U.S. strikes ISIS; Congress recap; vacation spending : NPR

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At the moment’s prime tales

The U.S. has launched a “lethal strike” towards Islamic State fighters in northwest Nigeria, President Trump introduced yesterday. Trump stated in a Reality Social put up that the strike was directed at “ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who’ve been concentrating on and viciously killing, primarily, harmless Christians, at ranges not see for a few years, and even Centuries!”

President Trump listens throughout a ceremony for the presentation of the Mexican Border Protection Medal within the Oval Workplace of the White Home on December 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures North America

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures North America

• 🎧 The assault is a “vital intervention and inflection level” in U.S. army involvement in Nigeria, NPR’s Emmanuel Akinwotu tells Up First. He notes that the Christmas Day timing additionally carries non secular symbolism. Whereas ISIS has change into a governing power within the rural areas and is one in every of a number of militant teams within the nation, specialists say the group focused by the U.S. isn’t one of many principal teams concentrating on Christians, in accordance with Akinwotu. The important thing query now, he provides, is whether or not the strikes are about defending Christians, because the president says, or degrading ISIS within the area.

Vacation spending exceeded expectations, regardless of polling that reveals Individuals have low confidence within the economic system. Black Friday and Cyber Monday set information, with Mastercard estimating that spending grew by almost 4 p.c in November and December.

• 🎧 “Increasingly more, it is the rich which might be doing a lot of the spending,” NPR’s Alina Selyukh says. Many customers are switching to extra reasonably priced choices, equivalent to T.J. Maxx or thrift shops, however luxurious manufacturers like Ralph Lauren proceed to carry out effectively. Rising wages have fueled a lot of the nation’s spending, Selyukh says, and the job market might be a key factor to look at within the 12 months forward.

Congress entered 2025 with an formidable agenda: strengthening the economic system, addressing the border disaster, boosting the army and extra. However all year long, it ceded a lot of its energy to Trump. Lawmakers handed a file low variety of payments as Trump dismantled components of the federal government and clawed again billions in beforehand accredited funding.

• 🎧 Practically 30 Home Republicans are usually not in search of reelection subsequent 12 months, NPR’s Claudia Grisales says. Speaker Mike Johnson noticed pushback from his personal occasion when he nearly closed the Home in the course of the 43-day shutdown. With a possible authorities shutdown in January and spiking well being care premiums, affordability is predicted to dominate the marketing campaign path — and Republicans aren’t assured to carry on to their majority, Grisales notes.

Deep dive

A police officer stands guard as demonstrators march by way of downtown throughout a protest towards President Trump’s immigration insurance policies on Sept. 6 in Chicago, Sick.

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Scott Olson/Getty Pictures

Crime fell throughout a lot of the U.S. in 2025 — each violent and property crimes — in massive cities and small cities throughout crimson and blue. NPR spoke to researchers who examine crime about what drove this development, and whether or not it might final. This is what they stated:

• 🫆 Murder surged in 2020 and 2021 amid the financial, monetary and psychological stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers say the nation is now shifting previous that surge.
• 🫆The nationwide decline contrasts with the Trump administration’s depiction of crime, significantly in Democrat-led cities.
• 🫆 Tahir Duckett, who directs the Heart for Improvements in Neighborhood Security at Georgetown Legislation, warns that utilizing crime to justify crackdowns can erode civil rights and broaden authorities energy.
• 🫆 Crackdowns may backfire, growing distrust and making individuals much less prone to name 911 or cooperate with police.
• 🫆 Researchers aren’t optimistic that the development will proceed into 2026. Funding cuts fear specialists like Ames Grawert, of the Brennan Heart for Justice.

Weekend picks

Take a look at what NPR is watching, studying and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Motion pictures: Can Timothée Chalamet play a supremely annoying character and nonetheless captivate audiences from starting to finish? Take heed to Pop Tradition Blissful Hour talk about his newest movie, Marty Supreme, to seek out out.

 📺 TV: TV critic David Bianculli says 2025 provided so many nice reveals he could not slender them right down to an inventory. However in a 12 months of intense TV, that is the sequence he says stands aside.

📚 Books: Subsequent 12 months marks America’s 250th birthday. Take into account these 10 books earlier than the Fourth of July to achieve a deeper understanding of U.S. historical past.

🎵 Music: Now that the radio stations have switched off the Christmas music, you possibly can admit it: Was there a track you bought sick of listening to? NPR breaks down why we hear the identical songs 12 months after 12 months, and why the Christmas music canon is so laborious to interrupt into.

🎭 Theater: Love “The Nutcracker”? You are not alone. The vacation staple brings in about half of many U.S. ballet corporations’ annual income. And because the pandemic, they’ve relied on it greater than ever.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

1. This week’s Far-Flung Postcard takes readers to an iconic hair salon within the Jaffa flea market, within the larger a part of Tel Aviv. When she wanted a break from the information, NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi would take refuge on the store, which is intentionally protected by its proprietor and welcomes Jews and Palestinians alike.
2. The unique Betty Boop, the primary 4 Nancy Drew books and Greta Garbo’s first talkie are among the many many works from 1930 that can enter the general public area beginning Jan. 1.
3. Is gaining energy one in every of your New Yr’s resolutions for 2026? Life Equipment’s Information to Constructing Power e-newsletter gives you a month of skilled recommendations on learn how to create an enduring energy and resistance coaching routine.

This text was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.