Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with his British, French and German counterparts in London today. As Terry Schultz reports, the European leaders are looking to reaffirm their support for Kyiv in Russia's war with Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron writes on X that France remains determined to work with partners to secure de-escalation measures and to impose a ceasefire. Europeans will necessarily be a key pillar of the just and lasting solution we are collectively building together. to end Russia's war on Ukraine, he says.
Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are also determined to convince their Belgian colleague Bart de Wever to agree to allow more than 100 billion euros of frozen Russian assets held in Belgium to be used as collateral for a loan to Ukraine.
De Wever says other European Union governments haven't yet agreed to his requirements, including agreeing to share the burden of paying back the money to Moscow, if that becomes necessary. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels.
President Trump continues to push Kiev and Moscow to agree to his latest ceasefire proposal. Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met for several days in Florida late last week with Ukraine's lead negotiator. Qatar says formal negotiations between Israel and Hamas have yet to begin on the next phase of their ceasefire agreement.
NPR's Daniel Estrin has more from Doha.
One last Israeli hostage body needs to be handed over from Hamas to Israel, and then the ceasefire's second phase can begin, says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That phase would include Hamas laying down its weapons and Israeli troops withdrawing. But Majid El-Ansari, advisor to the prime minister of Qatar, told reporters talks haven't started yet.
I cannot tell you that these talks will begin tomorrow. I cannot tell you they will begin next week.
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Chapter 2: What are the latest developments in the Ukraine conflict?
But the communication that is taking place between all the parties is based on applying pressure in order to move to stage two. He said the Trump administration is applying pressure on Israel to move forward on the ceasefire. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Doha, Qatar.
Thailand carried out airstrikes today along its disputed border with Cambodia in violation of a ceasefire, as Michael Sullivan reports the truce between the two countries has been fragile in recent weeks.
In a statement, the Thai military blamed Cambodian forces for starting the fighting and said the Thai response included airstrikes against several Cambodian positions along the disputed border. The ceasefire had been brokered by President Trump and Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and signed at a ceremony Trump attended in Malaysia in October. That's Michael Sullivan reporting.
These latest clashes left at least one Thai soldier dead. Wall Street futures are higher this morning. Dow futures are up four points. S&P futures up seven. This is NPR News. As winter-like cold continues to grip much of the central and northern U.S., snow is in the forecast today for much of Virginia.
The National Weather Service says the capital, Richmond, is expecting two to four inches of snow before the end of the day. The rock band Kiss, singers George Strait and Gloria Gaynor, and actor Sylvester Stallone were celebrated last night at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. NPR's Andrew Limbaugh reports.
Slott's younger brother, Frank Stallone, offered a tribute to the rocky actor from the stage. Gospel singer sang in honor of Gloria Gaynor. The band Cheap Trick played a version of rock and roll all night to honor Kiss. This was the first Kennedy Center honor since President Trump took over the place earlier this year, and it had his fingerprints all over it.
He became the first ever president to host the show. He also had a close hand in picking the honorees, like Broadway star Michael Crawford, who said on the red carpet that he didn't expect such an honor in his career. You don't do it for reward. The reward is having full houses there. That's the excitement. CBS and its streaming service Paramount Plus are set to air the show on December 23rd.
Andrew Limbaugh, NPR News.
The University of Notre Dame says its football team will not take part in any of the upcoming bowl games after the team was left out of the college football playoffs. Notre Dame was not one of the 12 teams chosen for the playoff bracket, despite a 10-2 record and a No. 9 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
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