--:-- Sarah McCammon: A Russian attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure leaves thousands of people without heat in the winter's cold, and it's not the first time.
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--:-- Sarah McCammon: We hear what Ukrainians have to say about the attack on Christmas Day. I'm Sarah McCammon, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Brian Mann: Hi, Sarah. So tell us about this Russian attack. What made it through Ukraine's air defenses?
--:-- Sarah McCammon: Well, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, says they were able to shoot down 50 of the 70 or so missiles launched Christmas morning by Russia. Ukraine also blocked most of those drones. They often used electronic jammers, causing them to crash. But at least 20 of these missiles got through.
--:-- Brian Mann: There were explosions and fires across Ukraine. One utility worker and engineer was killed. In his statement on social media, Zelensky condemned this attack. He said it was clearly time for the holiday, called it inhumane and evil. But said this latest violence, and I'm quoting here, will not break Ukraine and will not spoil Christmas.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: President Biden also called the attack outrageous. And President-elect Donald Trump's incoming special envoy for Ukraine and Russia condemned Moscow's decision to attack yesterday. He said the U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region.
--:-- Brian Mann: This is now the third winter of the war there. And whenever it gets cold, Russia seems to target Ukraine's energy infrastructure. How well is it holding up?
--:-- Sarah McCammon: Well, this is clearly rattling the system. The biggest utility in the country said yesterday, Sarah, that this strike was the 13th large attack on the energy grid this year alone. Even before yesterday's missile launch, there were already rolling blackouts across the country. These explosions and fires caused more power outages. A lot of homes lost heat.
--:-- Brian Mann: Luckily it been a pretty mild winter here so far by Ukraine standards. Yesterday Maxim Timchenko the head of that big private utility DTEC he called for Ukraine allies to help boost the country air defense systems.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: And Brian, what are these attacks meaning for people's daily lives there in Ukraine?
--:-- Brian Mann: Yeah, there's no question Ukrainians are weary. But if Russia's goal here is to make Ukrainians so miserable they lose the will to fight and defend their country, I'm not seeing evidence that's working. After yesterday's attack, I heard anger, not fear. People are remarkably resilient in Ukraine. They've adapted to this war. A lot of homes they visit have generators. They have stockpiles of fuel.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: I went out for some last-minute Christmas shopping yesterday, and I saw families back out of the bomb shelters celebrating Christmas, eating dinner. But I don't want to romanticize what's happening in Ukraine. The situation here remains very hard.
--:-- Brian Mann: Now, just before Christmas, you visited the front lines in eastern Ukraine where the fighting is the most intense. How are things there?
--:-- Sarah McCammon: Yeah, most military analysts think Russia has the advantage this winter on the battlefield. Russian troops clearly outnumber the Ukrainians. They have more artillery and shells. But Russian advances have been slow. Russia will fight for days just to take one small village and the cost to Moscow and casualties and men killed and wounded appears to be staggeringly high.
--:-- Brian Mann: Ukraine, meanwhile, is fighting with very different tactics. They're retreating slowly, preserving as many soldiers' lives as possible. I spoke, Sarah, to dozens of Ukrainian soldiers near their front lines, and they say they're bone-deep in exhaustion. They're frustrated at times by the lack of equipment, but they seem confident Ukraine's army can keep holding on.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: That's NPR's Brian Mann in Kiev. Thanks so much. Thanks, Sarah.
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--:-- Sarah McCammon: The auto sector is in the midst of two seismic changes, the rise of electrification and the surge of Chinese automakers. That means many existing companies will need to adapt. Honda and Nissan say they're beginning talks about a merger, and those companies probably won't be the only ones looking for new partnerships.
--:-- Rafael Nam: Yes, these are definitely two big companies, especially in the U.S. The CR-V from Honda, for example, is one of the best-selling cars in the country. And Nissan has cars like the Rogue SUV. And the reason why these talks are happening is because of these two transformative changes you just mentioned, Sarah.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: Let's tackle the first one, the pivot to electric vehicles. Nissan and Honda have had trouble producing the kind of buzzy EVs that Tesla or South Korean automakers like Hyundai and Kia have produced. So a combination would make sense. It allows the two companies to pull their expertise and their production together. And the hope is that they will become stronger.
--:-- Rafael Nam: It's why both companies said this week they are exploring a merger and talks have started. Although both Honda and Nissan are well known, they're not among the very, very top players in the industry. A merger though would change that. It would make them the third biggest automaker in the world behind just Toyota and Volkswagen.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: And not only that right but presumably a merger would also make these companies both of which are based in Japan more competitive against Chinese automakers. Why is that important?
