NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-16-2025 2AM 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 Shea Stevens. A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily halted the latest round of mass federal layoffs.

U.S. District Judge, Susan Ilston, says the evidence suggests that the Trump administration is taking advantage of the government shutdown to do what it wants. As NPR's Andrea Shoe reports, more than 4,000 federal employees have received layoff notices since Friday. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you know, a bunch of support staff are among those being laid off, including human resources employees, they were told to issue RIF notices to themselves. These are staff who worked on Friday to issue the layoff notices, and then were called back to work on Saturday to rescind some of those notices. The agency says because of an error. And when they were done with that, they lost access to their emails and their work computers.

Judge Ilson talked about this in court today and said it's clear things are being done without being thought through. She said it's very much ready, fire aim. And she added this has a human cost that cannot be tolerated. NPR's Andrew Hsu reporting. Senate Democrats have once again rejected a Republican measure to reopen the government. And NPR's Claudia Rieselis reports that there is little sign of progress towards a bipartisan deal to break the deadlock. Senate Majority Leader John Thune now plans to tee up a 10th vote on the Republican stopgap plan to try to force a handful of Democrats to defect.

This needs to end. We can end it today. But Democrats are insisting Republicans negotiate a deal. that addresses looming Affordable Care Act premium spikes. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says without that deal... Americans will have to choose plans that send this cost skyrocketed. Without hope of a bipartisan deal in hand, lawmakers are predicting that the government shutdown may not end anytime soon. Claude Riesales, NPR News, the Capitol.

Burials were planned Wednesday for at least three of the Israeli hostages. Amos has handed over 10 bodies under Phase 1 of the Gaza's fire. As NPR's Kerry Khan reports, Israel has sent 90 bodies to Gaza, as authorities struggled to identify and return the dead. In Renana in central Israel, Gai Luz was buried. The 26-year-old was wounded by Hamas militants at a music festival on October 7, 2023. His father, Mikhail Ilous, told mourners, identifying his son's body was not difficult. He immediately recognized his smile and serenity. Turn to your family's embrace and to the millions whose hearts your story touched, he said.

Hamas said recovering more bodies will be difficult due to the massive destruction of Gaza. Israel reduced the amount of aid going into Gaza, citing Hamas noncompliance. The U.N. humanitarian chief said aid should not be used as a bargaining chip. Kerry Kahn, NPR News, Renana, Israel. This is NPR. President Trump says India's prime minister has agreed to stop buying oil from Russia. The announcement comes two months after Trump imposed 25 percent terrorists on India as punishment for buying Russian oil. Trump is trying to use economic pressure to get Moscow

to end its war in Ukraine. Oil and gas are Russia's biggest exports, and India is one of its biggest clients. The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders says it is permanently closing its emergency care center in Haiti because of violence. The facility has been hit by stray gunfire multiple times and was temporarily closed in March after armed men opened fire on vehicles that were being used to evacuate staff. Gangs now controlled 90% of Haiti's capital. Netflix says it will stream some Spotify content under its new partnership. NPR's Neta Ulibe has details. Back in the good old days, meaning like five years ago, we listened to podcasts. Now we watch them. More than half of the world's top podcasts now release video versions, like the sports show hosted by Bill Simmons.

The Celtics are like, whoa, Simon's. Like, this guy's like a really gifted office. Video podcasts are being consumed right now 20 times faster than audio ones. People often just have them on in the background. The number one platform for podcasts is YouTube. But Netflix and Spotify are challenging that. This new deal will make 16 top video podcasts available only on Netflix and on the Spotify app starting in January, including the Bill Simmons podcast. Netta Ullaby reporting. This is NPR News.