Thursday morning news: December 25, 2025

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

Nursing home explosion » Crews in Bristol, Pennsylvania, are digging through the wreckage of a nursing home after a powerful explosion killed two women and injured more than 20 others. 

Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said, as for the cause of the blast:

DIPPOLITO:  That is still under investigation. We have heavy machinery on site right now that's helping us excavate the area, uh, until we excavate that area and remove the walls and roofs that collapsed. We won't have any, uh, idea what may have occurred in.

A utility crew had been checking a gas odor shortly before the blast.

The explosion tore through a wing of the Bristol Health & Rehab Center Tuesday afternoon, collapsing walls and the roof of the kitchen and cafeteria.

Chief of Police Charles “C.J.” Winik praised the firefighters who carried residents to safety, including many who were wheelchair bound.

WINIK:  I've never seen such heroism. They, they were running into a building that I could, from 50 feet away can still smell gas and walls that looked like they were gonna fall down, and they were still going in the building to recover people.

Police say 120 residents and staff were safely accounted for after a frantic evacuation.

Nineteen people remained hospitalized Wednesday, including one in critical condition.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

Zelenskyy Christmas address » Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelenskyy shared a Christmas video message with his countrymen on Wednesday.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

Zelenskyy said, "We celebrate Christmas in a difficult time. Sadly, not all of us are at home this evening, not all of us still have a home.”

He added that, sadly, many Ukrainians are no longer with us. But he added that Russia is incapable of occupying or bombing “our faith”, “and our unity.”

Ukraine demilitarized zone » Zelenskyy says he’s also open to a new compromise as peace talks continue. WORLD’s Paul Butler has more.

PAUL BUTLER: President Zelenskyy says he’s open to pulling troops out of eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland. But that’s only IF Russia does the same, and the area becomes a demilitarized zone watched by international forces.

The proposal would cover parts of the Donbas region, one of the toughest issues in peace talks.

He says the idea came up during recent talks with U.S. officials and could also apply to areas near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Zelenskyy added that any final deal would be put to a national vote in Ukraine.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

Stocks close at higher » U.S. stocks edged higher Wednesday on a quiet, holiday-shortened trading day, with Wall Street closing at fresh record highs.

The Dow rose nearly 300 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also finished slightly higher. Trading was light, with only about a third of a normal day’s volume as markets closed early for Christmas Eve.

The uptick follows news of a stronger-than-expected government report on the economy for the third quarter.

Los Angeles storm » A powerful winter storm slammed Southern California Wednesday, packing heavy rain, strong winds, and dangerous flooding on Christmas Eve.

Joe Sirard says in the Los Angeles area:

SIRARD: We've had anywhere from, uh, uh, two to three to four inches of rain in lower elevations to as much as, uh, five to, um, nine inches in the, uh, higher terrain.

Mudslides and debris flows trapped drivers and forced water rescues, especially in mountainous areas and where recent wildfires charred the ground.

Firefighters rescued people stuck in their cars near Wrightwood, where mud and rocks blocked roads and cut off access to supplies.

The severe weather is wreaking havoc on travel during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: marking commemorating Christmas in the nation’s capital. Plus, reflections on the incarnation.

This is The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.