NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-15-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: October 15, 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 Shea Stevens. For the sixth time this year, U.S. forces have destroyed a boat in waters off Venezuela. President Trump says the people aboard the vessel were criminals. Details from NPR's qualards.

President Trump posted on social media that U.S. intelligence confirmed a small vessel in international waters off the Venezuelan coast was carrying drugs. A dark video released with the post shows a boat hit with a flash from above and then burning. Trump said six men aboard were killed. He called them narco-terrorists. The White House maintains it's at war with Venezuelan drug traffickers and may kill them in strikes like this because they are unlawful enemy combatants. Critics in Congress say the president cannot declare wars without their consent

and that in this case the president is asserting a right to kill anyone he declares an enemy with no due process of law. Quill Lawrence NPR News. The Trump administration is defending its plans to give the South American nation of Argentina a $20 billion lifeline. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says it is in the U.S.'s interest to help out an ally. We're using our economic strength to create peace, just as you've done all over the world. And it is much better to form an economic bridge with our allies, people who want to do the right thing,

then have to have shoot at narco gun moats. President Trump says the U.S. bailout is contingent upon his Argentine counterpart Javier Miele remaining in power. Milay met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday a month after losing a provincial election. Argentine midterms are scheduled for October 26th. Some Texas National Guard troops have been sent home from Chicago, allegedly, for not being physically fit. As Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider reports, the move comes after an ABC News photo of overweight troops went viral. The Texas Military Department confirmed on the military news site Task and Purpose that a small group of the 200,

National Guard soldiers deployed to Illinois last week had been sent home for not being in compliance with its validation process. The move followed a speech by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon last month to hundreds of military commanders. If the Secretary of War can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see fat troops. Last week, the National Guard issued a statement. saying all troops had to meet height, weight, and fitness standards. For NPR news, I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston.

Hamas returned the bodies of four hostages Tuesday, bringing to eight the number handed over under Phase 1 of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it will allow fewer trucks to deliver aid into Gaza, citing concerns that Hamas is slowing the release of hostage remains. This is NPR. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have voted to declare a state of emergency. The move allows the county to provide rent relief and other aid to residents who are suffering financial setbacks that are linked to federal immigration raids. The Office of County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath says raids have spread fear and destabilized homes and businesses.

Residents seeking rent assistance will be able to apply via an online portal that is to be launched before the end of the year. Grammy-winning neo-soul singer DiAngelo has died. He was 51 years old. As NPR's Rodney Carmichael reports, DeAngelo was at the forefront of a soul music revival of the 1990s and early 2000s. A sometimes reluctant icon, DiAngelo was best known for his hits Brown Sugar and Untitled. How Does It Feel? soul movement he helped to find included contemporaries and collaborators ranging from Erica Badu, Maxwell, Maxwell, and Angie Stone to Raphael Sadiq, Questlove, and Jay Dillow. The release of Voodoo in 2000 shot DiAngelo to superstardom and sex symbol status. Following a long period of reclusion from the music industry, including battles with

depression, he began his own creative resurrection, culminating with the release of his final studio album, 2014's Black Messiah. The Angelo had been battling cancer, according to a statement from his family. Rodney Carmichael, NPR News. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kreske Foundation with Pathbreakers, a podcast about transforming communities through innovation.

From revolutionizing higher education to supporting artists who are driving change. Pathbreakers is available on podcast platform. platforms.