NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-01-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Russian President Vladimir Putin says U.S.-backed peace efforts to end the war in Ukraine could still bear fruit. He spoke at an Asian Regional Security Summit in China, where he began a four-day visit. From Moscow, NPR's Charles Mains has details. Speaking before leaders from countries including China, India, and Iran, Putin claimed Western meddling in Ukraine and NATO's expansion had forced Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbors. Yet Putin said understandings reached at his recent summit with President Trump in Alaska

had opened the path towards peace. Trump and his negotiators say the Alaska talks marked a breakthrough, with Putin agreeing to concessions towards Ukraine's future security in exchange for for for for forfeiting land. Yet the Kremlin has since slow-walked Trump's efforts to organize a summit between Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and dismiss several Western proposals for security guarantees for Ukraine outright. Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan says more than 800 people have died after a magnitude 6 earthquake last night. A spokesman said most of the dead were in Kunar province. At least 2,500 people were hurt. Rescue efforts are underway. The BBC's Azadamoshi has more in the story. The earthquake hit a region where most homes are made of mud, stone, and clay. No match for the intensity of the tremors. Emergency teams are struggling to reach the worst hit places,

which are in a mountainous area. Helicopters have been deployed as landslides have blocked off roads. This emergency is happening as the country is reeling from severe drought and what the World Food Programme is calling a hunger crisis. The government is calling for international support as it warns the number of casualties

is likely to rise. Azadamo Sheri reporting for the BBC. Hundreds of news outlets around the world have signed on to an appeal calling for the protection of Palestinian journalists, in Gaza and for foreign press to be granted independent access to the territory. More than 200 Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since the war broke out. NPR's Aepetrowi reports. Many of the media outlets signed on are blacking out their front

pages or, like NPR, are taking part by reporting on the appeal and the risks Palestinian journals face in Gaza. A similar petition signed in June by the editors and chiefs of major news organizations noted that Israel's ban on independent access to Gaza is without precedent in modern warfare. Moreover, the Committee to Protect Journalists says August was the deadliest month ever recorded for journalists globally. That's due to what Palestinians say is 15 journalists killed in Gaza in August alone. Last week, Israeli attacks killed five journalists at a hospital, including photographers for Reuters and the AP. Two more journalists were killed since then in other attacks. A. Abatrawi and Pierre News, Dubai.

is NPR News in Washington. A major evacuation is underway in Pakistan's Punjab province to rescue people stranded by floods after weeks of above normal rainfall. Hundreds of thousands of people have been moved to higher grounds so far. Drug deaths in the U.S. continue an historic decline, according to the latest provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fatal overdoses have now reached their lowest level in five years. NPR's Brian Mann reports. Fatal drug overdoses rose during the pandemic to catastrophic levels, driven in part, according to public health experts by the rapid spread of street fentanyl. The latest CDC data shows deaths have now plunged nationwide by roughly

a third from the peak. The latest 12-month period through March of this year found a total of roughly 77,648 U.S. drug deaths. A report earlier this year appeared to show drug deaths rising again. But revised federal data now shows fatal overdoses have declined steadily without interruption for two years. CDC researchers say revisions are common in complex public health data. Despite this unprecedented decline in drug deaths, President Trump cites fentanyl as justification for a range of policies from tariffs to the crackdown on migrants. Brian Mann, NPR News. The Democratic National Committee meets in Minneapolis tomorrow. Members will begin planning for the primary schedule for the 2028.

presidential election. Former President Biden had pushed the DNC last time to allow South Carolina to weigh in first on the Democratic candidate. Any final decision probably won't be made until after next year's midterm elections. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News in Washington.