NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-22-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: August 22, 2025

NPR News: 08-22-2025 1AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you're a robot, this might not be the show for you. But if you're a human, with hopes, dreams, and bills to pay, the Life Kit podcast might be just what you need. Three times a week, Life Kit brings you a fresh set of solutions to help you tackle topics big and small, from how to save money on groceries to how to bring the house down at karaoke. You know, human stuff. Listen to the Life Kit podcast from NPR. Presentato for me, Mariel Segarra.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. A federal judge is ordering the shutdown of an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades. NPR's Greg Allen reports the judge says the construction of the facility, which officials call the alligator alcatraz, violated federal law. Environmental groups filed a lawsuit saying that the hasty construction of the detention center without public input or an environmental impact statement violated federal law. Florida and the Trump administration argued that because it was built by the state, federal law didn't apply. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams disagreed, noting that the camp was built at the request of the administration that all immigration enforcement activities at the camp are under federal control. Quoting an earlier court decision, she said,

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, then it's a duck. Williams ordered all activities at the site to shut down within 60 days. Florida says it's appealing her decision. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. California voters will decide in a November special election whether to approve redrawn congressional districts that could give Democrats an advantage in five House elections in next year's midterm elections. California's Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law Thursday, taking the question to the voters. Open your eyes to what is going on in the United States of America in

2025. That's what this is about. We're responding what occurred in Texas. We're neutralizing what occurred and we're giving the American people a fair chance. Newsom says the special election is a direct response by Democrats to a plan pushed by President Trump to redraw congressional districts in Texas, possibly adding five likely Republican seats in that state. California currently uses a nonpartisan independent commission to draw the lines. The U.S. and its European Union allies have now put in writing a trade agreement. They reached last month to avert further tariff escalation. Terry Schultz reports there are still some sectors under negotiation. EU officials have been eager to get the trade truce they reached with Washington on paper,

even though most exports from the bloc will still be subject to a 15% tariff upon entering the U.S. market pending further negotiations. The Trump administration had threatened at least 30%. This is not a final legally enforceable trade agreement, but EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sheffkovich, the deal's chief negotiator, still portrays it as a positive, because it caps most EU tariffs at 15%. This is not the end. It's the beginning. This framework is the first step, one that can grow over time to cover more sectors. One of those sectors is cars, where U.S. tariffs will remain at 27.5% for now.

For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. The California Parole Board denied a parole application from Eric Menendez convicted of killing his parents. You're listening to NPR. Part of what is worrying them is that the virus has moved. into Kenya's capital city. In other capitals, like that of Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, public health experts have watched as Mpox cases have grown exponentially once the virus gets into urban centers. Africa's CDC says it's also concerned because about 2% of Mpox patients in Kenya have died. Elsewhere, it's well under 1%. An Mpox vaccination campaign is slated to start there

at the beginning of September. Gabriela Emmanuel NPR News. That story from NPR's Gabrielle and Emanuel were cases of Mpox, also called monkeypox, are increasing in Kenya with 90 suspected cases last week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the federal government is immediately halting visas, new visas, for commercial truck drivers. In a post on X, Rubio said the increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives. The move comes in the same week that DOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced he was starting an investigation into a truck crash in West Palm Beach, Florida that left three people dead.

Florida authorities say the driver was originally from India but entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico. The White House and Wall Street will likely be paying close attention to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech Friday at the Fed Reserve's annual economic summit in Wyoming. There's conflicting data on the state of the economy. The recent job report suggests the Fed may want to cut interest rates to spur economic activity. From Washington, you're listening to NPR. 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.