NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-09-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: August 9, 2025

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As AI permeates every aspect of our lives, who are the people behind this huge inflection point? What keeps them up at night? I fear that what it means to be human may suddenly not be our own. We've got a special series from NPR's TED Radio Hour. It's called The Prophets of Technology. What they got right, wrong, and where these pioneers think we're headed next. Listen to the TED Radio Hour, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder.

President Trump says a ceasefire deal in Ukraine is close. He's announced on social media that he will meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska next week. He was asked about a potential deal after the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace agreement at the White House. Europe wants to see peace. The European leaders want to see peace. President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace. Trump said the deal would include some swapping of territories, but Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is warning against a peace deal that excludes Ukraine. He also says Ukraine's territorial integrity is enshrined in the country's constitution and that Ukraine will not give up land to occupiers. Canada has

joined the EU and Britain in lowering the price cap for Russian oil. Dan Carpenchuk reports at Ottawa says the decision puts more pressure on the Russian military. The lowering of the price cap for Russian crude from $60 a barrel to just over $47 is the latest effort to restrict what some cabinet ministers call Russia's ability to wage an unjust and unprovoked war against Ukraine. The move by Ottawa and its partners sends a signal to the Kremlin and limits a key source of Russia's funding. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Annans, as Canada continues to stand with Ukraine. Canada now joins all G7 countries as well as Australia and New Zealand. Those countries have all lowered their caps on Russian oil prices over the past year, with the aim

of restricting Russia's ability to pay for its war. President Donald Trump is also also imposed additional sanctions on Russia and increased tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenchuk in Toronto. Tributes are being paid to one of NASA's most famous astronauts, Jim Lovell. Lovell is probably best remembered as commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 when an explosion crippled the spacecraft, but Lovell said his other lunar trip was more notable. Lovell died Friday. He was 97 years old, MPR's Russell Lewis reports. Jim Lovell flew in space four times.

He called the 1968 flight of Apollo 8 the high point of his career. That was the first time humans left Earth orbit and went to the moon. In 2014, he said his greatest impression was not looking down at the moon, but seeing the Earth from a quarter million miles away. Just a small ball, blue and white, like a Christmas tree ball, hung in an absolutely black sky. I could put my thumb up and completely hide the Earth. everything I knew was behind my thumb. It just disappeared. Before joining NASA, Lovell graduated from the Naval Academy, flew in the Navy, and served as a test pilot.

Russell Lewis, NPR News. The SpaceX capsule is due to splash down in the Pacific off the West Coast later this morning, the space scrap bringing four astronauts home from the International Space Station. They include two Americans, a Japanese astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut. They spend five months on board the ISS. This is NPR News. The Trump administration is replacing IRS Commissioner Billy Long, just two months after the former Missouri congressman took over at the agency. NPR Scott Horsley reports on this latest firing in a string of IRS management shakeups.

A White House spokesman confirmed Billy Longs ouster without offering any explanation. The shakeup took IRS staffers by surprise. For the time being, Treasury Secretary Scott Besson. will serve as acting commissioner of the tax collection agency. The IRS churned through four acting commissioners in the early months of the Trump administration before long was confirmed to the post in mid-June. It's a tumultuous time at the agency, which has laid off thousands of staffers, including nearly a third of its auditors.

The IRS is currently gearing up to implement the sweeping changes to tax law in the recently passed GOP budget bill. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is present. praising lion's safety, Maurice Norris, who was reported to be in stable condition after he had to be taken off the field in an ambulance in last night's preseason game against Atlanta. He's breathing, you know, he's breathing, he's talking. It's good. He's got some movement, so, and now they're running more tests. Norris was hurt during the first play of the fourth quarter. When play resumed, players on both sides stood at the line of scrimmage until the game was suspended with six and a half minutes. minutes left to play. Campbell says he and Falcons coach Rahim Norris agreed not to finish the game because it did not feel right.

I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington. These days, there's so much news. It can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community. The Consider this podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and analysis that helps you make sense of the news. We get behind the headlines. We get to the truth. Listen to the Consider This Podcast from NPR.