NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-24-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: August 24, 2025

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These days, there's so much news. It can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community. The Consider This Podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and analysis that helps you make sense of the news. We get behind the headlines. We get to the truth. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke today in a video address from Kiev's Independence Square. Ukraine is celebrating its annual Independence Day for the fourth time since Russia's full-scale invasion began. The BBC's Katie Watson is in Kiev.

It's 34 years since Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Traditionally a day of parades and festivities, but because of the war, celebrations have become more subdued. Overnight, meanwhile, Russian officials. officials say a fire was put out at a nuclear power plant in the western Kursk region, a Ukrainian drone that was shot down, detonated when it fell and damaged a transformer. But the plant reported that radiation levels were normal and there were no casualties. The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly urged both Russia and Ukraine to show maximum restraint around nuclear facilities in the war.

President Trump's special representative to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is in Kiev today and so as Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney. Israeli planes and tanks pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight as Israeli leaders pledged to press on with their planned military offensive there. And Pierre Shackie Northam is in Tel Aviv. This is shaping up to be a major offensive. Israel considers Gaza City to be one of the last major Hamas strongholds. And the military is already preparing the groundwork to take control.

And that includes intensive bombing over the last few nights, which has killed dozens of people, including children, and calling up 60,000 reservists earlier this week, bringing the total up to about 120,000, and they'll work along with active duty soldiers. Israel says it will move forward to the offensive, despite an assessment from a global hunger monitor that says famine exists in Gaza City and will likely spread.

The Trump administration has halted construction of a nearly complete wind farm off the southern coast of New England, Connecticut and Rhode Island were counting on the project to help them transition to renewable energy sources from the public's radio. Ben Burke reports. Construction on the Revolution Wind Project ground to a halt Friday afternoon when the developer Orsted got a letter from the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, ordering an immediate work stoppage. The letter cited national security concerns, which were left unspecified. Orsted says it's complying with the work stoppage while it evaluates its options, including legal action. Leaders in Rhode Island and Connecticut are also considering lawsuits. The states had agreements to buy enough electricity from Revolution Wind to power 350,000 homes.

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee says the stoppage also threatens hundreds of American jobs. The company has also built a factory in Providence to manufacture turbine foundations. For NPR News, I'm Ben Burke in Providence. And you're listening to NPR News. Democratic leaders in Illinois are speaking out following a Washington Post report that says the Trump administration has been planning a military deployment to crack down on crime in Chicago and that has been in the works for weeks. Governor J.B. Pritzker says there is no emergency warranting a National Guard or other military deployment. And Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, says city data show violent crime is down this year. The main round of the U.S. Open gets underway in New York today.

As NPR's Matt Bloom report, some of the biggest names in tennis are set to compete in the final Grand Slam singles tournament of the year. This year's lineup includes Top Seeds Arena Sabalanka from Belarus for the women and Italian Yanik Sinner for the men. The defending champs join a crowded field of contenders, including four-time U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic, who skipped all tournaments after Wimbledon to focus on this Grand Samp. slam. Tennis legend Venus Williams is also making history as the oldest singles player in the tournament in more than four decades. She was extended a wildcard invitation to the U.S. Open. I want to be my best. That's the expectation I have for myself to get the best out of me. And that's all any player can ask for. William's first match is scheduled for Monday. The open will

last two weeks. Matt Bloom and PR News. Spaceax set to launch another test flight of its huge Starship rocket lift-off scheduled for this evening at the private company's Star Base headquarters in South Texas. Star Bay, Starship rather, the largest rocket ever built. Three previous tests this year have resulted in failure. I'm Giles Snyder. NPR News. It's that time of gear again. Planet Money Summer School is back. This semester with help from professors, policy experts, and yes, even a Nobel laureate, we're diving into how government and the economy mix and asking the big questions like, what role should should government play in our economy? Does government intervention help or hurt? And how big

should the government be? That's on Planet Money Summer School from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts.