NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-17-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

NPR News: 08-17-2025 9PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Hurst. Several European leaders are planning to join Ukraine's president, Lodemar Zelensky, for talks at the White House tomorrow. NPR's Franco, Ordonez reports on the high-stakes, high-risk. risk meeting. The last time Zelensky was in the Oval Office in February, he got lectured by President Trump and the vice president, but he'll have some high-powered support this time, including European Union Chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron,

as well as the NATO Secretary General. Trump has shifted course from demanding a ceasefire and is now calling for negotiating a broader peace deal, which is Putin's preferred choice. Trump has also made clear that he was going to push Zelensky to make. make a deal. And that is likely going to be hard for Zelensky to do. He has emphatically said that Ukraine will not give up land to an occupier. Franco Ordonez. NPR News. Police in New York City say several suspects remain at large after an early morning shooting in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, left three people dead, nine others injured. From member station WNYC, Ramsey Caliphay has more. The New York Police Department says preliminary information suggests the shooting was gang-related.

Around 3.30 a.m., police say as many as four people fired shots inside a busy hookah lounge and bar called The Taste of the City. Police say they recovered more than 40 shell casings. The deceased have all been identified as men, ages 19, 27, and 35 years old. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says the city has mobilized a mass shooting plan in the aftermaths of the shooting. Officials are urging the public to help them gather more information about the crime. For NPR News, I'm Remzi Khalifa in New York. It's been nearly two years since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. But many of those killed or kidnapped by Hamas were at the Nova Music Festival near the Gaza Strip.

But the producers of that festival have continued holding dance parties. And peers Emily Fang has more from Tel Aviv. Ophir Amir is one of the Nova producers. He was shot in both legs in the October 7th attack. He mounted this new festival in Tel Aviv so that bereaved families could come together and dance. Just the week before this year's festival, however, Israel's cabinet voted to escalate its war in Gaza, a move opposed by much of Israeli society and families whose loved ones are held hostage in Gaza, because they fear their loved ones will be killed in the fighting,

fighting that's killed more than 62,000 Palestinians already, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Here's Amir. So it's simple. The war should end and the hostages should be brought back home and, you know, it's almost two years. Among the hostages is his best friend, fellow producer, Elkanah Bochboat.

Emily Fang and Pierre News Tel Aviv. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Despite the Canadian government ordering striking flight attendants from Air Canada back to work and into arbitration, the union representing the workers told members, to defy the federal order. The Canadian Union of Public Employees calls the order blatantly unconstitutional. The airline says that means they couldn't restart operations today as planned,

and they hope to be able to be back up tomorrow night. Air Canada says it had to cancel around 240 flights today, stranding an estimated 100,000 travelers during the peak summer season. Flight attendants are striking over pay and scheduling issues. How many steps should it take if you want to live longer and live a healthier life. New research suggests 7,000 steps is a day is a good target for most people. And Pierce Will Stone has more.

The team of researchers in Australia sifted through data collected from 160,000 adults. Taking 7,000 steps per day was associated with nearly a 50% lower risk of dying compared to the bare minimum of 2,000 steps. They also showed the chance of developing cardiovascular disease fell by 25% and dementia, 38% among other findings.

The studies authors emphasize that in many cases, doing more than 7,000 steps did yield additional health benefits, but those were relatively incremental, and that the widely cited 10,000 step target isn't rooted in solid science. Other research suggests older people may need fewer steps in those under 60 to get the same results. Will Stone, NPR News. And I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.

When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply.