NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-08-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

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In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump says Israel and Hamas have signed off on the first phase of a peace plan. He says he'll travel to the region soon. Under the plan, Hamas will release all remaining hostages and Israel will begin with drawing troops from Gaza.

UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez issued a statement calling for the end to fighting and the entry of humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he'll convene the Israeli government tomorrow to approve the peace plan. The U.S. military campaign against drug smuggling boats and the Caribbean appears to be widening. After the U.S. said it had targeted Venezuelan vessels, Colombian President Gustavo Petro claims that the latest was Colombian. Reporter John Otis has more. U.S. officials say American airstrikes in the Caribbean have destroyed four drug smuggling boats from Venezuela and killed 21 people. The legality of these military attacks remains unclear. and now Colombia has been drawn into the conflict.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media that the U.S. destroyed a boat carrying Colombian citizens and that a, quote, new war scenario had opened up in the Caribbean. The White House called Petro's statement baseless and reprehensible. It's another blow to relations between the two nations, which were once close allies. Last month, the U.S. revoked Petro's visa after he called on U.S. troops to disobey the orders of President Trump. For NPR News, I'm John Otis. Senate Republicans voted down a bill that would have curbed President Trump's use of military

force against drug cartels. Democrats were trying to counter the administration's use of war powers to destroy vessels in the Caribbean. Trump has asserted that drug traffickers are armed combatants and that using military force without congressional approval is legal. President Trump hosted a roundtable on the leftist movement Antifa at the White House. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports the meeting comes after Trump designated Antifa, a domestic terrorist organization. President Trump was joined by Attorney General Pambandi and Homeland Security Secretary Christy Knoem, along with several conservative independent journalists who shared their stories of confrontations with demonstrators that they refer to as Intifah. It should be clear to all Americans that we have a very serious left-wing terror threat in our country, radicals associated with the domestic terror group, Antifa.

Last month, Trump signed an order to crack down on left-wing groups after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, including targeting those who financially support them. Some studies show there has been an increase in left-wing attacks in the U.S., but they remain much lower than historical levels of right-wing violence. Franco, Ordonias, NPR News, the White House. This is NPR News. French President Emmanuel Macron says he will name a new premier in the next 48 hours amid a political storm.

His prime minister, Sebastian Le Corneux, abruptly resigned on Monday. The move means it's unlikely Macron will call snap elections. That could plunge the country into even greater uncertainty. Macron doesn't have a majority in the National Assembly, and his prime ministers have repeatedly failed over the past year. The Niagara Falls tourist attraction, Marine Land, says 30 beluga whales, facing possible euthanization, should not be sent to a proposed whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia. As Dan Carpenshuk reports, the now defunct Marine Land says the proposed sanctuary lacks any proven financial viability.

Marine Land has been trying to sell the 30 belugas to avoid bankruptcy. It appealed to Ottawa for urgent financial help, saying it can no longer feed and care for the whales. But last week, the Canadian government denied an export permit to ship the whales to an aquarium in China. The amusement park says it has no choice but to begin euthanizing the belugas. Marine Land also says the proposed whale sanctuary in eastern Nova Scotia is too polluted, and there has not been any development on the project in five years. Marine land alleges serious environmental issues, including toxic arsenic on the floor of the site, remain unresolved, and based on the lack of progress, it's unclear when the proposed sanctuary could even take in the whales.

For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenchuk in Toronto. The government shutdown has grounded the Blue Angels stunt planes during San Francisco's Fleet Week air show. But pilots from Canada will make sure the show goes on. Royal Canadian Air Force's snowbirds will headline the air show this weekend. This is NPR News. Across the country, states and counties are rushing to change their voting rules. Stacey Abrams says these attacks on voting rights are part of the authority. You may not be into politics, but politics is into you and it is a stalker.

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