Reuters World News - Ukraine, Cambodia-Thailand truce, Myanmar election and DEI

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

Russia has pounded Ukraine with missile and drone attacks ahead of a Sunday meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Thailand and Cambodia sign a ceasefire deal. Myanmar heads to the polls in an election international observers have described as a sham. And how the Trump administration is cracking down on DEI. Listen to On Assignment here. Listen to Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Jonah Green in New York. It's Saturday, December 27th. Today, Russia pounds Ukraine with missiles and drones and the run-up to Trump and Zelensky's meeting. Thailand and Cambodia sign a ceasefire agreement. Myanmar goes to the polls while a civil war rages. And the Trump administration is ramping up scrutiny of corporate diversity programs. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. First, to Ukraine, where Kiev and other regions have been pounded by Russian missiles and drones overnight. The attack comes ahead of what President Volodymyr Zelensky says will be a key meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to work out a deal to end nearly four years of war.

He says that a 20-point peace plan is 90% ready. The two are expected to meet tomorrow at Marlago and Florida. In Kiev, residents were sheltering in the metro as explosions sounded across the city. And in Kharkiv, more strikes. emergency medical chief Victor Zabashta, saying a nine-month-old baby had been hospitalized after suffering a head injury. Russia's strikes also prompted the temporary closure of two airports in southeastern Poland after the Polish armed forces scrambled fighter jets. Trump and Zelensky are due to hold a call with European leaders today ahead of their

Florida talks, with Trump saying he believes Sunday's meeting would go well and that he expects to speak with Putin, quote, soon as much as I want. And a Reuters exclusive has shown that Moscow is likely stationing new nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles at a former airbase in eastern Belarus. That's according to two U.S. researchers who have been studying satellite imagery. It's a development that could bolster Russia's ability to deliver missiles across Europe. Thailand and Cambodia have signed a truce agreement to halt weeks of fierce border clashes. Thai defense minister Natapo Nakpanit saying the ceasefire was in effect from noon local time. It ends 20 days of fighting that's killed over 100 people and is placed more than half a million

on both sides. Israel has become the first country in the world to formally recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland as an independent state. The historic move upends more than three decades of the breakaway region's failed quest for sovereignty. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says the declaration, quote, is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, brokered by President Trump. And of course, I'll communicate to President Trump, your willingness and desire to join the Abraham Accords.

So thank you. Promising immediate cooperation in agriculture, tech and the economy. But Somalia and its allies, Egypt, Turkey, and Djibouti, are condemning the decision, calling it a threat to regional stability and international peace. Myanmar's military regime is pressing ahead with the first phase of a general election this weekend. It's been dismissed by some Western governments and human rights groups as a sham and is expected to be dominated by proxies of the military. Opposition groups are either barred from running or have refused to do so,

including the party run by Nobel laureate Ansan Suu Kyi. As our chief correspondent for Thailand and Myanmar, Deviat Goshael explains, the exercise is also coming in the middle of a raging civil war. The Myanmar hunter has been bombing schools. It has been bombing hospitals. And in fact, we've reported this for over a year. there are parts of the country that are facing very serious food shortages. And in the middle of this, you have a military that is seeking legitimacy through this electoral exercise. The reaction of key international players is going to be critical.

China, of course, is seen as an ally of the junta, and it is likely to endorse the results. Same for Russia. But I think how regional players like Thailand and India, how they're not. their response to this is going to be very important, as well as the United States, which is withdrawn from the region in some ways, but I think its position does carry a certain amount of weight. On our latest episode of On Assignment,

we're in Eastern Congo to hear how rape has been used as a weapon through decades of fighting. Our host, Kim Vinal, takes us into neighboring Burundi, hearing from women who've escaped abuse and are eager to tell their stories. This is the story of Salima, held captive by M23 rebels for almost eight months. During her captivity, rape came more frequently than meals, often three times a day. She and her family survived the attack on Goma by M23 and are now living in a secret location. Now hiding in a rebel-controlled area, Salima is far from free.

She's haunted by her ordeal. And that ordeal is just one of many stories like this, from years of war in Congo. We'll drop a link in the show notes. My goal is to shift to a conservative view of civil rights. That's Andrea Lucas, who chairs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, setting out a conservative shift in society. civil rights enforcement. Under the Trump administration, the EEOC is ramping up scrutiny of corporate diversity programs. It's already opening inquiries into how companies handle sex and race

in hiring and promotions. Our race and justice correspondent, David Hood-Nunoz spoke with Lucas and explains what's driving this crackdown. So those priorities boil down to four buckets. One of them is attacking all forms of race discrimination, which includes diversity, equity, and inclusion-related race and sex discrimination. The second is dealing with religious liberty issues that spans the gamut of anti-Semitism to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. And then the third is gender identity and focusing on women's sex-based rights. And then the fourth is national origin discrimination, which in her view is protecting American workers,

regardless of their race, which is a shift in the EEOC's mission, which used to protect workers against discrimination in the sort of traditional sense. And so this conservative view of civil rights, rights is a massive pivot for the agency that has huge ramifications for companies, for employees, et cetera. David says major companies are already preparing for an uptick in these investigations.

There's been some very big companies that have already adjusted their DEI initiatives, Apple, Microsoft, Costco is a big one, that have all defended. their DEI initiatives in public and have essentially said, bring it on. A lot of legal experts, including former agency officials, have challenged Lucas in this new direction that she wants to take the agency, but she told me in my interview that she has support from the White House itself, which I think spoke volumes. Across the U.S., aging fossil fuel plants, once slated for retirement, are canceling shutdown plans as electricity demand from AI data centers are driving up power prices. A Reuters analysis shows about 60% of oil, gas, and coal power plants scheduled for retirement in the country's biggest power grid have postponed or canceled those plans so far this year.

Most of these are so-called peaker units designed to run only during electricity spikes. According to research, the majority of them are found in low-income communities of color. Dr. Julia Bruhn lives in Pilsen. She says there are documented health problems associated with the plants. These are not made up numbers. People in these communities have higher rates of, I really all cause mortality, but particularly respiratory illnesses and cancers. Energy experts say there are alternatives.

These include more robust transmission lines which could transport electricity from oversupplied areas to those with shortfalls. For more on any of the stories from today, check out rogers.com or the royders app. Don't forget to follow us in her favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters, seven days a week.

We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.