NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-14-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

NPR News: 10-14-2025 8PM 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, I'm Rylan Barton. Israel and Hamas are exchanging the remains of those killed in conflict as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. As NPR's Greg Myrie reports, the exchanges are not yet complete and have become a point of friction. Israel handed over the remains of 45 Palestinians that were delivered to a medical complex in southern Gaza.

Late at night, Hamas gave Israel four more bodies of dead hostages, bringing the total to eight in the past two days. Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas is supposed to return all 28 dead hostages, and Israel will return several hundred Palestinian bodies. Hamas says it needs more time to locate all the Israeli bodies due to the heavy fighting. Some may be buried under rubble. Israel told the United Nations it is reducing the amount of aid going into Gaza on Wednesday because it believes Hamas isn't doing enough to return the Israeli bodies. Greg Myrie, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Active duty military members may be included in federal workers not getting paid this week. Wednesday marks the first payday since the federal government shutdown.

Colorado Public Radio's Dan Boyce reports. The Homefront Military Network in Colorado Springs connects service members to emergency financial assistance. Executive Director Kate Hatton says she's telling military families to be proactive. By reaching out to their landlords, for example, or their landowners. or their mortgage company, if they've got a car note to explain the situation and see if those lenders will work with them. Some banks catering to service members are offering no interest loans to get service members through the shutdown.

USAA, for example, says it has already offered at least $150 million in loans nationwide. For NPR News, I'm Dan Boyce in Colorado Springs. Atlanta's airport is among those refusing to play a new video of Homeland Security. Security Secretary Christine Nome, blaming flight delays on Democrats. Melissa Fato from Member Station WABE has more. A spokesperson for Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport says it strives to maintain a neutral and welcoming environment for travelers, which it has a lot of as the busiest airport in the world. Airports in Las Vegas, Charlotte, Phoenix, and Seattle are among those making the same decision. Some authorities argue the partisan message in the DHS video may

violate the 1939 Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees. The government shutdown has left Transportation Security Administration employees and air traffic controllers working without pay, adding to mounting disruptions. For NPR news, I'm Melissa Fato in Atlanta. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says that a sharp slowdown in hiring poses a growing risk to the U.S. economy. The comments suggest that the Fed will likely cut its key interest rate twice more this year. NPR News. President Trump is threatening to withdraw assistance from Argentina if voters there don't align with his interests in upcoming elections.

Argentine President Javier Malay faces midterm elections later this month. He visited the White House today. The U.S. recently provided $20 billion in aid to Argentina's struggling economy. President Volodemir Zelenskyy in Ukraine says Russian airstrikes hit a hospital in Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, wounding seven and forcing evacuations. Zelensky is set to meet with President Trump in Washington on Friday to seek more military support, including air defense. Trump has warned Moscow may say, he's warned Moscow that he may send long-range tomahawk cruise missiles for use by Ukraine. The sales numbers for Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl are in and the album is, is a record-breaking success. NPR's Hazel Sills reports. This week, Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl reaches number one on the Billboard album's

chart. And all of its songs top the Billboard Hot 100. including The Fate of Ophelia, a number one. It's her 15th number one album on the chart, which means she's now had more number one albums than Jay-Z and Drake, whom she was previously tied with. She's also now the musical act who has the second most number one albums in the history of the Billboard chart, behind the Beatles. Overall, the album has sold more than 4 million equivalent album units. That's the combo of sales and streaming that Billboard uses to rank albums each week and a whopping 1,334,000 copies on vinyl. Hazel Sills, NPR News. It's NPR.