NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-10-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: August 10, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiyavoni. European Union foreign policy chief Kayakalas is calling an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers for tomorrow. This as President Trump and Russian President Putin prepare for their summit meeting in Alaska Friday. The Secretary General of NATO, Mark Ruta, says a final truce would not be acceptable without the participation of Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky, who says he does not plan to attend. It's important that the U.S. is engaging with European allies and with Ukraine to prepare for the meeting on Friday. And, of course, when it comes to full-skill negotiations, and let's hope that Friday will be an important step in that process. We need Ukraine at the table.

It will be about territory. It will be, of course, about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to acknowledge that Ukraine decides on its own future, that Ukraine has to be a sovereign nation. Ruta spoke on ABCs this week. Tens of thousands gathered in central Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities last night, calling for an end to the war in Gaza and to bring the remaining hostages home. NPR's Elmer Beersley reports the protest took on added urgency

following the Israeli security cabinet's approval of a plan that would escalate the war. Organizers say more than 60,000 people turned out to protest in Tel Aviv. There's a mood of anger. and desperation after the government's decision to launch an offensive into Gaza City, an area where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are sheltering, and where it's possible some of the 20 remaining living hostages may be held. Israel's government says it's necessary to disarm Hamas, but protesters say that is a death sentence for the hostages

and will cause needless carnage among civilians. Families of hostages are calling on Israelis and business leaders to shut down the country's economy. The mother of one hostage warned that silence is, quote, deadly. Eleanor Beardsley and P.R. News, Tel Aviv. British health officials are preparing to boost the country's spending on United States drugs as a result of President Trump's tariff threats. Vicki Barker reports from London.

Two issues have attracted the ire of the Trump administration, that the U.K. currently spends about a third of U.S. levels on innovative medicines, and that U.S. firms Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, and Merck often pay rebates to Britain's National Health Service to essentially cap drug prices, which can leave them a fraction of what Americans pay. The British government already agreed to review its pricing practices as part of its new trade agreement with the U.S. Now, the Sunday Telegraph reports it also plans to boost spending on new medicines to bring it up to U.S. levels, though it's not clear when that will happen. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London.

This is NPR News in Washington. Georgia authorities say the man who Friday opened fire on the CDC offices in Atlanta reportedly had a gripe about the COVID-19 vaccine. The 30-year-old man said it made him depressed. After being refused entry to the CDC, he opened fire from across the street, killing a responding officer. Police ultimately found him dead. For the first time, a woman has umpired for a woman.

Major League Baseball regular season game. From Georgia Public Broadcasting, Peter Bielo reports Jen Powell worked a double header yesterday between the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins. Powell says she's been dreaming of this day since 2015 when she tried out for a scholarship to umpire school. Since then, she's worked more than 1,200 minor league games and some major league spring training games.

She says at Truist Park in Atlanta today, her dream came true. It was pretty amazing when we took the field and it seemed like quite a few people. It started clapping and saying my name and stuff, so that was pretty intense and very, very emotional. The black umpires hat she wore during her first game is now headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. For NPR News, I'm Peter Beellow in Atlanta.

Heavy storms rolled through eastern Nebraska this weekend causing power outages and widespread damage. Inmates at a prison in Lincoln had to be moved. The storm left one person dead. at a state park. The forecast today is for thunderstorms from eastern Colorado to Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Southeast also do for storms, while the northeast is dry and bracing for a heat wave. I'm Louise Skivoni and PR News, Washington.