NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-17-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: August 17, 2025

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There's a lot of news happening. You want to understand it better, but let's be honest, you don't want it to be your entire life either. Well, that's sort of like our show, here and now anytime. Every weekday on our podcast, we talk to people all over the country about everything from political analysis to climate resilience, video games. We even talk about dumpster diving on this show. Check out Here and Now Anytime, a daily podcast from NPR and WBUR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiyovone. Several European leaders will join Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington tomorrow for talks with President Trump about Russia's war on Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron are among those expected. In Israel, protesters are blocking highways and staging a labor strike. They are demanding the Israeli government reach a deal with Hamas to release hostages from Gaza and to end the war. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv. Families of the hostages are helping lead the protest. They failed to convince the National Labor Union to declare a nationwide strike,

but major companies are allowing their employees to go on strike. Many municipalities and universities are supporting the day-long strike. Major theaters and cinemas are closed for the day. Israeli government ministers say protesters are playing into the hands of Hamas. Police are trying to clear the roads of protesters. Israel's militants. is prepping to expand the war by taking control of Gaza City, but says it's open to a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Meanwhile, Israel's military struck a power plant in Yemen's capital, retaliating

for Houthi missile attacks on Israel. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Torential rain has again hit Indian-administered Kashmir days after at least 60 people were killed there by flash floods. In the latest deluge, several people have died and been hospitalized in Katwa district. Landslides are blocking roads. The BBC's on Byr's son, Ethrajan, reports. Parts of northern India have seen persistent heavy rainfall in recent weeks, causing floods and landslides. And the Indian-administered Kashmir is among the worst hit. Residents were caught unawares as an intense downpour triggered landslide overnight in the village in Kathwa district.

Five of those killed were children. In neighboring Pakistan, the authorities have issued an alert for another round of intense monsoon rain. More than 300 people were killed in flash floods in the northwest in recent days. The BBC's on Byr's son, Etherijan. A controversial plan to sell federal public land to build housing was dropped earlier this summer from the big GOP tax and spending bill. But as the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohn reports, the debate continues. Commissioners in Picking County, Colorado, home to Aspen, voted to rezone about half a million acres of federal land to prevent future development. It's in response to Utah Senator Mike Lee's failed proposal to sell federal public lands.

Suzanne Wolf at the county says, this doesn't change what happens on the federal land now. But it could make it harder to build there if the land is ever transferred to private ownership. Then you would have to go through a rezoning process with the county. About 85% of the county is federal or state public land. For NPR news, I'm Rachel Cohen. This is NPR. Air Canada is starting to resume flights today after a flight attendant strike this weekend stranded more than 100,000 travelers around the world.

The Canadian government intervened and forced the airline and its striking flight attendants back to work and into arbitration. First flights resumed tonight. A national women's soccer league match started almost 3,000. three and a half hours after it's scheduled time because of extreme heat on Saturday night. Greg Eklund has that story from Kansas City. When the match between the Orlando Pride and Kansas City Current finally got underway, the kickoff temperature was 91 degrees.

The extreme afternoon heat had been predicted 24 hours before, but the league decided to leave the original kickoff time intact. Izzy Rodriguez, the starting defender for the current, says the players were puzzled. I don't know necessarily what goes. into those decisions. But for us, it was, they might make decisions different in the future. The league said in a statement that, while forecasts guide planning, we primarily rely on real-time on-site weather data. The temperature was at 96 degrees at the scheduled afternoon kickoff time. For NPR News, I'm Greg Eclan in Kansas City.

In Italy, Pope Leo spent the final Sunday of his vacation at Castel Gandalfa with several dozen homeless and poor people and church volunteers who help them. He celebrated Mass for them, followed by a lunch with them at the Vatican's estate, lasagna, eggplant, parmesan, and roast veal were on that menu. I'm Louise Scavone. NPR News, Washington. I'm Rachel Martin, host of Wildcard from NPR. I've spent years interviewing all kinds of people, and I've realized there are ideas that we all think about, but don't talk about. very much. So I made a shortcut, a deck of cards with questions that anyone can answer, questions that go deep into the experiences that shape us. Listen to the Wild Card podcast only from

NPR.