NPR News: 12-28-2025 4AM EST
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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stopped in Halifax Saturday on his way to Florida to hold talks with President Trump. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, while Zelensky was on his way, Russia launched a large air attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Zelensky was welcomed to Canada by Prime Minister Mark Carney at the Halifax airport. Carney confirmed the Russian air attacks and also announced $2.5 billion in additional economic aid to Ukraine. He said Russia's most recent attack on Kyiv was barbaric and shows how important it is to stand with Ukraine. Zelensky said the Russian attack with more than 500 drones and missiles shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a man of war.
This attack is, again, Russia's answer on our peace efforts.
And it's really a show that Putin doesn't want peace. Zelensky said the U.S.-backed peace plan is about 90 percent ready, but some sticking points remain, such as security guarantees. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.
While the winter storm that dumped on the northeastern U.S. has moved out to sea, the damage it brought lingers. Police in the region are warning drivers to watch out for downed trees and power lines, and holiday travelers are facing the repercussions from the cancellation or delay of more than 1,000 flights. But Peyton Baxter of West Virginia took it all in stride. She was visiting New York City this weekend.
Well, it's very cold, and it was very on the session. Like, we looked at the weather on Monday, and it was like, oh, they're so stout.
New York City, meanwhile, got more than four inches of snow. Myanmar voters will go to the polls Sunday. It's the first day of a staggered general election. The military claims the election will be free and fair and will restore democratic rule. Western governments in the UN, though, call the election a sham. Michael Sullivan reports from neighboring Thailand.
The country has been wracked by a brutal civil war since the military deposed the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. Even the military admits the election cannot be held in rebel-controlled or contested areas roughly half the country. The junta's goal is to install its proxy party in power and continue its role in politics indefinitely. It's banned Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy from running, after it savaged the military's proxy party in the 2020 election. Suu Kyi herself remains in prison, and there are fears Sunday's polls may be disrupted by those opposed to the military's continued role in Myanmar's politics. For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
A Brazilian judge has issued house arrest orders for 10 people involved in a plot to keep former President Jair Bolsonaro in power after his 2022 election loss. The decision on Saturday came after Paraguay arrested and extradited a former police commander that was linked to the plot. The individuals under house arrest had previously faced measures like ankle monitors. You're listening to NPR News. Student loan borrowers have spent much of 2025 trying to keep up with massive changes to the federal student loan system. But as NPR's Corey Turner reports, 2026 will bring even more turmoil.
Republicans have overhauled a lot, from repayment plans to how much Americans can borrow in the first place. Earlier this month, the Trump administration unveiled a proposed agreement to shut down the Biden-era SAVE repayment plan. Next year, the roughly seven million borrowers in SAVE will likely have to move to a new plan. Also, big changes passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will kick in starting in July. Those include borrowing limits for grad students and for new borrowers, replacing all of the old repayment plans with just two new ones. Borrowers are clearly feeling uncertain, though latest data show that 12 million Americans are either late on their payments or in default. Corey Turner, NPR News.
Nine people have been arrested in Italy on charges of raising money for Hamas.
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