NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-18-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. Several European leaders will be joining Ukraine's president at the White House Monday. They'll be meeting with President Trump to discuss a possible peace deal for Ukraine. The meeting comes just days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. After that meeting, Trump said a possible land swap might be required for peace. Ukrainian refugee advocate Olena Kaslova Pates says that possibility gives her concern. The land swap might seem like a good solution. For Ukrainians, it's not as much about the land. It is about the people who live on that territory.

And we have seen the horrors that people have to go through under Russian occupation. Emergency officials are ordering the evacuation of Hatteras Island off the coast of North Carolina starting on Monday. Hurricane Aaron is returned to a category four hurricane and continues to grow in size. While it's not expected to directly hit the U.S., weather officials say it could bring heavy winds and high waves to much of the east. coasts. Police in New York City say several suspects remain at large after a Sunday morning shooting in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, left three people dead and nine others injured. For 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 Khalifé in New York. Investors on Wall Street will pay close attention this week to a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. As NPR's Rafael NAM reports, the main focus would be on whether he hints potential rate cuts next month.

After cutting interest rates by a full percentage point last year, the Fed has been more cautious, keeping them steady so far in 2025. That caution comes as President Trump's tariffs threatened to raise prices in the U.S. But investors now believe the Fed will need to cut rates at its next policy meeting in September because there are now signs that the labor market could be slowing significantly. That could force policymakers to pivot from prioritizing. increasing inflation to paying more attention to the labor market. So investors will tune in this week when Powell is set to deliver an economic speech

during a Fed event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Rafael NAMM in PR News. Air Canada says it will resume flights Monday evening. 10,000 flight attendants walked off the job early Saturday, and that's disrupted trips by some 130,000 people a day. Canada's Industrial Relations Board ordered union members back to work on Sunday, but so far the union has defied that order. This is NPR News.

Protesters demanding a deal to free the remaining hostages in Gaza tried to shut down Israel on Sunday. Organizers claim hundreds of thousands of people took part. They were protesting plans for a new military offensive in some of Gaza's most populated areas. The protesters are concerned the action could further endanger the hostages. The U.S. has a new top competitor and settlers of Catan, the board game. Colorado Public Radio's Kevin Beatty reports on the results of this weekend's U.S. National Championship.

Settlers of Catan is the game where players trade resources to build settlements and roads. How much wheat do you guys have between you? Barack Oscar of Irvine, California won the title after a two-hour game. Winning requires collaboration intact, he said, and both are things the planet has struggled with lately. Everybody wants to achieve something, and you can't do it on your own. You really need collaboration with others. And I think that's an example for the world. He's now set to play in the Catan World Finals in 2027.

Organizers say they're not planning to bring it to the U.S. thanks to current geopolitical tensions. For NPR News, I'm Kevin Beatty in Denver. Horflick Weapons was top of the box office for a second straight weekend, despite dropping 43% in ticket sales. It captured another $25 million domestically. The Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan sequel, Freakier Friday, meanwhile,

earned another $14.5 million for Disney. Nobody, too, finished in third for the weekend, while the latest Fantastic Four sequel finished in fourth. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.