NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-18-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. President Trump hosted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington today as the White House pushes for a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine. Several European leaders also took part in the meeting and are pressing the two sides for a breakthrough. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben report security guarantees for Ukraine came up in the talks. Trump said today that Putin is open to a guarantee, and over the weekend, his envoy, Steve Whitkoff, gave a bit more detail on that, saying Putin is open to an Article 5-like guarantee for Ukraine. Now, that refers to NATO's Article 5, which says that an attack on one NATO country would be treated like an attack on all.

But all of that said, it's still unclear what exactly such a guarantee would look like here. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Trump says he's spoken to Putin and began the arrangements for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. Trump said he would meet with the two leaders afterward. A senior Hamas official has confirmed to NPR that it's accepted a ceasefire proposal for Gaza put forth by Arab mediators. NPR's Jackie Northern reports Israel is preparing for a massive ground offensive into Gaza's largest city. Specific details of this latest ceasefire proposal are in short supply, but it's believed to be similar to one recently proposed by President Trump's special envoy, Steve Wickoff, which involved the release of some Israel. hostages and the withdrawal of some troops in parts of Gaza. Israel had agreed to that proposal. Hamas had rejected it. Since then, mediators from Egypt and Qatar have pressured Hamas to sign on to the plan with no amendments. The problem is it may be too late. Israel is already gearing up

for a major military offense into Gaza city, and President Trump has waded into the issue. In a social media post, he said the Israeli hostages will be released only when Hamas is destroyed. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Tel Aviv. In parts of rural Kenya, roughly 40 of every 1,000 babies die before they turn one. But as NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports, new research suggests simply giving households extra money could cut that rate by half. From 2014 to 2017, a nonprofit give directly gave $1,000 to over 10,000 of the most cash-strapped households across Western Kenya. A team of researchers followed those households. and found that cash made a big difference for those that had kids.

Not only did infant mortality drop by nearly half, but 45% fewer children died before they turned five. The benefits were highest among households who got cash right around the time of birth, and who lived within 30 minutes of a health care facility. Those reductions are about in line with more established interventions like anti-malarial drugs or vaccines. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News.

Washington. House Democrats in Texas have ended their two-week walkout. They return to the state capital today to take part in a special session. Republicans have introduced a bill that would redraw congressional maps. The plan aims to put five more Republicans in the U.S. House in next year's midterms. Democrats had tried to block the effort by fleeing the state. Fish may experience something akin to pleasure, and they appear to work rather hard to feel it. Ari Daniel has the details. The team of researchers wondered whether fish could feel good. So in the lab, they studied butterfly fish and a rass that cleans parasites off other fish.

The butterfly fish preferred being where it had interacted with the rass even when it had no parasites. But when the butterfly fish was injected with naloxone, a drug that blocks opioid receptors, it lost interest in the cleaners, suggesting there may well be pleasure involved with the massage. And that this is mediated by those natural opioids in their brains. Kyle Maximino is a neuroscientist at the Federal University of the South and Southeast Parah in Brazil. Other researchers may need more convincing, but this could mean rethinking how we treat fish. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.

The World Health Organization has announced that Nepal has eliminated Rubella as a public health problem. Rubela is a highly contagious viral infection that in pregnant women can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, and a number of birth defects. This is NPR News in Washington.