NPR News Now - 8pm ET, October 09 | The latest headlines from NPR

Episode Date: October 10, 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 Rylan Barton. Hurricane Isayas is bearing down on the northern Gulf coast as a category two storm. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports tropical storm force winds and heavy rain are already pounding parts of Alabama and northwest Florida. National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan says Issailles will down trees and power lines and bring a lot of life-threatening storm surge. Between the Alabama-Florida border over to Greaton Beach, that's where we expect the highest storm surge inundation of six to nine feet above ground level.

That's not just on those barrier islands, but from Pensacola Bay eastward, including the sound sides and the bays, we can see significant water level rises. Flash flooding is also likely with up to 15 inches of rainfall possible, along with scattered tornadoes. Most businesses, schools, and government offices are closed as people seek safe shelter from the storm. Debbie Elliott, NPR News, Crestview, Florida. President Trump has selected a new press secretary, Katie Zachariah. She'll succeed former press secretary Caroline Levitt, who left the position in August, and Pierre's Deepa Chivrom has more. Sakurai is a political commentator and an advisor with Trump's media and technology group, which runs Trump's social media site, Truth Social.

She also briefly served as a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security. It's not clear when her first day in the role would be or when the first press briefing would be. Those briefings have largely been on hold since Levit left the position earlier this year. Trump's selection of a new press secretary comes as the president and his party are facing headwinds in the upcoming midterm elections. On social media, Trump says he's confident Zachariah will deliver, quote, strong results for our country and calls her a loyal and brilliant supporter. Deepa Shiverram, NPR News, the White House. The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Navi Pillai has highlighted longstanding tensions between Israel and global institutions pledged to uphold international law.

Pallai led an UN-backed investigation accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, something it vehemently denies. She also led investigations into potential ICC charges against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on the ICC. The administration believes the tribunal has become politicized and attempted to unfairly and illegally prosecute Americans and Israelis. on war crimes charges. Recent surveys show Democrats ahead in key districts in states, NPR's Domenico Montanaro has more on how much these polls can really predict. The only thing people need to know at this point is that the compass is certainly pointing in Democrats' direction.

And that's really all you need to know from a horse race perspective. And that's because we are so expecting in our society such specificities out of polls, when they're really not. They're kind of more of a fuzzy target with a margin of error. NPR's Domenico Montanaro reporting. U.S. stock market finished its record-setting week with more gains. This is NPR. OpenAI has fired three safety researchers after the trio accused the company of prioritizing corporate interests over safety.

The company says that the researchers violated policies on handling sensitive information. The researchers urged the company to allow third-party safety monitors. OpenAI disputed the researchers' claims, emphasizing the need for trust. Today, the Crown Estate, which manages assets for the British monarchy, revealed some of its accounting related to King Charles' disgraced brother Andrew Mountbatten, Windsor, from London. NPR's Lauren Freyer has details. Ex-Prince Prince Andrew was evicted earlier this year from a royal lodge near Windsor Castle amid public anger over his ties to the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

Now the Crown Estate says it found nearly 2.4.4. million dollars of what it calls dilapidations to the lodge. Some of that came from a $400,000 refund Andrew got from vacating his lease early, the Crown Estate notes. But an official familiar with Palace accounts who asked not to be identified because they're not authorized to speak publicly about them says most of the money, nearly $2 million, came from King Charles himself in the form of a loan to his brother. Andrew settled a lawsuit with one of Epstein's victims and remains under police investigation for allegedly sharing government secrets with Epstein, but denies any wrongdoing.

Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. The lightsaber used by Darth Vader, and the Empire Strikes Back is set to be auctioned next month. The iconic prop is from the famous duel where Vader reveals he's Luke Skywalker's father. It's expected to fetch at least a million dollars. This is NPR News.