NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-08-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

NPR News: 10-08-2025 11AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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, on Kouravuk Coleman, former FBI director James Comey, has pleaded not guilty to two federal counts of lying to Congress. Comey's a critic of President Trump, who has long demanded Comey's prosecution. Democrats say the Justice Department is using its power to single out and punish Trump's political enemies. Comey's trial date has been set for January 5th. This is the eighth day of the

federal government shutdown, and P.R. Joel Rose says the cut off of federal funding is poised to affect rural airports. There is a federal program that subsidizes flights to rural airports. It's called the essential air service program. The Trump administration says that program will run out of money as soon as this weekend if the shutdown continues. And that could be a big deal for the almost 170 communities around the country that are part of this program, including more than 60 in Alaska alone. And Pierre's Joel Rose reporting. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's threats to conduct mass layoffs of federal workers during the shutdown has not happened yet. And Pierre Stephen Fowler is more on the White House's negotiating tactics over federal workers.

More than a week into the federal government shutdown, there's no sign for now of mass layoffs promised by the Trump administration if a government funding deal is not reached. Aviva Arindine was an office of management and budget deputy in the Obama and Biden administrations and says that's because the law doesn't work that way. They can initiate shutdown-related furloughs for workers who are not funded and don't fall into various categories of accepted employment, but they can't fire people just because there's shut down. The White House is also floating a draft memo that would see furloughed workers not automatically get back pay. That conflicts with the 2019 law, signed then by President Trump

in his first term. That guarantees it. Stephen Fowler and PR News. High-level talks continue today in Egypt. Negotiators are looking for an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza. NPR's Anasbaba reports from Gaza City, while there is hope for the negotiations, lives in Gaza have been shattered. For many here in Gaza, time hasn't moved forward. It stands still under the weight of rubble, famine, and the endless wait for a ceasefire. Chameas Al-Hilu is among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcibly displaced to southern Gaza by Israel.

His daughter, brother and sister are among the more than 67,000 Palestinians that Gaza's health ministry has recorded killed by Israel in the war. Al-Hilu also lost his home. It was reduced to rubble by Israel's military in the war. He says he hopes there is a chance for permanent ceasefire under President Trump's plan. So those still alive in Gaza have a chance at life again. Anasbaba, NPR News, Gaza City. On Wall Street stocks are higher, the Dow Jones Industrial averages up nearly 110 points.

The NASDAQ is up 150. This is NPR. National Guard troops are in Illinois after President Trump deployed them. He says he's fighting crime, including in Chicago. Illinois officials have sued the Trump administration saying they object. Today, Trump wrote online, Chicago's mayor and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker should be jailed for allegedly failing to protect ICE agents. The Illinois officials say federal agents have gone after civilians. A new combination of drugs looks promising for people with some forms of advanced prostate cancer. Research shows about one in four patients with this stage of

the disease might benefit. And Pierre's Yuki Noguchi reports on the study in the journal Nature Medicine. The study looked at what happened when a drug called Nira Perib, which treats ovarian and breast cancer, is added to a combination of two other drugs used as standard treatment for prostate cancer. Researchers at the University College of London followed 700 patients with certain genetic alterations in their prostate cancer for over two and a half years. It found adding the third drug reduced risk of progression by 37% overall and nearly half among those with certain specific genetic markers. The combination also significantly delayed onset of symptoms.

Yuki Naguchi, NPR News. Three scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Susuma Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yagi are being honored for research showing how molecules can be built into structures. This could lead to the creation of new materials. You're listening to NPR.