NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-12-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright. Final preparations are underway for Friday's summit meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The meeting comes as Trump continues to negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. NPR's Charles Mainz reports from Moscow. The Kremlin has remained largely silent since confirming Putin's participation in the summit last week. Only Putin's U.S. envoy, Kareil Demetri, is taken to public. praising the choice of location. Demetriov has repeatedly pointed to Alaska as a symbolic bridge

between nations, given the state's history, as once part of the Russian Empire sold to the U.S. in the 1860s. Yet Alaska is also a long way from Ukraine, where Trump says a deal to end Russia's war there may involve some swapping of different lands. Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, will not be included in the talks, and he and his European allies say that while they appreciate Trump's peace efforts, there will reject any concessions negotiated behind their backs. MPR News, Moscow. President Trump is repeating his calls for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates now.

Today's new inflation report says consumer prices went up 2.7 percent in the past year. Analyst warned tariffs could start to make inflation worse. Signs are visible in the rising cost of imported furniture and toys. Investors think the Fed will cut rates next month. Trump says he's extending for another 90 days his pause on higher tariffs for U.S. imports from China. In response, China says several American companies are being given a three-month pause on restrictions. Ashish Valentine reports. The trade truce gives the world's two largest economies more time to reach a more comprehensive agreement on trade. Stocks across the Asia-Pacific

region have risen following the two sides' decision to extend their truce and keep negotiating. Japan's NICATE index closed on its highest peak ever. Australian stocks also reached an all-time high. For NPR news, I'm Auschw Valentine in Taipei. Ford says it plans to overhaul its assembly plant in Louisville as it shifts production from gas-powered vehicles to affordable electric ones. As NPR's Kamila Dominovsky reports, the first EV to roll off the assembly line in two years will be a mid-sized pickup.

Ford has not revealed the truck itself, or key details like its range, but it's announced a target price point of $30,000, which would be cheaper than the Ford Ranger. CEO Jim Farley spoke at the kickoff of it in Louisville, Kentucky. The new pickup built here in Louisville is going to cure a lot of problems, like all those generic two-row crossovers that dominate our industry. Farley focused on competitiveness and cost, not on climate, and he emphasized that the truck will be built in Kentucky with a battery built in Michigan.

Camila Dominovsky, NPR News. This is NPR News. The Mojave Desert Tortoise is considered a threatened species nationally, but California took an extra step this year, as NPR's Nate Perez reports. Mojave Desert tortoises live beyond California. They're in parts of Nevada, Arizona, and northwestern Mexico, too. Estimates show that up to 90% of these tortoises have disappeared. That's why California decided in June to give the tortoise more protections.

Patrick Embellage is with the conservation nonprofit, the Mojave Desert Land Trust. If tortoises are going extinct, we're doing something wrong, and everything else is suffering as well. California's Fish and Wildlife Department said the endangered status could bring in more federal funds for protection and recovery actions. But conservationists say, that's unlikely, given that federal cuts and staffing losses have diminished. managed agencies tasked with protecting endangered species. Neip Perez, NPR News. In a surprise announcement, Taylor Swift is making a big reveal on her boyfriend Travis Kelsey and his brother Jason's podcast, New Heights.

This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl. The Life of a Showgirl, it's called. It's going to be Swift's 12th studio album, Swiftie's standby. She hasn't given any other details just yet. Not even an official release date, but pre-orders in some formats, are available. The album will be Swifty's first since she gained control over all of her music rights after a dispute with her former record label. I'm Kristen Wright, and this is NPR News from Washington. Support for NPR.