NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-21-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: August 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump tells conservative talk radios of the Todd Starns show that he is planning a ride-along in D.C. tonight with National Guard forces and police. Last week, Trump ordered federal oversight of law enforcement in the nation's capital on the grounds that crime in the city is surging. Crime rates are high in some parts of D.C., but data show that overall, violent crime in the district has fallen nearly 30%. Israel has given final approval to build thousands of new homes in the occupied West Bank. Critics say the long-delayed settlement project will bury the chances of a Palestinian state. NPR's Jackie Northam reports. The so-called E1 settlement project has been on the drawing board for more than two decades,

but pressure from the U.S. and other nations prevented it from becoming a reality. Until now, the controversial development, which involves more than 3,400 housing units, will be built on a tract of land east of Jerusalem, effectively slicing the West Bank in two. The Palestinian Authority called the development illegal and said it would destroy the chance of a two-state solution. Israel's ultra-right finance minister Bezal Smotrich, who approved the plans, said the E1 settlements will erase any notion of a Palestinian state. The number of settlements has quickly grown over the past few years despite international condemnation. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

A former advisor and longtime confidant of New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing new corruption charges. WNYC, Samantha, Max says more. Prosecutors say Ingrid Lewis Martin traded her power for bribes while serving as Mayor Eric Adams' top advisor. She's accused of intervening in real estate development, a controversial street redesign, and the awarding of government contracts for migrant shelters. In return, prosecutors say she pocketed tens of thousands. of dollars. Lewis Martin was already facing other corruption charges. Now, she and various co-defendants are facing four new indictments. They have all pleaded not guilty. For NPR News, I'm Samantha Max in New York. Federal officials are taking over inspections for at least the next three months at a boar's head deli meat plant in Jarrett, Virginia, following a deadly

Listeria outbreak. The contamination killed 10 people and sickened dozens of others. The Menendez brothers are now going before the parole board hoping to be granted freedom after spending more than 30 years in prison for murdering their parents. Eric Manez's hearing was scheduled this morning. His brother Lyle appears before the panel tomorrow. The siblings maintain they were victims of abuse and acted in self-defense when they killed their parents at the family Beverly Hills Mansion in 1989. The criminal case was among the most famous of the 20th century. This is NPR news. Walmart says tariff costs are rising every week and will keep climbing for the rest of the year. Here's NPR's Alina Salyuk. Walmart says it's been able to mitigate many of the tariff costs so far, but they are rising and will keep rising for the next six months.

For now, Walmart says it's raising some prices, while others are actually lower, like top back-to-school products for example, as the company absorbs many costs. Broadly, Walmart CEO, Doug McMillan, told investors, this has not prompted, quote, dramatic shifts in shopper behavior. The impact of tariffs has been gradual enough that any behavioral adjustments by the customer have been somewhat muted. McMillan says Walmart continues to attract more higher-income shoppers looking for deals, and higher prices are prompting middle and lower-income shoppers to sometimes switch or skip purchases. Alina Selyu, NPR News. The upcoming Broadway season will feature some well-known stars from television and film in a couple of revivals, announced yesterday,

more from Jeff London. In December, Carrie Coon, who starred in both the White Lotus and the Gilded Age on HBO this season, will headline in a revival of the off-Broadway hit, Bug. A tense thriller, which is almost 30 years old, it's by Tracy Letts, Coon's husband. In March, two Golden Globe winners, film and television actor Don Cheadle and Iyo Adebbery, who recently starred in The Bear, make their Broadway debuts as a father and daughter in proof. The 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Auburn receives its first Broadway revival. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York.

The Dow's closed down 152 points. It's NPR News.