--:-- Rafael Nam: Yes, indeed, it would make them more competitive both in China and outside of China. And it's important because I think for people in the U.S., it's kind of hard to see the threat posed by Chinese automakers like BYD because the U.S. has managed to prevent them from coming in with big tariffs and other restrictions. But in Europe, where I'm from, you can really see how successfully Chinese companies have pivoted to producing EVs, the future of the car industry I was telling you about.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: You can see it literally from the time you land at an airport, where you can see their ads everywhere. And of course, you're seeing more and more of their EVs on the roads. They are not only selling these EVs cheaper, their quality has improved dramatically. And they're also hyper-focused on software, which is becoming critical for cars.
--:-- Rafael Nam: You know, there was a time back in the 1980s when Japan was really emerging as a global force in the auto sector. Are Chinese companies now stepping into that kind of role in the industry?
--:-- Sarah McCammon: Yes, except now it's the Japanese automakers that are playing defense. But it's not just Japan. Just like the 80s, companies in the U.S. and Europe now see Chinese rivals as existential threats.
--:-- Rafael Nam: Here's how Sam Abuel-Samad, an auto analyst based in Detroit, put it to me. There are some brands that have been around for a long time that may well not be part of the landscape 10 years from now, five or 10 years from now, just because they don't have enough scale to compete against either the big Western players or the Chinese companies.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: So the name of the game could be size. Get bigger or get left behind. It's why analysts believe we could see more deals happening over the next few years. It may be the best way to tackle these two seismic changes taking place, the pivot to electrification and the emergence of China.
--:-- Rafael Nam: That's NPR's Rafael Nam. Thank you so much. Thank you, Sarah.
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--:-- Sarah McCammon: In Nigeria, the holidays are less festive this year as the country is in the grip of one of its worst economic crises in decades. The government imposed a set of controversial economic reforms that critics say have only made poverty worse. And despite recent quarters of economic growth, inflation has soared.
--:-- Emmanuel Akinwotu: Well for many people in the country it's been just a brutal year the central bank puts inflation at 34 percent you know the cost of food energy just basic necessities have become so expensive and then in the last few weeks there have been these series of shocking events that have really crystallized the struggles people are facing local police say about 60 people have died in three stampedes different charity events around the country where people were giving out food and cash donations.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: One of those events was for children in Ibadan It a city just outside Lagos And thousands of people arrived there with their kids many of them arriving a day before the event even started. But then this charity event just became a tragedy. About 35 children died.
--:-- Emmanuel Akinwotu: And on local media, there were these just tragic scenes of mothers weeping, looking for their children. And the organizers of the Ibarra event have been arrested and have come under a lot of scrutiny. But these incidents, three incidents in a short space of time, have just really demonstrated the struggles people are facing.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: Yeah, just an absolutely tragic example of how these economic struggles are hurting people. But what is the underlying cause of the economic situation?
--:-- Emmanuel Akinwotu: Well, the government introduced a string of reforms that were largely praised by Western institutions like the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, and by the US government. But they've had a major impact on people's lives. The government devalued the currency, they cut an electricity subsidy, but really the most important one was the end of a fuel subsidy, which was one of the few benefits that Nigerians receive.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: Previous governments tried to end it, but they backed down because of huge protests. But it was also a really expensive subsidy for the government. And the effects of cutting it were just swift. The price of fuel soared. We just had this huge domino effect. And the price of transportation has shot up. And people rely on generators for electricity because of power cuts. So the cost of that went up too.
--:-- Emmanuel Akinwotu: And people expected that the subsidy might go, but they didn't think it would go as quickly as it did, especially with so little put in place by the government to soften the blow.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: So Emmanuel, what is the government doing to soften that blow that you just mentioned for the people in Nigeria?
--:-- Emmanuel Akinwotu: Well, they've largely called for patience. The government says it's aware of the economic pain, but that it's necessary and temporary. They've also almost doubled the minimum wage, although in real terms, a lot of that raise has been wiped out by inflation, and they've started these cash grants, but just to the poorest people.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: But really, the feeling I hear day to day is this sense that the political class in Nigeria still don't truly grasp just how challenging a time things are for people.
--:-- Emmanuel Akinwotu: NPR West Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu, thanks so much. Thank you.
--:-- Sarah McCammon: And that's Up First for Thursday, December 26th. I'm Sarah McCammon. For your next listen, why not consider Consider This from NPR? We here at Up First give you the three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means for you in just 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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--:-- Sarah McCammon: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Peter Granitz, Emily Kopp, Miguel Macias, Lisa Thompson, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Josephine Neonai, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.
