NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-27-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Heavy snow has been falling in the northeastern U.S. overnight with almost a foot of snow on the ground in some places. Connecticut Public Radio's Matt Dwyer has more from Hartford. A winter storm is bringing wet snow to southern New England and New York and ice to part of Pennsylvania. Where New Englanders, we're prepared for the storm. Josh Morgan is a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. We're asking the public if they can stay off the roads, if they can stay home and stay safe. That's going to be the best bet for everybody.

It's going to give our crews and those local municipal drivers the space that they need to do their job safely and effectively. Cities and towns put overnight parking bans in place. The storm also prompted the last-minute rescheduling of a number of Kwanza gatherings. For NPR News, I'm Matt DeWire in Hartford, Connecticut. Flight cancellations and delays are mounting at the nation's the airports, especially at the three serving the New York City area. The flight tracking website Flight Aware says more than 800 flights have been canceled so far today, and there are hundreds of delays. More people have died in ICE custody this year than in any year since 2005. MPR's

Martin Costi reports a cause of the increase is not clear. The number of people held by ice at any one time has ballooned. Right now, it's about 66,000. That's 70% higher than when President Trump took office. but deaths have gone up more to about 30 for the year compared to 11 in 2024. At Syracuse University, Austin Coker studies the immigration enforcement system, and he's troubled by some clusters of deaths. I'm concerned that the rapid increase in the detained population at specific detention centers is creating the preconditions for more immigrants to have medical emergencies and ultimately to die while they're in ICE custody.

ICE says in custody deaths this year, quote, average less than 1%. this is the lowest in history, unquote, but it does not explain how that figure was calculated. Martin Kosti, NPR News. Ukrainian officials say Russian drone and missile attacks on Kyiv in the surrounding region have killed at least one person and injured dozens. The attacks came a day before President Belodemir Zelensky is expected to meet with President Trump in Florida to discuss efforts to end Russia's invasion. The BBC Samira Hussein reports that Zelenskyy says the bombardment shows that Russia does

not want to end the war. Into this morning, in fact, the air raid sirens have been sounding off. There are still drones that are coming into Ukrainian airspace. And according to Ukrainian officials, there were some 500 drones that were launched from Russia over Ukraine and some 20-odd missiles as well. The main target has been the capital here in Kiev. And there has been some infrastructure damage. And according to the Ukrainian military, there has been.

been damaged to some residential buildings here as well. This is NPR. The rain may have eased in Los Angeles, but officials say there is still a risk of flash flooding. Three days of heavy rain led to flooding and mudslides in Southern California. The mountain town of Wrightwood seems to have borne the brunt of the damage. Voters in Myanmar are preparing to go to the polls. The country is to hold the first phase of a general election tomorrow

that opponents to the military government say will be neither free nor face. The military ousted the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Anson Suu Kyi, four years ago. That coup led to a civil war that has devastated parts of the country. Hollywood got a present that it was not expecting for Christmas. And Pierre's Bob Mondello explains. Film industry observers are pretty good at estimating how movies will do at the box office. They crunch advertising, exit polls, social media reach. But how do you crunch a publicity?

stunt. Avatar Fire and Ash was always expected to lead Christmas week, and Timothy Shalame's ping pong movie, Marty Supreme. It's only a matter of time before I'm staring at you from the cover of a Wheaties box. Was expected to fall in the middle of the also-rans. Instead, it's leading the also-rans, at least partly because earlier this week, looking terrified, Shalame climbed atop the 366-foot-high Las Vegas sphere to yell, Marty Supreme is an American film that comes out on Christmas Day. The sphere then lit up like a giant orange ping pong ball. The stunt went viral online, and about a million people have already seen Marty Supreme. Bob Mandello, NPR News. And I'm Jail Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington.

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