada. If it's your first time out of Tamalada during the holidays, get ready to be put to work. You'll be handed a spoon, a few dozen corn husks, the masa to spread on them, and probably some pork to stuff it with. It's an annual tradition for Hispanic families like the Riojas in San Antonio. Family member, Anna Fossum, says gatherings like tamiladas are about connecting with every branch of the family.

That's what the tamalana means to me. Yes, we're making tamales, but we're also making new memories. The whole process takes hours, especially if you're making 20 dozen or so. Oh, and if you're going, be sure to bring a box. and a few really good stories to share. I'm Joy Palacios in San Antonio. The holiday classic Home Alone is once again topping viewers' wish lists. Starring McCauley Cawken, the film led all holiday movies this December

across both streaming and traditional TV, according to Nielsen. Home Alone, which grossed $477 million at the Global Box Office in 1990, has landed in the top spot during three of the last four December's. Other holiday favorites rounding out the list include a Christmas story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This is NPR.