NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-09-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: August 9, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held. The Kremlin has confirmed a summit between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will take place in Alaska Friday. Trump announced the meeting and indicated they will focus on negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. NPR's Charles Mains reports from Moscow. Kremlin advisor Yuri Shakov said the choice of Alaska for the meeting was, quote, quite logical. Given the U.S. and Russia were neighbors and Putin could easily travel from the tip of Far Eastern Russia, across the Bering Strait. Ushokov said the two leaders would focus on finding a long-term solution to the war in Ukraine,

for Putin that has meant demands NATO end its expansion eastward and the Ukraine demilitarize and seed land claimed, but not always controlled by Russian forces. Yet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who is not included in the summit, is rejecting any deal that he says would reward Russian aggression, adding no decisions about Ukraine could be made without its participation. Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow. Arrests at immigration court have been increasing for months. But as NPR's Meg Anderson reports, immigrants are also being arrested at criminal courthouses,

and legal experts say that could create a chilling effect. NPR spoke to defense lawyers and prosecutors in six states where ICE arrests at criminal courthouses have happened. They said the fear of arrest has made immigrants anxious about appearing in court. Some defense lawyers said they worried their clients felt pressure to accept plea deals to avoid going to court. And it's not just defendants. Immigrant victims and witnesses are afraid to show up, too, to testify against someone, for instance. Jamie Mosser, the state's attorney in Kane County, Illinois, says that can make it harder to prosecute a case. The biggest worry I have is that now am I going to have cases where there's a delay in getting to justice because they're being arrested by the ICE agents? Does that then negatively affect a victim?

Officials with ICE did not respond to a request for comment. Meg Anderson, NPR News. California's canyon fire is burning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and is about 30% contained. But hot and dry winds could spread the flames. Thousands of residents have evacuated. Tony Stumpf stayed behind and is okay, but says his property has been destroyed. Then you're scattering to get everything out of here, and then you just realize I ain't going anywhere. Firefighters are responding to 38 large wildfires nationwide.

It's the second day of President Trump's declared seven-day security surge in D.C. following an assault on a former Doge staffer. But residents say they have so far not seen a significant increase in federal officers. Trump announced on Truth Social today that on Monday he will hold a press conference to, quote, essentially stop violent crime in Washington, D.C. Trump has for years criticized the nation's capital making repeated calls for a federal takeover. It's NPR. In 1978, toxic cane toads from Central and South America were introduced to an island in Japan to control pests. NPR's Regina Barber reports now researchers are looking into why eagles there are able to escape death from the invasive food source.

Many predators that eat these cane toads die of heart attacks, but the critically endangered crested serpent eagles do not. After analyzing blood and tissue samples from these eagles, the researchers found they have a special genetic adaptation to evade these toxins. An adaptation that the studies lead author Lisa Tobe says the eagles had long before they met the cane toads. So by chance, they can feed on them. Eagles aren't the only animal to carry resistance to this toxin without needing it. Some snakes, rodents, and frogs also inherited the adaptation from their ancestors. Regina Barber, NPR News. In Nagasaki, Japan, people are marking the 80th anniversary of the city's atomic bombing.

The mayor there warning that the risk of nuclear war goes on today amid current global conflicts. The city was leveled on August 9, 1945, when the U.S. dropped the bomb, killing tens of thousands, that alongside the bombing of Hiroshima helped lead to Japan's surrender and to the end of World War II. Detroit Lions' safety Maurice Norris said in a social media post today, that he's okay, and he thanked people for their support. He was taken off the field in an ambulance during yesterday's preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons. The game was suspended after he was injured early in the fourth quarter. You're listening to NPR News.