NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-16-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. A judge says federal immigration officers in Chicago will be required to wear body cameras after tear gas was used against peaceful protesters and reports of a high-speed chase through a residential area. federal judge Sarah Ellis says she was, quote, a little startled after seeing TV images of clashes between agents and the public during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. A lawyer for the government says news media reports have been one-sided. For the 10th time, Senate Democrats voted down a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government. Democrats are demanding that Congress extend health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. Senate Republicans also held a vote that would have paved the way to paying salaries for, for troops. Senate Majority Leader John Thune criticized Democrats for voting it down. If we can't reopen the entire government, we can at least make some progress toward securing paychecks

for our troops and for defending our country. The bill would have required approval by the House, which has been out of session during the shutdown. The government shutdown is causing serious problems for farmers. As Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports, farmers have lost government subsidies and a promised farm bailout has stalled. Federal farm subsidies go through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's closed, and now is a bad time for farmers to lose that lifeline. The prices farmers are getting for the corn, wheat, and soybeans they grow don't come close to covering the cost of producing them.

Tariffs have a lot to do with that, and President Trump has promised farmers a bailout to partially compensate for their trade war losses. But Pat Westoff, an economist at the University of Missouri, says that, That's not happening anytime soon. Now, things are going to go forward until the government's open again, it appears to me. Farmers can't expect immediate help when the government does reopen. The USDA has lost about 20,000 employees this year, and every day the shutdown drags on. More work backs up.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris in Kansas City. Starting in January, Californians with diabetes will be able to buy low-cost insulin directly from the state's own drug label. April Demboski of member station KQED has more. The state will sell five. packs of insulin pens for $55. That's a dramatic discount from current market prices, which can top $400. Governor Gavin Newsom says California is saving money by bypassing Big Pharma and its middlemen. And they have been gouging you for years and years and years. Actor Nikita Kalam Harris has type 1 diabetes. She says cheaper insulin means people won't have

to ration their supplies. Think of the mother who is deciding whether she is going to pay for groceries or her insulin. Next up, CalRX wants to tackle vaccines, asthma inhalers, and GLP-1s for weight loss. For NPR News, I'm April Dimbalski in San Francisco. Stocks closed down today. This is NPR News from Washington. President Trump says he'll meet with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Hungary to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Trump said on social media that he and Putin made progress during a phone call today. Trump's also considering selling long-range tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. He'll meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tomorrow at the White House.

France's Prime Minister survived two votes of no confidence today, keeping his fragile government in place for now. As NPR's Rebecca Rossman reports from Paris, the challenge now shifts to passing a contentious budget. France's National Assembly rejected two no-confidence motions, one from the far left, France unbowed party, and another from the far-right national rally. The first fell short by just 18 votes.

The second by a much wider margin. The outcome spares President Emmanuel Macron from having a cost risky snap elections. But it leaves Prime Minister Sebastian Le Corneux on shaky ground. To win enough support, Necernou said he would suspend the deeply unpopular pension reform that raised France's retirement age from 62 to 64. But Parliament remains bitterly divided, meaning he's likely to struggle to push through a 2026 budget by a December deadline. Racco Ransman and P.R. News, Paris.

A German museum has been overrun by Taylor Swift fans, drawn to a painting that resembles the opening scene of Swift's hit video, The Fate of Ophelia. The Art Nouveau painting by Friedrich Heiser features Ophelia, a character from Shakespeare's Hamlet. A spokesperson for the museum says they're planning a special tour for fans. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

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