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Immediately’s high tales
President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say they’re nearer to reaching peace in Ukraine. The 2 met yesterday at Mar-a-Lago. In the meantime, Russia’s assaults on Ukraine continued over the weekend, and key points stay unresolved.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens as President Trump speaks throughout a press convention following their assembly at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago membership on Dec. 28, 2025, in Palm Seaside, Florida. Trump invited Zelensky to his personal membership to work on the U.S.-proposed peace plan to finish the conflict in Ukraine, because the battle has been ongoing for over 4 years.
Joe Raedle/Getty Photos
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Joe Raedle/Getty Photos
- 🎧 The truth that the 2 leaders met is an indication of momentum towards a peace deal, NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben tells Up First. However a peace did not seem like imminent after the assembly, and each leaders stated that talks would proceed. One of many matters of debate is find out how to deal with the Donbas area in jap Ukraine. Russia seeks to manage the world, and Zelenskyy believes it needs to be a demilitarized zone.
Trump is anticipated to fulfill with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at this time in Florida to concentrate on a few of the gadgets left to finish on the president’s 20-point plan to finish the conflict in Gaza. The 2 leaders may additionally talk about non-Gaza matters, equivalent to Iran and its proxies.
- 🎧 Israeli officers say they see no indicators that Hamas is able to disarm, which can immediate Netanyahu to induce the U.S. to maintain the stress on Hamas to honor its finish of the cut price, in line with NPR’s Michele Kelemen. Israel additionally shares related sentiments about Lebanon — the place Hezbollah stays a menace — and Iran, the place Israelis say the nation is build up its ballistic missile stockpile. Kelemen says one factor to look at for within the assembly is whether or not Trump will announce a board of peace or take steps ahead in getting a global power on the bottom in Gaza.
This has been a difficult yr for teams that assist these in poverty. Many have needed to reduce amid federal cuts and funding chaos. To higher perceive the influence the Trump administration’s insurance policies have had on these organizations, NPR’s Jennifer Ludden visited a gaggle referred to as HAPCAP in southeastern Appalachian Ohio, the place Govt Director Kelly Hatas defined what has been taking place since January.
- 🎧 Hatas says 80% of the group’s funding comes from federal grants, which is why their greatest problem is the uncertainty over what may very well be focused subsequent for funding cuts or pauses. The state has helped by shifting funding to fill gaps, however the group nonetheless needed to pull again on issues like plans to construct a homeless shelter, Ludden says. Workers are leaving, pushed by considerations about job safety. The group has additionally needed to lay off or cut back the hours of some workers members. Subsequent yr, potential cuts to Medicaid and SNAP meals help may depart extra individuals in want.
Image Present
Polar bear. Dalian Forest Zoo. China.
Polar bears are the biggest land carnivore on the planet, weighing as much as 800kg and rising as much as 3 metres in size.
The standard zoo enclosure for a polar bear is one-millionth the scale of its vary within the wild, which might attain 31,000 sq. miles (80,290 km²).
Polar bears stay in Arctic areas in Canada, Alaska, Russia, Greenland and Norway, in temperatures as little as -46°C (-50.8°F)
Dalian Forest Zoo comprises over 3,000 animals. Sights embrace Safari Space, Rain Forest Reptile Pavilion, Flamingo Pavilion, Little Animal Village, Wild Animal Vary, Swan Lake, Fierce Beast Space, Comfortable Primate Backyard and Elephant Pavilion.
Zed Nelson/Institute
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Zed Nelson/Institute
Images is a major a part of Goats and Soda’s protection of the thrill and strife of every day life. Photographs maintain a particular energy within the group’s work. From a polar bear in a Chinese language zoo to a teen in Zambia going through an unsure future, take a look at Goats and Soda’s high photo-driven tales of 2025.
Behind the story
This essay was written by East Asia-based correspondent Anthony Kuhn and local weather options correspondent Julia Simon.
As East Asia-based correspondent and Local weather Options correspondent, we had the chance to collaborate this yr in a means that journalists at few different media organizations can do.
We reported from completely different sides of the world on a serious pattern with large repercussions for the worldwide financial system and the planet: how the U.S. and China are diverging of their power insurance policies. China is dominating the worldwide renewables sector, and the U.S. is doubling down on fossil fuels.
Chris Mikkelsen, govt director of the Humboldt Bay Harbor District, stands on the positioning of a deliberate marine terminal in Eureka, Calif. that can assemble wind generators. The Trump administration just lately canceled greater than $426 million in federal grants for the port.
Julia Simon/NPR
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Julia Simon/NPR
Anthony set off for the sting of the North China Plain, the place gargantuan wind turbine blades on vehicles took what felt like an eternity to go on the roads. He spoke to engineers who use good grids, batteries and transmission traces to show the generators’ energy right into a dependable provide of power to Chinese language households.
In the meantime — greater than 5,000 miles away — Julia went to far northern California, the place a deliberate offshore wind challenge on Humboldt Bay has hit new roadblocks with the Trump administration. The marine terminal that can assemble the generators was alleged to be shovel-ready as quickly as 2026. However workers informed Julia that is now not sensible, partially as a result of the Trump administration just lately canceled greater than $426 million in federal grants for the port.
For the reason that radio and digital variations of our story got here out in latest weeks, the Trump administration has continued to face in the way in which of the U.S. renewable power business. Simply this week the Trump administration paused 5 offshore wind initiatives alongside the East Coast, calling them a nationwide safety danger. These initiatives had already accredited federal leases, they usually have been already underneath development.
This divergence in power coverage has large implications for the Chinese language and the U.S. economies, and for the 2 powers’ rivalry and competitors via power tech exports.
As for the local weather? Johns Hopkins College China professional Jeremy Wallace informed us, “China’s efforts are the primary story for combating local weather change.”
Yow will discover out extra in our NPR story — all with no paywall — right here.
3 issues to know earlier than you go
The lacking portray, Gabriele Münter, Music (Musik), 1916, its whereabouts unknown to the general public since 1977. Oil on canvas. Non-public assortment. © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.
The Guggenheim, New York
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The Guggenheim, New York
- Do you might have this lacking portray? A New York curator is looking for Music by Gabriele Münter. It is a important work that has been out of public view because the Seventies.
- Brigitte Bardot, the worldwide intercourse goddess of cinema within the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties who later grew to become an animal rights activist, has died on the age of 91.
- Most individuals mark the brand new yr on Jan. 1 due to the Gregorian calendar. Given the existence of various programs such because the Chinese language and Hebrew calendars, this is how this particular date grew to become the world customary for brand new beginnings.
This article was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
