NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-10-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 10, 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 Janine Herbst. the White House says layoffs of federal workers has started. It's something President Trump threatened to do if the federal government shutdown continued. White House Budget Director Russ Vote first announced it on social media and a spokesperson tells NPR the reductions in force will be, quote, substantial, but didn't say how many people or which agencies are being affected. This says hundreds of thousands of federal employees are currently on furlough as the government shutdown now in its 10th day with no end in sight. In Tennessee, officials say several people are dead. Others are unaccounted for after an explosion at accurate energy systems. That's a military explosives manufacturing plant in Buxnort, about an hour southwest of Nashville. Officials say the blast involved one entire building at the plant that makes products for the military, aerospace, avalanche control, mining and blasting. The cause is under investigation.

President Trump says he no longer sees a point in meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. after China introduced new restrictions on exports of rare earth materials and related technology. As Empire's Deepa Chivaram reports, the two were supposed to meet in South Korea later this month. Trump says the meeting was set to take place during the APEC summit in Korea in a few weeks. It would have been the first in-person meeting between Trump and Xi in Trump's second term. But in a post-to-truth social, Trump accuses Xi of surprising him and other world leaders with the announcement of the export restrictions. It's a move seen as an effort by China to boost its leverage in trade talks with the U.S.

Trump says the U.S. is considering how to respond to China, and that one option might be a, quote, massive increase in tariffs on Chinese products coming into the U.S. Deepa Shiverum, NPR News, the White House. First Lady Melania, Trump says eight Ukrainian children held in Russia have been reunited with their families after negotiations with Russian President Putin. NPR's Joanna Kikis reports. Speaking to reporters in Washington, the First Lady said the negotiations began after she wrote a letter to Putin, which President Trump hand-delivered when the two men met in Alaska this summer. And since then, President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication

regarding the welfare of these children. She said there are plans to bring back more Ukrainian children. In a social media post, President Trump thanked Putin for praising his peace efforts. Last month, an investigation by Yale University researchers showed that Ukrainian children in Russia are stripped of their identity, re-educated as Russian, and trained in military tactics. Joanna Kikisis, NPR News, Keeve. Wall Street is sharply lower on word that President Trump says China is becoming hostile over rare earth metals. Dow is down 584 points. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

is the first university to turn down the Trump administration's offer to get priority access for federal funding in exchange for signing an agreement to support President Trump's higher education agenda. The proposal sent to nine schools, requiring them to cap international student enrollment, freeze tuition for five years, adhere to the administration's definition of gender, and prohibit anything that would, quote, belittle conservative ideas. MIT says it's already met or exceeded many of the standards in the proposals but that it won't restrict free expression. The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Karina Machado

has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Julia Carnio has more. Oh, my God. Well, I have no words. This was the moment Maria Corina Machado received the news, waking up to a phone call in the middle of the night. And her honor and I know it's a recognition to, to our people, to the Venezuelan people.

Machado is a leading figure opposing Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro. She was barred from running for president in 2024. After that election, Maduro claimed victory without detailing the vote count. Since then, Machado has lived in hiding in Venezuela. World leaders praised her courage and commitment to human rights. But the White House offered no congratulations, saying the Nobel Committee had placed politics over peace in failing to award the prize to President Trump.

For NPR News, I'm Julika Haneiro. And on Wall Street, that I was down 571 points, NASDAQ, down 576, that's down 2.5%. This is NPR News.