NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-15-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The United States and China have agreed on the framework to save TikTok. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Trade Representative Jameson Greer made the announcement today outside of Spain's foreign ministry building in Madrid. Ashish Valentine reports it's the result of high-level trade talks between Washington and Beijing. Besson said the day's negotiations had focused on TikTok and the deal would likely switch TikTok's parent company to U.S. controlled ownership. President Trump and party chair, she will speak on Friday to complete the deal, but we do have

a framework for a deal with TikTok. It marked the end of this set of trade talks between Besson and China's vice premier, Hewifeng. Besson and Greer said the two sides would meet again to keep ironing out other issues like tariffs. The U.S. and China agreed last month to extend a temporary tariff truce till Nevis. November the 10th. For NPR News, I'm Oshish Valentine in Taipei. The Trump administration says it's planning to send the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, as part of its nationwide crackdown

on crime in U.S. cities. But a potential deployment has some residents concerned. George Taylor says it feels more like a police takeover. The people that live here are very, I think, self-sufficient, and I think our military and people that we have here are very capable of taking care of what's going on here in Memphis without any outside intrusion. FBI record show Memphis has one of the highest violent crime rates in the United States with a quarter of the population living in poverty. President Trump will travel to the United Kingdom on Tuesday for a state visit. The U.S. and U.S. and U.K. are expected to sign agreements on technology and nuclear energy during his visit. But persistent questions about the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, threatened to overshadow those details. NPR's Lauren Farr reports from London.

UK Prime Minister Kier Starrmer fired his ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, ahead of Trump's visit. After letters came out that Mandelson had written to Jeffrey Epstein. Now, some in Starmor's own party are asking what the prime minister knew, when, and why he kept Mandelson on for so long. This could come up while Starrmer and King Charles are hosting the U.S. president. Trump and the King's brother, Prince Andrew, were also once friends in the past with the late sex offender. Trump's Starmer and the King would all likely rather focus on US-UK deals to open artificial intelligence data centers and to partner on nuclear energy. Trump is traveling with business leaders, including the heads of open AI, NVIDIA, and BlackRock.

Lauren Freyer and PR News London. Stocks are trading higher on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow was up 74 points, the NASDAQ up 171. This is NPR News in Washington. Uber is being sued for discriminating against passengers with disabilities, including those who use service animals and mobility devices. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the Rideshare app on Thursday. The suit is seeking $125 million. A wildfire in Central California is now mostly contained. officials are assessing the damage in a grove of giant sequoias that burned last week in the garnet fire. Carrie Klein of Member Station, KVPR, reports from the front lines.

These water pumps and sprinklers have been running around the clock in McKinley Grove for more than a week, and they appear to have worked. John Regal Brugge is with the U.S. Forest Service. We've had basically 100% success. Near the sprinklers, no sequoias appear to have died. That includes baby ones and the monarchs that are done. 2 to 3,000 years old. Dirk Charlie is a tribal liaison with the U.S. Forest Service. This is good. This is something good I can

report back to the tribes on. However, only a fraction of the 300 acre grove received sprinklers, the drier areas in steeper terrain will be assessed later. For NPR news, I'm Carrie Klein in the Sierra National Forest. The Federal Reserve is said to vote this week on weathered to

lower interest rates. It would be the first cut in nine months. Economists are forecasting the central bank to lower rates by a quarter point amid ongoing concerns about a slowdown in hiring in the U.S. stocks continue to trade higher on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow up 82 points. The NASDA composite up 176. This is NPR News in Washington.