NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-16-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Hurst. Russian President Vladimir Putin is back in Moscow and offering additional comments on yesterday's summit meeting in Alaska with President Trump. NPR's Charles Mainz has more from the Russian capital. In a televised meeting with top officials, Putin said his visit to the U.S. had been timely and useful. Putin said the talks allowed him to explain to Trump the true origins of the war in Ukraine, adding that Russia was now closer to a peace deal. Russian officials have widely praised the Kremlin leader's performance in Alaska, where they claim Trump welcoming Putin in a red carpet ceremony as proof the West political isolation of Moscow is over.

Moreover, Trump has since announced he's dropping a demand for an immediate ceasefire, instead embracing a wider peace framework favored by Moscow. Trump hosts Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House Monday. Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow. Washington, D.C.'s police chief will remain in command of the department following a federal court hearing yesterday after the Trump administration withdrew its bid to name an emergency police chief. Today, hundreds of protesters are at the White House demanding an end to the federal police takeover. And peers Brian Mann reports there's a police presence and the demonstration has been peaceful.

Hundreds of marchers at the White House, they've come from DuPont Circle here on this Saturday to protest Donald Trump's decision to deploy national Guard and federal agents to the streets of their city. Many of the people here say there is crime in D.C., but not the kind of emergency that President Trump has said makes it necessary for this kind of deployment. People here are angry. Many of them say they're scared by what they view as a threat to American democracy. NPR's Brian Mann reporting, Hurricane Aaron has grown into what forecasters call a catastrophic Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 160 miles an hour. It's bringing heavy rain and wind gust to some Caribbean islands and then its swells

will hit the U.S. East Coast next week. And peers Amy Held has more. Aaron's eye may stay offshore, but its outer bands could bring enough rain to cause flooding and mudslides in parts, including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Warming waters are giving hurricanes more fuel. and this storm strengthened fast. Aaron is explosively deepened and intensified. Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center,

says while Aaron is expected to peak in intensity Saturday, it's nowhere near done growing in size. We're expecting the tropical storm force winds from Aaron to more than double in size as we go through the week. That's forecast to affect much of the East Coast, bringing dangerous surf and rip currents to Florida by Monday, then the Mid-Atlantic by midweek. Beachgoers could see huge waves.

Amy Held, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion is underway in Cincinnati. It's one of the longest-running events of its kind in the country. It was started by civil rights activist Dorothy Haidt in 1986. The keynote speaker this year is Bernice King, daughter of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event is a multi-day festival of parades, concerts, job fairs, and other events celebrating black culture and black families. The 37th annual reunion ends tomorrow. Scientists in Australia have identified a new species of ancient whale that's far smaller than its living relatives. Christina Kukala reports the discovery was made from a rare fossil that was found on a popular surfing beach. Australian scientists at the Museum's Victoria Research Institute described the prehistoric creature. as unusual, small like a dolphin, with bulging eyes the size of tennis balls. But they warn its

cute appearance is deceiving. It was a dangerous predator with razor-sharp teeth. Teeth and a partial skull were part of a 25 million-year-old fossil found by a local resident on a beach in the eastern state of Victoria in 2019. It's believed to belong to a juvenile whale with an adult measuring up to 10 feet long. Researchers named the new species Janjakita's Delai. after the beach and amateur fossil hunter who discovered the skull. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukhalla in Melbourne, Australia. And I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.