NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-28-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: December 28, 2025

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As you prepare for the ball drop on 2025, listen to NPR Music's All Songs Considered podcast as we look back at the biggest songs and albums of the year. From the unmissable hits to the fascinating other stuff you might not have heard. Search for All Songs Considered wherever you get podcasts to hear us run back some of the best of the best of 2025. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Kiev on Saturday. At least one person was killed and others injured in the attack on Ukraine's capital city. Parts of the city's energy infrastructure were hit along with several apartment buildings. The attack came just one day before Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky,

is meeting with President Trump in Florida. While meeting with Canada's prime minister on Saturday, he learned of the Russian attack. This attack is, again, Russia's answer, one hour peace efforts. And it's really the show that Putin doesn't want peers. The Trump administration has stripped legal status from 1.6 million immigrants in 11 months. That includes those who came into the country under various visa and parole programs. It's the largest removal of deportation protections for legal migrants in U.S. history. And Pierre Jimenez-Bustillo has more on that story.

The largest group affected includes those under a program called temporary protected status. It provides deportation protection and crime. grant's work permits to people from specific countries, affected by war, natural disaster, political instability, or any other condition that makes the country unsafe for its nationals to return to. The administration has ended TPS for 10 countries, impacting an estimated 1 million people. The Trump administration argues that parole programs like TPS are meant to only be temporary. TPS for six more countries expire next year.

And if they're not extended, the U.S. may have no one under the program for the first time since it was created in 1990. Hima Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. Thailand and Cambodia have both agreed to a ceasefire if it stays in effect that could end three weeks of fighting that's killed more than 100 people. Michael Sullivan has our report from Chang Rai, Thailand. The ceasefire signed by the two countries' defense ministers

says both countries have agreed to halt their artillery attacks and rocket barrages and air attacks by Thai fighter jets on Cambodia. targets. 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, prompted by an early French colonial map, Cambodia's then ruler, that's been disputed by the Thai side. The 72-hour lull is dependent on both sides honoring the ceasefire. For NPR news, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

has now begun in Myanmar. That Southeast Asian country has been under military control since President Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in a coup there in 2021. It's the first election that's been held since then. The voting is being done in three phases and is expected to finish by the end of January. Critics say the elections are simply a way to legitimize military rule there. You're listening to NPR News. More audiences watch movies in cinemas in 2025 than the previous year. That's according to the theater owners trade association, Cinema United. As NPR's Mandelaide Del Barco reports, their latest findings shows the biggest growth was with moviegoers in Generation Z. Cinema United reports that the number of habitual

moviegoers, those who watch films in theaters at least six times a year, is on the upswing. Leading the way are those aged 13 to 28, says the group's president and CEO Michael O'Leary. He says Gen Z audiences went to cinema's 25% more this year than last. Gen Z is drawn to the larger screen formats. They love the ability, frankly, to order their food from their seat. They also like the big, comfortable, modern state-of-the-art recliners. He says particularly for younger people, watching movies and theaters is a break from cell phone, social media, and other digital inundation.

The report comes at a time when cinefiles worry about the future of movie theaters in this streaming age. Mandalay Del Barco, NPR. News. Police in Italy have arrested nine people involved with three charities that have been accused of raising millions of dollars for Hamas. Prosecutors say the suspects sent more than eight million dollars to associations in Gaza, the West Bank, or Israel that were linked to Hamas. The European Union lists Hamas as a terrorist organization. Guatemala has begun a three-day morning period following an accident this weekend. A bus fell into a deep ravine. Fifteen passengers were

killed. At least 15 other people were injured. It took rescue workers more than two hours to recover the bodies from the bus. Road accidents, though, are quite common in that country. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com.

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