NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-15-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: August 15, 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 Kristen Wright.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will sit down today at a U.S. Army base in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss how to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that Russia will face economically severe consequences if Putin doesn't seem interested in peace. Economically severe, yes, it will be very severe. I'm not doing this for my health, okay? I don't need it. I'd like to focus on our country, but I'm doing this to save a lot of Yeah, very severe. Rick Meistram was mayor of Anchorage in the 1990s, a time when he says warm relations flourished between Alaska and their Russian neighbors. But Meistram says his good feelings about the people of Russia don't extend to Putin. If I were mayor, I think I would have a hard time to give him a warm welcome to Anchorage.

I would be polite, but probably cold. Protesters supporting Ukraine have demonstrated along the streets of Anchorage ahead of summit. Israel's far-right finance minister says construction work is going ahead on a highly controversial proposed settlement project in the occupied West Bank, a project that he says is intended to, quote, bury the lead, bury the idea of a Palestinian state. NPR's Emily Feng reports. The proposed settlement of about 3,400 housing units would be on a patch of land dubbed E1 near Jerusalem. It would slice into the West Bank, dividing into the main territory that Palestinians hope might one day be their Palestinian state. But Salo Smotrich, the finance minister pushing the long-delayed E-1 project

forward, said at a press conference Thursday that it is precisely his goal to, quote, ensure that by September the hypocritical leaders in Europe will have nothing to recognize, referring to a flurry of several Western governments saying they will recognize a Palestinian state this fall. Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority all condemned the E-1 project. E-1 and other Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international. law, but their construction has accelerated over the past two years. Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Stocks open mixed this morning, as the Commerce Department reported an uptick in retail spending

last month. NPR Scott Horsley reports. Retail sales grew by half a percent between June and July, with increased auto sales accounting for much of the gain. Auto sales rose 1.7 percent. Spending at gas stations was also up, even though gasoline prices were down. People spent more money. grocery stores in July, but less money eating out. Import prices rose four-tenths of a percent last month, suggesting foreign suppliers are not absorbing much of the cost of President

Trump's tariffs. Export prices edged up one-tenth of a percent. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has bought a stake in United Health Group. The news sent beaten down stock in the health insurance company higher. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR. A new analysis by the Boston Federal Reserve says high-earned in the U.S. have propped up consumer spending. Looking at credit card data going back to 2015, spending has increased among those making more than $120,000 per year, much faster than low-and-middle income earners over the last three years. At the same time, credit card debt is rising among low and middle earners. A new report says 2024 was the hottest year on record. NPR's Lauren

Summer says the high temperatures contributed to extreme weather in the U.S. and elsewhere. was hot, partly because of the natural climate pattern of El Nino, which raises temperatures. It was also hot because emissions from burning fossil fuels hit record levels. That's according to a new report from the American Meteorological Society. As a result, glaciers melted, producing the greatest average ice loss in the last 50 years. That contributes to raising sea levels, which hit the highest level in modern record keeping. Extreme rainfall also hit record levels because a hotter atmosphere can hold more water vapor. Because El Nino has now faded, scientists aren't expecting 2025 to take over as the hottest year, but it's still likely to be in the top three.

Lauren Summer, NPR News. Federal health officials are reviving a panel to look at the safety of childhood vaccines. The Department of Health and Human Services says it'll look to refine and develop vaccines that it says would have less serious adverse reactions than what is currently offered. It's the latest action from the agency regarding vaccines. I'm Kristen Wright, and you're listening to NPR News in Washington.