NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-16-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: August 17, 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 Friday'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 Zelensky 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,

the Trump administration withdrew its bid to name an emergency police chief. Today, hundreds of protesters gathered at the White House demanding an end to federal police takeover. There was a police presence, but the demonstration was peaceful. And Pierce Brian Mann has more from the protest. 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 from near the White House. The Department of Agriculture is ending up, or ending a policy meant to address the long history of discrimination against minorities and women who farm, ranch, and otherwise work the land. Ray Solomon from Member Station KUNC has more. The USDA has been trying to level the playing field for racial minorities and women in agriculture since the late 90s, with more access to farm loans and grants. But in July, the agency abruptly announced those efforts were over, saying past discrimination had been, quote, sufficiently addressed. Norissa Rivera is an indigenous Diné woman farming traditional crops in Colorado.

She's relying on funds from two USDA grants and calls the change extremely disappointing. We're still at a disadvantage, like even to this generation. My people were heavily farmers by taking our farms from us. There was a lot of lost knowledge around farming, and we don't have those resources. The USDA did not respond to further questions. For NPR News, I'm Ray Solomon in Denver.

You're listening to NPR News, News from Washington. More than 300 people have been killed in flooding across Pakistan after two days of torrential rains that led to flash floods and landslides. Dozens of bodies have been recovered. This after Pakistan experienced higher than normal monsoon rain linked to climate change, hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors. U.S. Steel says it believes a gas valve failure led to the explosion at one of its plants near Pittsburgh

They killed two workers and injured 10 others. Reed Fraser reports the company has been reviewing video of the explosion. The plant in Clarton, Pennsylvania, makes coke, a key material in steelmaking by baking coal at high temperatures. The main byproduct of the process is a flammable and potentially explosive gas. In a statement, the company says its initial investigation indicates the explosion happened when workers were flushing a gas valve in preparation for maintenance. The company says pressure had built inside the valve leading to the valve failure. It says this allowed gas to escape into the open and that the gas exploded when it found an ignition source.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is also investigating. For NPR News, I'm Reid Frazier in Pittsburgh. The Trump administration is planning to build a $750 million fly factory in southern Texas to stop a flesh-eating cattle parasite. The facility will breed billion. of sterile male flies to ramp up its efforts to keep flesh-eating maggots now in Mexico from damaging the American cattle industry. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News, in Washington.