NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-16-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: October 16, 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 Kourva Coleman. The Senate will take another vote today on a spending bill that could. and the federal government shutdown, but Democrats and Republicans remain far apart and the vote is expected to fail. President Trump's budget director says some 10,000 federal workers are going to be laid off during the shutdown,

but a federal judge has imposed a temporary block to the layoffs in response to a lawsuit. The shutdown has affected tours at the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. This explains what happened in the 1995 domestic terrorism attack. From member station KOSU Abigail Sikowski reports, volunteers are stepping in. Tours are usually led by National Park Service rangers who are now furloughed, but family members and even survivors have stepped in as temporary guides. Susan Winchester lost her sister, Margaret Clark, in the bombing. That's why she wanted to make sure the tours continue during the shutdown. It's a story that we really want to put in front of everyone each and every day.

So as a volunteer, I'm more than happy to be here and be outside on a beautiful sunny Oklahoma Day and giving a tour. Winchester says one of the lessons of the memorial is that political violence is never the answer. She wants to make sure visitors who come here during the shutdown still get that message. For NPR News, I'm Abigail Sikowsky in Oklahoma City. President Trump says he has approved covert actions by the CIA in Venezuela. He says he's trying to stop drug trafficking. Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, is urging Americans to reject aggression toward his country. Former deputy ambassador to the U.N. Ned Price is also a former CIA analyst.

Covert action can be anything from propaganda to sabotage to lethal operations to, you know, at extremists, even the overthrow of a government. And that takes us to a second question. To what end? Are they primarily going after criminals, narco-traffickers, or is this more about targeting the Maduro regime and going after regime change itself? He spoke to NPR's Morning Edition. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has indicted the suspect accused of igniting the huge Palisades fire last January. It was one of two deadly Los Angeles area fires. Steve Futterman reports.

The indictment accuses Jonathan Rinderneck of three arson-related charges. Destruction of property by means of fire, arson involving property used in interstate commerce, and timber set a fire. Prosecutors say the 29-year-old. old defendant, who was working as an Uber driver, intentionally set a different fire just past midnight on January 1st. Fire crews put out the flames, but the fire continued to smolder underground. A week later, it came to life again. The Palisades fire destroyed 6,800 structures and killed 12 people. For MPR news, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. On Wall Street,

the Dow is up nearly 76 points. The NASDAQ is up 164 points. This is NPR. Officials in Alaska are evacuating hundreds of people from some towns on the west coast. It was battered by the remnants of a typhoon last weekend. One person was killed and two more people are missing. Some Alaska residents lost everything in the storm and they're sheltering in a local school. Hundreds more Alaska residents are being flown to a military base near Anchorage. A government report shows this winter's heating costs will likely be lowered.

For some people, this is expected in households relying on propane or heating oil, and Pierre's Camilla Dominovsky reports lower crude oil prices are driving that forecast. The Energy Information Administration is still releasing data despite the government shutdown. The agency forecasts homes that heat with electricity might see costs go up 4%. Those that use natural gas might see a small decline, and heating oil and propane costs could drop significantly, some 8 to 9%. That's just a forecast, and exactly how cold this winter is will affect actual costs. Low global crude oil prices have also been keeping gasoline prices steady all year. As cooler weather approaches, prices at the pump are dropping,

and AAA and GasBuddy both predict they could fall more. Camila Dominooski, NPR News. New car prices continue to rise this year, according to Kelly Blue Book. It says the average price of a new car sold last month topped $50,000. The company that tracks car values says it's the first time that has happened. Overall, new car prices are up about 4% over what they were last year. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.