NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-27-2025 2PM EST

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, says he's en route to Canada before his expected meeting tomorrow with President Trump in Florida. NPR's Joanna Kukisis reports from Kiev, despite the peace negotiations, Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital overnight, killing at least two people and injuring dozens. Russia attacked Kiev and surrounding areas with hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles, as well as hundreds of strike drones.

Speaking to reporters via voice message, Zelensky said Russia showed what it thinks of intensive efforts to end this war. They responded with a massive attack on Ukraine, he said. If the American side wants to hold a wartime referendum or elections, we cannot do it under conditions like these. Zelensky has said several times that he is ready to hold a referendum on the latest peace proposal if security is guaranteed. for voters. Zelensky said that security guarantees are a main focus of talks with the Trump administration. Joanna Kikisasas, NPR News, Kiev. Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a ceasefire that could end three weeks of fighting that have killed more than 100 people. Michael Sullivan reports so far the ceasefire appears to be holding. The ceasefire assigned by the two countries,

defense ministers, says the two sides have agreed to halt their artillery attacks and rocket barrages for three days. The two countries have been involved in fierce combat for weeks that began in July, then reignited earlier this month. Hundreds of thousands on both sides have been displaced by the fighting, whether the ceasefire holds is an open question. Michael Sullivan reporting. The flight tracking site, Flight Aware, says more than 1,200 flights were canceled today as a snowstorm in the upper Midwest and northeast disrupts travel. Motorists could also face treacherous conditions. From member station WBUR in Boston, Rob Lane reports.

The storms will bring the first major snowfall of the year to some parts of the country. Mark Shield Drop of AAA Northeast says people should be careful on the road. He expects many drivers won't yet have switched to winter tires and maybe out of practice in terms of dealing with longer stopping distances. They follow too closely. They're going too quickly and unexpected things happen on the road and you have to make an abrupt stop, and that's when bad things happen. Shield Drop adds an extra word of caution that even on plowed roads, cold pavement can affect

tire traction. For NPR News, I'm Rob Lane in Boston. The Real Time Crime Index, which analyzes crime data from hundreds of jurisdictions across the country, finds crime dropped across much of the U.S. this year, both violent crimes and crimes against property. Murders were down about 20 percent. This is NPN. News in Washington. In Syria, an alter a conservative Sunni Muslim group is claiming responsibility for the bombing of a mosque during Friday prayers yesterday. At least eight people were killed and 18 others were wounded.

The Syrian foreign ministry denounced the explosion as a terrorist crime. China is gauging public reaction to potential new rules that would regulate the behavior of AI chatbots, banning obscenity and glamorizing suicide. NPR's Emily Fang reports. These new rules up for public comment would ban any AI behaviors that manipulate humans and, quote, harm personal dignity and mental health. They would also ban gambling behavior, anything that abets crime, broadly speaking, and obtaining sensitive personal information. They'd also compel AI companies to train their chatbots and datasets that, quote, conform to the core socialist values and embody the exceptional traditional culture of the Chinese people. Strict rules already apply to humans on the internet.

New guidelines published this week by China's cyberspace administration forbids influencers, for example, from acting lewd, vulgar, or promoting anti-mainstream values, including encouraging people not to work. Emily Fang and Peer News. California is dropping a lawsuit against the federal government. The government had allocated $4 billion for a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco. but slashed it in July. The cost for the whole project is now more than $100 billion. California officials will now seek the money from other sources.

I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.