NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

NPR News: 12-24-2025 9AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says he's open to pulling back troops from a part of eastern Ukraine still under Ukrainian control as part of a potential peace deal. Zelensky says he expects the White House to present the latest draft of its peace proposal to the Kremlin later today. NPR's Joanna Kikis reports from Kiv. Zelenskyy revealed the details of the latest peace plan to reporters in Kiv, a briefing. He said Ukraine was against withdrawing troops from the eastern Ukrainian area known as Donbass, but that U.S. negotiators are pushing for demilitarization so it can become a free economic zone. Zelensky says he might agree if Russia also pulls back its troops in the region.

The latest peace plan includes NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine and stationing international forces on the front line. Zelensky said the U.S. and Ukraine have not agreed on who should control Ukraine's Zaporizia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces. Joanna Kekisis and PR News, Kyiv. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that National Guard troops must stay out of Chicago for now. The decision is an interim ruling, effectively putting the case on hold while the justices consider the broader legal questions. NPR's Katlonsdorf reports the court's decision is a blow to President Trump. The court ruled six to three against Trump, which is rare. It's one of only a handful of times the conservative court has ruled against the president in the emergency docket this term. It was an unsigned opinion and it was really technical, but basically the court wrote that the president failed to explain why the situation in Chicago warranted an exception to what's called the Posse Comitatis Act. That's the law that prohibits using the military for domestic law enforcement.

That's NPR's Katlonsdorf reporting. A Democratic congresswoman from Ohio. is suing President Trump for adding his name to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports the lawsuit also names Trump appointees to the Kennedy Center board. Joyce Beatty's federal lawsuit argues that rechristening the Kennedy Center requires an act of Congress. One of Bates's councils, Norm Eisen, says the former name was established through legislation in 1964. The law is very clear. The Kennedy Center is to be named as, after John F. Kennedy and only John F. Kennedy. New signage bearing Trump's name appeared on the centre's website and façade late last week.

In a written statement to NPR, the centre's vice president of public relations, Roma Derravi, blamed critics like Congresswoman Beatty for having, quote, sat idly by while America's cultural centre slowly crumbled. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. On Wall Street, Dowell Futures are trading lower at this hour. This is NPR News. Washington. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court order requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to build more than 2,500 housing units on its West Los Angeles campus. A three-judge panel ruled in favor of veterans who argued they were being discriminated against by being denied access to housing on the VA property. The court also overturned a judge's earlier decision that invalidated UCLA's lease of part of the VA grounds for a baseball stadium.

Supporters of the ruling say it marks a major step toward expanding housing for veterans and addressing homelessness among disabled vets in Los Angeles with potential national implications. The Trump administration has said it once to align the childhood vaccination schedule with best practices in peer nations like Denmark. NPR's Maria Godoy report, some critics say the plan won't work. Denmark routinely vaccinates all kids. against just 10 diseases. In the U.S., it's 16 diseases. Dr. Sean O'Leary with the American Academy of Pediatrics says the two countries are very different. It's like comparing a cruise ship

to a kayak. I mean, for example, Denmark is the size of roughly Wisconsin. Denmark also has free universal health care. Families get about a year of paid parental leave so they can stay home with their babies, so they potentially aren't exposed to as many diseases. And if a child gets hospitalized, their health system absorbs that cost. Meanwhile, in the U.S., many people struggle with access to health care and paid leave. Maria Godoy, NPR News. This is NPR.