NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-27-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jail Snyder. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is set to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney today, the CBC reporting that Zelensky will make a stopover in Halifax before heading to Florida for a meeting with President Trump tomorrow. Russia, meanwhile, launched another wave of missile and drawn attacks on Kiev. Many of the targets appeared to be power stations and residential buildings. A ceasefire has come into force along the border between Thailand and Cambodia. The ceasefire agreement freezes the front lines and bans reinforcements.

The BBC's Jonathan Head reports that the 72-hour truce was agreed by the two countries' defense ministers following Chinese diplomacy. Unlike the last ceasefire in July, President Trump was conspicuously absent from this one, although the U.S. State Department has also been involved. Thailand had been reluctant, claiming that the last ceasefire was not properly implemented. The ties also resented what they saw as, Cambodia's efforts to internationalize the conflict. In the end, they struck the deal at a bilateral meeting led only by the two countries' defense ministers. Trust in federal health agencies has dropped this year under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mostly his critics and

supporters don't often talk to each other, but NPR's Ping Huang reports on a place where they do. It's a podcast called Why Should I Trust You? And it was started by scientists and journalists that identify more with traditional public health. But they also saw that institutions lost trust during the pandemic when people felt failed or ignored by the rules in the health system. Host Brenda Adikari says people's deeply held beliefs are not easily swayed. I think it happens between people who trust each other, people who really love each other. Usually their values tend to be aligned in some way. The podcasts hosts conversations between traditional public health leaders and organizers in Maha or the Make America Healthy Again movement.

Adikari says among their regular guests, they're starting to build some trust. Ping Huang, NPR News. President Trump has said he'll take action to bring down high housing costs in 2026. But as NPR-Sennifer Ludden reports, economists expect prices to remain out of reach for many. There are more home sellers than buyers. In fact, the gap has doubled from a year ago, according to a new analysis by Redfin. That normally brings prices down. And the real estate company does expect some sellers to keep cutting prices or

offering concessions, but it notes many Americans simply cannot afford to buy a home with prices up more than 50 percent since 2020. Redfin also finds the number of both buyers and sellers down from a year ago due to high cost and economic uncertainty. Unemployment has been taking up and so have foreclosures. Economists say a severe housing shortage is a key factor keeping prices high and fixing that would take years. Jennifer Lutton and P.R. News, Washington. This is NPR. Officials in California have given up efforts to reinstate federal funding for a high-speed rail system. Steve Fetterman reports. The state has dropped a lawsuit aimed at getting back $4 billion originally designated by the federal government for the state's long-delayed

high-speed rail project. The funding was slashed by the Trump administration in July. The administration claimed there was no viable plan to complete the project designed to take passengers from L.A. to San Francisco in three hours. The plan originally called for the project to be completed by 2020 at the cost of $33 billion. The cost is now zoomed to over $100 billion. The state authority handling the project says it will now focus on other funding sources, including private investment. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. The Alberta clipper that's been dumping heavy snow in the northeast is expected to move out over the Atlantic today. The storm packing a mix of snow and ice has disrupted

post-holiday travel and has prompted the governors of New York and New Jersey to issue emergency declarations. Power outages are limited in the northeast, but in Michigan, crews are working to get the lights back on for some 30,000 customers. On the west coast, heavy rain has eased in Southern California. However, officials say there is still a risk of flash flooding. In Japan, a massive pile up in snowy weather has killed two people. and injured more than two dozen others. Please say the pile up on an expressway northwest of Tokyo. Involved more than 50 vehicles.

Authorities say it started with a collision between two trucks. This is NPR News. Listen to this podcast, sponsor-free on Amazon Music, with a prime membership, or any podcast app, by subscribing to NPR NewsNowPlus at plus.npr.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.