NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-16-2025 1PM 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, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Republican-led U.S. Senate did not get enough votes to advance legislation to reopen the government. NPR's Barbara Sprint reports it's the 10th time a vote like this has failed. The 51 to 45 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward.

Senate Republicans need a handful of Democrats to join them in order to advance the bill. Two Democrats and one independent senator have repeatedly voted alongside Republicans. No new Democrats have joined them since that first vote. As the stalemate continues, Senate Democrats insist Republicans have to negotiate with them in order to get their votes, specifically on the soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies. Republicans say, reopen the government first, negotiate after. Because the Senate doesn't plan to be in legislative session until Monday, it's expected that the funding lapse and negotiation impasse will hit the three-week mark next week. Barbara Sprint and Pierre News, the Capitol. political mapmakers and voting rights advocates are watching to see when the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in a case that will shape the future of redistricting. Here's NPR's Hansi Lo Wong.

For this Louisiana redistricting case, it's not clear if the Supreme Court will break from its usual schedule releasing major decisions in June. Louisiana officials have asked for ruling by early January. Alana Odoms leads the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, which is representing a group of black voters in this case, and says whenever the court rules, it would determine whether the Voting Rights Act Section 2 could continue to. to protect against the dilution of racial minority voters' collective power in places where voting is racially polarized. If Section 2 falls, legislatures could redraw maps whenever it helps them keep power and communities of color could pay the price or would pay the price. Depending on how the court rules, Republicans could redraw up to 19 more congressional districts in their favor. Hansi Luong, NPR News. The UN Humanitarian Chief says there's been a setback in the amount of aid going to Gaza during the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. More from NPR's

the UN says its teams in the past 24 hours were only able to collect aid, such as food, medicine, and hygiene kits that had previously been transferred into Gaza. That means the UN wasn't able to bring in new aid since at least Tuesday. The UN says a flood of aid is desperately needed in Gaza to reverse starvation and severe malnutrition, particularly among children. The UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher says thousands of trucks of aid should be flowing into Gaza every week and that all land crossings into Gaza must be open. He says the UN has long insisted that withholding aid from civilians in Gaza is not a bargaining chip. Israel's military has not responded to NPR's request for comments.

Fletcher also called on Hames to make strenuous efforts to return all bodies of hostages. Ayobotrawi, NPR News, Dubai. U.S. stocks trading lower this hour at the Dow down 173 points. The SMP has lost 28, and the NASDAQ is now off 68 points. From Washington, this is NPR News. President Trump said on social media this morning he had a lengthy conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin but didn't give specifics. Trump's preparing a welcome back Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington, D.C. tomorrow days after securing a ceasefire deal in the Middle East, President Trump is attempting to achieve the same between Russia and Ukraine. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Chicago are now under court order to wear body cameras. Today, U.S. history, judges,

Sarah Alice rendered her decision after expressing concern that agents were failing to comply with an earlier order to avoid using violent measures against peaceful protesters and journalists. The judge says she was a little startled by televised images of clashes between agents and protesters against ICE's heightened presence on Chicago streets. Scholars and fans came from as far away as friends for an academic symposium on Bruce Springsteen's album, Born to Run. And Pierce Frank Langford explains. Donald Lov is an educator at Boston Children's Hospital. She spoke about a book she co-wrote on Springsteen's particular bond with female fans. She said Springsteen's song, Thunder Road, inspired her when she was growing up in England. I identified with the feeling of desperately trying to get out.

I feel like that really changed my life. How did it change your life? I think it allowed me to dream bigger. The Springsteen Archives sponsored the symposium. The Archives contains everything from the notebooks in which Springsteen wrote his songs to oral histories from the East Street band. The archives opens next year in a new $50 million building on the Monmouth campus. Frank Langford, NPR News, West Long Branch, New Jersey. It's NPR. Latin music has never been bigger, but it's always been big on all Latino. 15 years in, we continue celebrating

Latinidad through a music lens, transcending borders through Ritmo. Get to know artists from La Coutura on a deeper level and throw some new Latin music wrecks into your rotation. Listen to Alt Latino in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.