Chapter 1: What updates are there on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. The Justice Department says it may take a few more weeks to finish releasing the investigative files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Congress had set a deadline for last Friday to release all of the records. NPR's Sam Gringlass reports.
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.
Chapter 2: How is the winter storm affecting Southern California this Christmas?
A powerful winter storm is bringing heavy rain and possible flash flooding to Southern California at this hour. Forecasters are urging holiday revelers to avoid driving right now.
NPR's Joel Rose reports. Forecasters say Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years, warning drivers to stay off the roads in the coming days. The National Weather Service says flash flooding is possible in parts of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Further north, much of the Sacramento Valley and parts of the San Francisco Bay Area are under a high wind warning.
Forecasters are also predicting heavy rain and a chance of flooding along the northern California coast and heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Severe weather conditions could also disrupt air travel from California to the Pacific Northwest.
As 2025 comes to a close, a new report on crime in America shows that crime fell significantly in all regions of the country. The Real-Time Crime Index uses data from nearly 600 jurisdictions nationwide.
Chapter 3: What does the latest crime report reveal about crime trends in America?
Murders were down 20 percent. Other violent crimes, including rape, robbery, aggravated assault, as property crimes also fell, those include vehicle thefts and burglaries. NPR's criminal justice correspondent Meg Anderson explains why the numbers, especially for murder, are declining.
Part of the reason why murders are way down is sort of a like what goes up must come down situation. The huge decreases we're seeing now were preceded by huge increases. So in 2020, 2021, homicide rates surged across the country at historic rates. And it's rarely just one thing that causes crime to rise or fall.
But the pandemic was a huge destabilizing event in the world and obviously also in the country.
NPR's Meg Anderson at the Vatican. Pope Leo celebrated the first Christmas midnight mass as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.
Chapter 4: Why are murder rates declining in the United States?
This is NPR. At least five people have been killed, scores injured in a suicide bombing at a mosque in northeastern Nigeria. According to local officials, the blast struck during evening prayers on Christmas Eve. NPR's Emmanuel Nkowoto has more.
Several worshippers were hit in the blast at a crowded mosque on Wednesday evening and taken to nearby hospitals. The attack is the first in years in Meduguri, the capital of Borno state, where the insurgency by Boko Haram began in 2009. The city has been largely fortified by a heavy military presence, but in recent months, local officials have warned that in rural areas across the region,
militants have a growing foothold. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which local officials have called a suicide bombing. But militants have previously targeted mosques and crowded areas.
Chapter 5: What details are known about the suicide bombing in Nigeria?
Emmanuel Akimotu, NPR News, Lagos.
The cause of Tuesday's explosion and a fire at a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, nursing home near Philadelphia that killed two people and injured others, 20, remains under investigation. However, utility crews have been called to the facility shortly before the blast because of a report of a smell of natural gas. One person who died was an employee. The other was a resident.
About 120 people who lived there have been now transferred to other nearby care facilities. On Wednesday, the holiday shortened trading day on Wall Street saw all three stock indexes, the Dow, the Nasdaq, and the S&P, all finish fractionably higher. The Dow gained six-tenths of a point. The Nasdaq was up 0.2%. The S&P, three-tenths of a point.
Chapter 6: What was the outcome of the holiday trading day on Wall Street?
I'm Dan Ronan, NPR News.