NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-28-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: December 28, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jail Snyder. President Trump will meet Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida later today. The two will discuss a potential peace deal with Russia. But disagreements remain on crucial issues, including territory and possible security guarantees. The BBC's Abdul Jalil Abderasolov reports from Mar-Lago. Ahead of the meeting with Donald Trump, President Zelensky stopped in Canada, where he met with Prime Minister Mark Carney and had a phone call with European leaders

to discuss the peace deal. Now, while Vladimir Zelensky hopes to finalize the most contentious issue in this document with Donald Trump, the issue of territory, he has previously signaled that Ukraine may accept America's proposal to establish a demilitarized zone on condition that it must be approved by referendum. President Zelensky is also planning to discuss details

of legally binding security guarantees from the US in order to prevent Russian aggressions in the future. Actress Brigitte Bardot has died. Bardot's Animal Rights Foundation says she died at her home in southern France but did not provide a cause. She was 91 years old. At age 21, Bardot became an international sex symbol, shooting to worldwide fame in the 1956 movie and God-created woman. She later became an animal rights activist. Abortion and abortion counseling now banned for veterans in the Veterans Affairs Health System. And PR Selena Simmons-Duffin reports on the change in VA policy following a Justice Department opinion issued Friday. Based on a

Department of Justice memo, the VA confirmed to NPR it has put in place a new policy this week where abortion and abortion counseling is banned except as, quote, life-saving treatment. That's a reversal of a policy during the Biden administration that allowed access in cases of rape and health risks. Kayla Williams is an Army veteran and the former director of the Center for Women Veterans at VA. We are at increased risk of having physical health conditions related to toxic exposures, including various cancers. So barring not only abortion, but also abortion counseling, seems particularly cruel and inhumane. She also notes that women veterans are at increased risk of PTSD, which can cause worse pregnancy outcomes. Selina Simmons-Duffin, NPR News. This weekend is the last

big travel weekend of the year, but winter weather is doing its best to muck things up for travelers, including to Nisha Clifford at Chicago's Midway Airport. Trying to keep a smell on my face, you know, but it's kind of hard to do. Another winter storm could further complicate the trek home following Christmas. Forecasters are warning of a strengthening storm that's set to move through the upper Midwest, bringing with it snow, ice, and rain forecasters warning of potential blizzard conditions and frigid temperatures to follow expected to push deep into the southeast tomorrow. And you're listening to NPR News.

Kennedy Center President Richard Grinnell is criticizing a musician's decision to cancel an annual Christmas Eve jazz performance and is threatening to seek $1 million in damages. Musician Chuck Red withdrew from the concert after President Trump's name was added to the facility. A judge in Brazil has issued house arrest orders for 10 people in involved in a plot to keep former President Jaya Bolsonaro in power after his election loss in 2022. The decision came after Paraguay arrested and extradited a former police commander linked to the plot. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison in September. In 2025, generative AI came out of its novelty phase and fully entered the cultural mainstream. NPR's

Chloe Veltman reports on one major shift. In one of the most prominent such deals, Universal Music Group settled its copyright infringement lawsuit with the AI music creation platform UDio in October and announced a partnership with its former adversary to launch a subscription service in 2026. Users will be able to customise, stream and share licensed music on UDio's platform. And Disney announced earlier this month it would invest $1 billion in Open AI. The Mousehouse will license many of its characters, including from the Marvel and Pixar universes, for users to create videos with the AI companies' technology. Despite the new collaborative spirit,

dozens of ongoing lawsuits in which artists and media corporations alleged tech companies use their works without permission or compensation to train their AI models are still working their way through the courts. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. This is NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.

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