NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-24-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: August 24, 2025

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There's a lot of news happening. You want to understand it better, but let's be honest, you don't want it to be your entire life either. Well, that's sort of like our show, here and now anytime. Every weekday on our podcast, we talk to people all over the country about everything from political analysis to climate resilience, video games. We even talk about dumpster diving on this show. Check out Here and Now Anytime, a daily podcast from NPR and WBUR.

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. The Pacific Northwest has experienced. sky-high temperatures over the past few days, and that's creating dangerous conditions for local residents. From Member Station OPB, Joni Auden Land 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 emergency. 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 Audenland in Portland, Oregon. Officials are trying to find what caused a major explosion at an auto supply company in Southeast Louisiana Friday. The explosion sparked a fire and caused the evacuation of people living nearby, along with an elementary school. But Sheriff Gerald Sticker says not everyone complied. We had another group of citizens that

elected not to get evacuated. We're not in the business of dragging people out of their homes. If they chose to stay, we documented who they were. No injuries have been reported from the fire, and it's not known if the fire poses significant health risk because of the chemicals stored on site. A bus carrying 25 junior high students and three adults crashed north of Pittsburgh on Saturday. The bus was carrying a football team from the Aliquippa Junior High to a game when the accident occurred. Police say the crash happened at a bad bend in the road, but they don't yet know the cause. 21 of the people on board were taken to the hospital for further evaluation. Postal services from several countries around Europe are suspending the shipment of many packages to the U.S. Officials say they

lack clarity over new import duties being imposed by the U.S. starting on August 29th, and Britain's Royal Mail has become the latest service to pause deliveries. Vicky Barker has more from London. Last month, President Trump signed an executive order ending tax exemptions on low-value imports. Gifts worth less than $100 will remain duty-free, but starting August 29th, all international shipments of any value must pay the same tariffs as their country's. of origin. There's confusion, though, over just how the duties are to be collected and by whom. Now, Britain's Royal Mail says it will suspend its business delivery service starting Tuesday, just the latest foreign postal service to pause shipments to the U.S. In a statement, Royal Mail adds it hopes

to have a new system in place by the time the new rules take effect. For NPR News, I'm Vicky Barker in London. And you're listening to NPR News. Health officials in Gaza say at least 35 Palestinians were killed by Israel's military as they sheltered in tents or went looking for scarce food aid this weekend. At least 17 people were killed in southern Gaza, and more than half of them were women and children. The Palestinian journalist syndicate also says a cameraman was killed while he was covering events at a site that was targeted by Israeli troops. SpaceX is preparing another test launch of its giant new Starship rocket.

As MPR's Jeff Brumfield reports, it is yet to complete 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 Bryce 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 first Russian woman to reach number one in the National tennis rankings is now in the Tennis Hall of Fame. Marie Sharpovo is inducted Saturday night, along with doubles champions, Mike and Bob Brian. In a moment that surprised the crowd, Serena Williams introduced Sharapova, calling her a former rival, a former fan, and a forever friend. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. 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 range.

with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply.