NPR News: 12-28-2025 3AM EST
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What recent developments are happening in Ukraine?
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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on his way to the U.S. where he meets Sunday with President Trump in Florida. But first, he stopped off in Halifax where he met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney announced Canada is providing $1.8 billion in economic assistance for Ukraine. Looking toward his talks with Trump tomorrow, Zelensky says he's hoping for a constructive meeting.
We need two things, pressure on Russia and sufficient strong support for Ukraine. We will speak about air defense. Last week we had good steps in diplomacy, but we can't live in the illusion that it gives us the possibility to have less air defense.
How is the Trump administration being evaluated one year in?
With Russia it doesn't work.
As the year draws to a close, political observers are starting to offer grades for the first-year performance of the Trump administration, NPR's Ron Elving.
This term has featured serious policy shifts like the Trump tariffs and the deportation drive and the military strikes without congressional approval. We also see a lot of personal retribution against Trump's political enemies and provocative displays of will, such as the partial demolition of the White House and the Trump rebranding of the Kennedy Cultural Arts Center and the Institute of Peace. In all of this, we see a willingness to test the boundaries, try the locks on the doors, see what's open, see what happens, and ultimately to see who will step up to enforce the law. In the year to come, we can expect these confrontations to continue and quite possibly escalate.
That's NPR's Ron Elving. China has passed amendments to a foreign trade law that would make it easier for the state to retaliate in the event of a trade war. But it also opens up its economy to certain kinds of investment. NPR's Emily Feng has more on that story.
What changes has China made to its foreign trade law?
The law takes effect in March, and the amendments were designed with the CPTPP in mind. This is a Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement of now 12 countries, which originally also included the U.S., though the U.S. officially withdrew in 2017 during the first Trump administration. Now China wants to join the CPTPP, and it's revised some elements of its law on digital trade and intellectual property to meet the group's standards. It's also beefed up its wording on powers to counteract lawsuits from private and foreign firms. China's revised its foreign trade law only three times. The last time was in 2022, when China moved to streamline import and export procedures. Emily Fang, NPR News.
Hundreds of people gathered outside a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday. They were there to mourn eight people killed in a bombing on Friday.
What incidents occurred in Syria recently?
Eighteen other people were also injured in that attack. Officials say a number of explosive devices were placed inside the mosque before the blast, but so far they have not publicly identified anyone as a suspect. You're listening to NPR News. The Kennedy Center is threatening to sue jazz musician Chuck Redd, who canceled his long-standing Christmas Eve concert after learning President Trump's name was added to the building. NPR's Chloe Veltman has more.
The centre's president, Richard Grenell, hit back with a letter on Friday saying he is seeking $1 million in damages from Chuck Redd for his, quote, political stunt. The centre's press team shared the letter with NPR and said in an email Grenell intends to file the lawsuit after the holidays. Redd did not respond to NPR's request for comment, but the vibraphonist and drummer told the Associated Press earlier in the week that he backed out of the engagement in protest against the name change. Red has hosted the centre's Christmas Eve jazz jam since 2006. The John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts was established through legislation in 1964.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What recent developments are happening in Ukraine?
0:00–1:00
2
How is the Trump administration being evaluated one year in?
1:00–2:07
3
What changes has China made to its foreign trade law?
2:07–3:01
4
What incidents occurred in Syria recently?
3:01–4:09
5
What legal actions are being taken against Chuck Redd by the Kennedy Center?
4:09–4:54
6
What were the outcomes of recent college football games?
4:54–4:57