NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-02-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: August 2, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Janene Herbst. As part of his trip to Israel, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with the family members of hostages still in Gaza. He said in a statement after the meeting that he was committed to bringing all 50 remaining hostages, living and deceased, back to Israel. NPR's Emily Fang met with some of the families afterward. The hostages' families chanted, You are not alone, we are with you. And they held pictures of their loved ones after meeting with Kof. Here's Ruby Hen, the father of Itai Hen, an Israeli soldier and one of two

remaining US citizens held in Gaza. Just listening to each family member what he has to say and hear their pain and make it personal. And I think that by itself is commendable. The Israeli government believes both Americans are no longer alive. Hen and other families are pushing for an immediate ceasefire with Hamas so the approximately 20 hostages still believed to be alive can come home, along with the remains of Hen's son and other hostages who've died in captivity.

Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv. A bill that would dramatically redraw Texas's congressional maps has advanced in the GOP-led Texas House of Representatives. Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider has more. The MAP legislation passed the redistricting committee on a party line vote. That followed a day of testimony in which those opposing the measure outnumbered supporters 100 to 1, a point Democratic State Representative John Rosenthal made. I think even conservative, true, conscientious conservative Texans know this is a racist attack on black and brown communities. And I won't stand for it. We will continue to fight this with everything we have. The last time Texas Democrats broke

quorum was four years ago to block the passage of election legislation during a special session. Governor Greg Abbott responded by calling another special session and the quorum break ultimately collapsed. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston. Amid signs of a weaker job market and higher tariffs, Wall Street tumbled this week. MP Scott Horsley reports all three of the major stock indices ended the week in the red. A report from the Labor Department Friday showed a significant slowdown in the US job market. Employers added just 73,000 jobs in July and

revised figures showed next to no job growth in the two previous months. The news came as the Trump administration was rolling out a new round of even higher tariffs, most of which are set to take effect next week. President Trump responded to the disappointing jobs report by calling for the ouster of the Labor Department's top number cruncher. Critics warned that move could undermine faith in official government data. For the week, the NASDAQ fell 2.2 percent, the S&P 500 index fell 2.4 percent, and the Dow dropped 2.9 percent. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. SpaceX delivered a fresh crew to the International Space Station today, making the trip in 15 hours. The four astronauts from the U.S., Russia, and Japan launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday. They will spend at least six months at the orbiting lab, swapping places with colleagues up there since March. SpaceX will bring those four back as early as Wednesday. In Rock Hill, South Carolina, nearly 5,000 players are competing in this weekend's World Championships of Cornhole. From member station WFAE, Nick Delacanel has more. Cheers fill the Rock Hill Arena where players toss beanbags at slanted boards in the high-stakes tournament.

Players from 50 states and 10 countries are competing. Katarina Belac of Croatia says her parents still don't get it. They ask me why are you throwing that bag so much? But says E.J. Von Dren from Germany. Then they see it on TV and they see us and I think they know it's real. The American Cornhole League launched the event in 2016. This year there's $200,000 in prize money. The finals air Sunday on ESPN. For NPR News, I'm Nick Delacanel in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The United States has won eight gold medals so far at the Swim World Championships in Singapore.

Katie Ledecky won the gold today for the 800-meter freestyle, where she remains unbeaten. She first won that race in 2012 in the Olympics and hasn't lost it since then. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.