NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-21-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: September 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. A memorial service for Charlie Kirk will be held this afternoon at a football stadium in Arizona. The conservative activist was shot to death 11 days ago while speaking at a university in Utah. The stadium has room for 73,000 people. And organizers say they've arranged for overflow space at a nearby arena. Wayne Shutsky of member station KJZZ has more. We're also expecting President Trump to be there. to headline a very long list of prominent Republicans who are supposed to speak.

That includes Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, RFK Jr., Defense Secretary Pete Hedgeseth, and several others. Kirk's widow, Erica Kirk, will also speak. And this comes just days after the Turning Point Board named her to succeed her husband as the CEO for the organization. Wayne Shusky reporting. Several European airports are reporting delays because of a cyber attack that began Friday night. Terry Schultz reports there have been major disruptions that's some of the busiest hubs. The cyber attack on a software system made by Collins Aerospace shut down automated check-in and boarding at airports,

including London's Heathrow, Berlin's Brandenburg, and Brussels Airport. Dublin Airport was also impacted, along with Ireland's second biggest airport in Cork. Airlines staff had to resort to paper and pen to fill out boarding cards, causing delays and cancellations. Brussels Airport asked airlines to cancel half their scheduled departing flights for Sunday. There's been no information released on who is responsible for the attack, and no word on when it might be resolved.

For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz. The Israeli Prime Minister's office says it's willing to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross partial access to visit Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons. But a senior Israeli government minister is trying to block the move, NPR's Daniel Estrin has more from Tel Aviv. Red Cross officials used to visit Palestinians held in Israeli prisons to monitor their treatment,

but Israel has been blocking those visits since the Hamas attack, October 7, 2023. Israeli politicians defend the ban, saying Hamas prevents the Red Cross from visiting Israeli hostages in Gaza. Israeli security officials say the visits are blocked to prevent messages from getting out of prison. The Prime Minister's office says it is willing to allow Red Cross visits to some Palestinian inmates, but not those from Gaza or those affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, which hold Israeli hostages in Gaza. A far-right cabinet Minister in charge of Israel's prisons is trying to block that. Israel's Supreme Court is now weighing the matter. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,

and Portugal all recognized a Palestinian state today. British Prime Minister Kier Stormer says the decision over Israeli objections is aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza and promoting a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. This is NPR News in Washington. The United Nations Security Council is to meet tomorrow to discuss recent Russian incursions into NATO airspace. Estonia requested the meeting. Last week, Russian fighter jets entered its airspace over the Gulf of Finland and stayed for 12 minutes before being escorted away. NATO is to hold a special meeting on the incident on Tuesday. Texas saw the largest increase in the rate of uninsured children in the country between 2022 and 2024.

Experts warned it will likely get worse. Abigail Ruman of Member Station KERA reports. Texas once again had the highest rate of uninsured children in 2024 at about 13 percent, more than double the national average. Lynn Coles is with the Research and Advocacy Group every Texan. She says many more kids are at risk of losing their coverage due to changes in the federal budget. She says more than half a million Texas children are enrolled in the federal health insurance marketplace. These are the middle-income families who will read.

really, really get hit by the expiration of the enhanced advanced premium tax credit. That tax credit was designed to make Affordable Care Act coverage, more affordable. Kohl says the risk extends to adults with ACA coverage and people enrolled in Medicaid plans. I'm Abigail Ruman in Dallas. Fat Bear Week begins Tuesday. It's an annual competition for brown bears at the Catmine National Park in Alaska. Fats a good quality for them because it makes it more likely they'll survive the winter hibernation. Voting for The Fattest Bear begins Tuesday at explore.org and ends September 30th.

Last year, more than a million votes were cast from 100 countries. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News.