NPR News Now - 10am ET, October 16 | The latest headlines from NPR

Episode Date: October 16, 2026

The latest headlines from NPR at the top of this hour. The stories you hear are written, reported and fact-checked by NPR journalists.  Learn more about the standards of our journalism at npr.org/ethics. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

This is NPR News Now. The latest headlines every hour. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. Authorities in Bend, Oregon say three children and a teacher were killed yesterday in a shooting at an elementary school. The children were aged 5, 8, and 11. Another child and another teacher were wounded. Police in Bend say the shooter was a 16-year-old male. He was shot and killed by a bystander who pursued him into the school.

And Pierce Aruzvv Rizvani says little is known about the bystander. At a press conference last night, Oregon governor Tina Kotech commended that bystander. And to the community member who heroically intervened to stop further loss of life, your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well. It's not clear who the community member was, whether he was a parent or some armed passerby who sprang into action, is not yet confirmed. And P.R.'s Arisvani reporting. Alaska's Senate race was the focus last night,

as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, faced off against Democrat and former Congresswoman Mary Peltola. Alaska public media's Liz Ruskin reports the two frequently interrupted and accused each other of lying during their debate and encourage. Both candidates strayed from the question topics to fight with each other. Sullivan raised Peltola's vote against a 20, 23 defense bill. My opponent did vote against our military, did vote against pay raise for our troops because she wanted more transgender surgeries for our troops. I need to read about that. That is an outrage. That is absurd. That is an outrage. Heltola said she voted for the final bill increasing military pay. I think that Alaskans have had it up to here with the lying and the dishonesty. Dan, you should be ashamed of yourself. Most polls show Sullivan is lagging. President Trump and Vice President Vance,

each flew to Alaska this month to campaign for him. For NPR News, I'm Liz Ruskin in Anchorage. Stocks open mixed this morning as Fed Chair Kevin Warsh renewed his promise to bring inflation under control. NPR Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 360 points in early trading. Warsh told an audience in Bangkok overnight he and his colleagues will deliver price stability.

But as usual for the Fed chairman, he did not offer a roadmap of the central bank's upcoming decisions on interest rates. Investors think the Fed will likely hold its benchmark rate steady when policymakers meet later this month, then raise rates at the following meeting in December. Warsh is optimistic that artificial intelligence will ultimately lead to higher productivity and lower inflation. In the short run, though, the massive investment in AI data centers is driving up prices for construction and computer chips. Despite consumers' worries about inflation, U.S. retailers are expecting a jolly holiday season with sales of more than a trillion.

million dollars. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Israeli government says that goods have not entered Gaza for the last couple of days. Israel is blaming Hamas for imposing high taxes on Palestinian merchants. NPR's Daniel Estrin has more. Israel says merchants in Gaza refused to import goods because Hamas imposed high taxes and threatened merchants. Hamas called it a voluntary payment. Because of the crisis, commercial goods did not enter Gaza over the last two days, cutting off about 50% of all shipments of essential items to Gaza. Market prices in Gaza have skyrocketed. Shana Lowe of the Norwegian Refugee Council Aid Group. Any disruption to the flow of goods, whether they're humanitarian or commercial, is a shock to the

system in Gaza. In Gaza, a Palestinian truckers union blamed Israel for halting the shipments. Gaza's 2 million people face a humanitarian crisis with Israeli restrictions on aid supplies. Daniel Estrin NPR News. Pakistan is ordering engineers to inspect all of the country's school buildings. That's after a school building collapsed this week, killing more than 30 people. Nearly all of the victims were children. The Vatican says Pope Leo, will deliver his Sunday prayer in public as usual this weekend. The pontiff's doctors say he is showing continued improvement from lung cancer surgery this week. The Vatican released photos of Pope Leo today.

He was helping celebrate mass yesterday in the hospital. This is NPR.