NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-24-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: August 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Ukraine is celebrating its Independence Day for the fourth time since Russia's full-scale invasion. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is in key for the event. Dan Carpenchuk reports. Carney was invited as a special guest. The visit comes as Ukraine celebrates its independence day. He is meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss military aid and joint production of defense equipment. The two leaders also talked about security guarantees with

Carney saying that Russian president, Vladimir Putin, can never be trusted and that peace and security will require those guarantees for Ukraine. Carney's trip to Europe included a stop in Warsaw on Saturday at the start of a European mission aimed at forming deeper economic and security ties with European allies. He will also go to Berlin and to Riga, Latvia. A senior official says Carney's top priority is to move Canada closer to Europe at a time of trade tensions with Washington. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenchuk in Toronto.

Protesters called for sanctions against Israel at demonstrations across Australia today. Last week, United Nations-backed food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza. Christina Kukala reports from Melbourne. Crowds turned out in Melbourne where protesters marched, stopped traffic and blocked streets as they shut down the city centre. Their placards and speeches highlighted starvation

and the killing of children in Gaza and called for Australia to end military exports. to Israel. We want Australia to stop assisting the genocide in Gaza. Protests were also held in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and other locations on what was dubbed by organisers a National Day of Action in support of the Palestinian people and against Israel's military action in Gaza. It comes ahead of a UN General Assembly meeting next month where Australia is among several nations pledging to formally recognise a Palestinian state. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukkoyan, Melbourne.

The Pacific Northwest has experienced sky high temperatures over the past few days. That's creating dangerous conditions for residents. From Oregon Public Broadcasting, Jody Audenland reports. Portland, Oregon has seen triple-digit heat for the past two days, while Seattle has reached the mid-90s. The extreme heat is expected to last until Tuesday. On Friday alone, Portland saw more than 20 emergency calls for people suffering from heat exhaustion. One of them was David Loftus, who passed out while,

competing in a relay race and woke up in the back of an ambulance. They stuffed ice packs under my arms and on my groin. And by the time we got to the hospital, the ice was all melted and the packs were warm. Local officials have worked to provide air conditioning units to those in need. Still, 25% of renters in Portland have no air conditioning at home. For NPR News, I'm Joni Auden Land in Portland, Oregon. This is NPR News in Washington. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says there is no emergency in his state that requires help from the National Guard or any military.

The Washington Post is reporting that President Trump plans to deploy troops to Chicago to crack down on crime, homelessness, and undocumented immigration. Pritzker says the federal government hasn't asked if his state needs assistance and that Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis. Space X is preparing another test launch of its giant new. Starship rocket. As NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports, it hasn't conducted a successful test this year. Starship is the largest rocket ever built, and getting it to work is important for NASA's return to the moon and Elon Musk's dreams of settling on Mars. But things have not been going well this year. Three flight tests resulted in spectacular failures where the starships either exploded or burned up in the atmosphere. A fourth starship blew up during testing on the ground in June.

Another failure won't immediately cost SpaceX its leadership in the launch business, according to Carissa Christensen, CEO of Brice Tech, a firm that analyzes space launches. SpaceX conducts more than half the world's launches. It deploys 80% of the world's satellites. But she says competitors are catching up with new rockets of their own. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. The Little League World Series wraps up this afternoon in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. A team from Las Vegas faces a team from.

Taiwan for the title. Las Vegas is looking for its first title from Nevada while Taiwan is going for its 18th. Taiwan lost the championship last year to Florida. I'm Nora Rom. NPR News in Washington.