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

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

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Shortwave thinks of science as an invisible force, showing up in your everyday life. Powering the food you eat, the medicine you use, the tech in your pocket. Science is approachable because it's already part of your life. Come explore these connections on the shortwave podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine are discussing the terms of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine this hour at the White House. And President Trump has just welcomed European leaders to the table. The European leader's presence in apparent attempt to avoid a repeat of last February's contentious Oval Office exchange

in which President Trump accused President Zelensky of showing a lack of gratitude. Well, today Zelensky effusively thanked Trump for inviting him to the White House. Thank you very much for your efforts. Personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you. And using this opportunity, many thanks to your life. Thanks to our partners and that you supported this format

that after our meeting we can have leaders who are around us in the UK and France, Germany, Italy, Finland, EU, I mean all partners around Ukraine supporting us. Thanks to them. Thank you very much for invitation.

Most recently, President Trump said that he planned to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone later today. I spoke in directly with President Putin today. We're going to call President Putin right after this meeting. I'm sure we're going to have a solid meeting, good meeting, maybe a great meeting, and we're going to try and work out a trilat after that and see if we can get it finished. In other news, Newsmax has agreed to pay $67 million to settle Dominion voting systems, defamation. lawsuit. Dominion accuses the right-wing cable network of spreading baseless claims that it rigged votes in the 2020 election. Trump lost to Joe Biden. Newsmax's settlement with Dominion voting comes the same day President Trump is threatening to do away with voting machines and mail-in ballots ahead of next year's midterm elections, but experts say that is not within the president's power. The former head of

Israeli military intelligence says the high death toll in Gaza is necessary. He says it's to send a message to Palestinians after Hamas's October 23 attack. Here's NPR's Daniel Estrin. A Haron Khaliva resigned from the military last year. Israeli TV aired leaked audio recordings where he discusses intelligence failures

that led to the October 2020 attack. He said the death toll of tens of thousands killed in Gaza was necessary. He said for every Israeli killed on October 7th quote, 50 Palestinians must die. I am not speaking out of revenge. I am speaking about a

message to the next generations. He said Palestinians periodically needed a Nakhba, the term that refers to the permanent displacement of Palestinians during Israel's founding in 1948. The intelligence chief resigned more than a year ago and acknowledged the authenticity of the recordings. His comments come amid increasing condemnation of Israel's conduct in Gaza. Daniel Esther in NPR News, Tel Aviv. From Washington, this is NPR News. The Texas Health Department says the measles outbreak in the state has ended. Texas Public Radio's Gabriela Alcorta Solorio has details.

The outbreak of measles in West Texas reached 762 cases before the state declared the outbreak over. It has been more than 42 days since a new case was reported. Two children died in connection to the outbreak. Both were not vaccinated against measles. 99 people were hospitalized. Texas officials say just because the outbreak is over here, the threat is still very real due to ongoing outbreaks across the country and globally. I'm Gabriela Alcurta Solorio in San Antonio. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is closing down, forcing major budget cuts at PBS,

and that has many documentary filmmakers scrambling to find other ways to fund and distribute their work. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports streamers are one potential avenue. Streamers Tobe and YouTube told NPR they would love to host more documentaries by indie filmmakers on their platforms. Carrie Lozano is the president and CEO of ITVS, one of the country's biggest co-producers of indie documentaries. She says it's tough for most indie films to gain visibility in the profit-driven streaming marketplace because they aren't necessarily made for mass audiences. Independent documentary has by and large always been a non-profit enterprise. So documentarians say they are also leaning into more treasurer.

traditional funding sources, such as corporations, foundations, and individual donors. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. The Dow is down 53 points at last check. It's NPR News. The wisecracking dude with a million side hustles who can't get out of his own way? That's a classic comedy character. On Code Switch, we're wondering, how do you keep it funny when that character is also trying to navigate the U.S. immigration system? I chop it up with the creator and star of the Netflix comedy Moe to find. find out. Check it out on Code Switch from NPR wherever you get your podcast.