NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-26-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: September 26, 2025

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On Fridays, the 1A podcast is all about helping you cut through the info fog and get to what's important in the news. Close out the week with us on our Friday News Roundup. Here from reporters who've been embedded with the biggest news of the week. Join us every week for the Friday News Roundup. Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR and WAMU. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. Former FBI director James Comey says he is not intimidated by the Trump administration's indictment in accusing him of lying to Congress and obstruction.

The charges stem from Comey's 2020 testimony at a Senate hearing on the Russia investigation. Comey says his family cannot imagine not standing up to Donald Trump and refuses to live on their knees. My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I'm innocent. So let's have a trial. Comey is scheduled to be arraigned on October 9th. Several former finance officials are urging the Supreme Court to protect the Federal Reserve

from political interference. In a filing Thursday, the former Treasury and Central Bank officials are also asking the justices to allow Fed Governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job. President Trump wants to fire a cook after an administration official made unproven claims that she committed mortgage fraud. President Trump has signed an executive order indicating his support for the the proposed sale of TikTok to a group of U.S. investors. Details from NPR's John Bruwich.

The executive order paves the way for a framework agreement on the sale of TikTok to be finalized. It would see TikTok's Chinese parent company, BightDance, divest to less than 20% ownership while U.S. investors step in and take control. A law passed last year requires BightDance to divest or see the app go dark in the United States. The law arose out of the fear that, under Chinese ownership, TikTok could be used by the Chinese government to collect data on Americans. or manipulate U.S. users with propaganda or disinformation. After Trump signed the executive order,

Vice President J.D. Vance said the deal values TikTok at around $14 billion. He said the deal safeguards U.S. users' data and ensures that Americans are in control of TikTok's prized content recommendation algorithm. John Rewich, NPR News. Dozens of migrants gathered at a Dallas-Ice facility Thursday, a day after three detainees were shot there, one fatally. As NPR Sergio Martinez Bertrand reports, they were there for mandatory check-ins that if missed could lead to detention and deportation. 53-year-old Nicaraguan migrant Benhamine Bejorin drove more than two hours to get to his appointment with ice in Dallas.

But he found police officers outside telling him that the facility was closed, no appointments today. Bejorin expressed he was worried, saying, I just wanted them to see that I showed up, he says. he does not want to get in trouble. Bejurin did not know the appointments have been postponed. Authorities say the gunman who opened fire this week was targeting ICE agents, but the people he shot were all detainees. ICE has said this week's check-ins have been moved to next week.

Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Dallas. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours training on Wall Street following Thursday's losses. You're listening to NPR. The military says it fired warning shots after a North Korean merchant ship briefly crossed into disputed waters on Friday. The area is a western sea boundary between the two nations and has been the scene of past skirmishes and attacks. It is unclear if North Korean forces returned fire. Israel has killed dozens of Houthi fighters after striking Yemen with a barrage of attacks one day after a Houthi drone wounded dozens in Israel. More from NPR's Emily Fang.

Israel's defense minister Israel Katz said the forces struck military camps, offices, and the weapons depots in Yemen from where the Houthis have been launching repeated rocket and drone attacks, usually to little effect on Israel. That is, until Wednesday when a drone exploded in Elia, Israel's southernmost city on the coast of the Red Sea, wounding more than 20 people. Israel immediately vowed payback. The defense minister Katz warned, quote, whoever harms us will be harmed sevenfold. Earlier this month, Israeli forces also bombed an office in Yemen which housed multiple media outlets. The Advocacy Group Committee to Protect Journalists said the attack killed 31 journalists and media workers and wounded 22 more people. Israel said it was targeting Houthi militants. Emily Fang and Pierre News, Tel Aviv. A criminal court in Paris has sentenced former French President Nicholas Sarkozy to five years in jail for conspiracy.

Sarkozy was found not guilty of all other charges, including corruption. This charges stem from efforts by his age to get Libyan funds to support Sarkozy's 2007 campaign. He calls the case politically motivated. This is NPR. 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 rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. Tease and Cs apply.