NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-10-2025 3PM 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 Hurst. The White House says it started a round of layoffs of federal workers today, making good on President Trump's threats to cut workers and agencies while the government is shut down. White House Budget Director Russ Vote didn't specify which agencies or how many workers are affected, but at least one federal agency, Health and Human Services, tells NPR its workers have received notices, saying those who got them were designated as non-essential. Multiple people are dead and injured in an explosion at a military munitions plant today in Tennessee, west of Nashville.

As Cynthia Abrams from Member Station, WPLN reports, the blast could be felt for miles away. The explosion happened just before 8 a.m. this morning. John McEwen, who lives in a neighboring county about 27 miles away from the facility, says he could feel it as he was getting ready for work. I felt just kind of the house, you know, was shaken. or jarred a little bit, and I thought somebody may have hit my home or ran into it. The manufacturer, Accurate Energetic Systems, makes a variety of explosive products for the military, commercial demolition firms, and the aerospace industry.

Emergency responders initially were not able to access the site because of continuing detonations. For NPR News, I'm Cynthia Abrams in Nashville. Memphis, Tennessee is the latest city where the Trump administration has, deployed National Guard troops arriving today as part of a federal and state task force intended to combat crime. Meanwhile, Oklahoma's Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, chair of the National Governor's Association, tells the New York Times that sending guard troops to Illinois and other cities is a violation of his beliefs in federalism and state's rights. He's the first Republican governor to question the administration's deployments. The Israel-Hamas ceasefire is underway and now both

sites have 72 hours to return hostages and Palestinian detainees under President Trump's peace plan for the area. Empir Zayabatrawi has more. For the first time in seven months, Palestinians woke up to no Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. And thousands of Palestinians who had been forcibly displaced by Israel's military offensive on Gaza City rushed back to check on their homes when the ceasefire came into effect. NPR's Anasbaba in Gaza City saw two men embracing after meeting again in their neighborhood. And they are hugging each other, embracing each other, embracing each that both of them are still alive. The joy was short-lived.

Ahmed Erwag tells NPR he returned only to find half his home destroyed. It's unlivable. And he says there's no real ceasefire. That Israeli forces are still striking areas of Gaza they've pulled back to. Israeli troops will remain in around half of Gaza until Hamas disarms. Ayy, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Japan's ruling block has split over political differences, just as they were preparing to vote for a new prime minister.

And peers Anthony Kuhn reports it could complicate things for President Trump's scheduled visit to Japan later this month. The ruling block's smaller Comey party has been uncomfortable with the larger liberal Democratic Party or LDP's new president, Sinai Takeichi, and her hardline conservative policy positions since her election last week. But in the end, Komei said it decided to leave. the 26-year-long coalition over what they saw is Takaichi's insincere response to a slush fund scandal within the LDP. Takaichi will now have to forge a new coalition with opposition parties to maintain the LDP's hold on power and get the parliament to elect her as prime minister.

Japan's cabinet secretariat said U.S. and Japanese officials have agreed to proceed with their trade deal during the political transition. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Tokyo. Venezuela and opposition leader Maria Karina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised her as a key unifying figure in the opposition, advocating for free elections and representative government. Machado has faced serious threats and lives in hiding. President Nicolas Maduro's government disqualified her from running in last year's presidential election.

Her ally, Edmundo Gonzalez, replaced her but later sought asylum in Spain. She's the 20th woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. On Wall Street, the Dow is down 675 points. The NASDAQ down 622. That's down 2.7%. I'm Janine Herbst NPR News in Washington.