NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-16-2025 4AM 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. The U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to side with Republicans who are challenging Louisiana's redistricting map that would create a second majority black district. The case seeks to further dismantle the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which has been repeatedly strengthened by Congress and upheld by the High Court. But NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that the current conservative court appears to be hostile to it.

Trump administration deputy solicitor General Hashim Mupin contended that the black voters, should not have gotten a second-majority-minority district. If they were all white, we all agree they wouldn't get a second district. The court's liberal justices all pointed out that the federal law is based on the effects of redistricting in a state like Louisiana, where, as they noted, voters are so racially polarized that even white Democrats, for the most part, don't vote for black candidates. NPR's Nina Totenberg. President Trump has threatened to punish Spain for refusing to host. hike its defense spending to 5% of GDP. Terry Schultz reports that the European Union says

it'll have Madrid's back against Washington. Trump says he may impose tariffs on Spain for being the only NATO member that wouldn't agree to the deal made at the Hague summit in June to spend 5% of its GDP on defense by the year 2035. Trade policy is something the European Union handles on behalf of its member countries and European Commission spokesman Olaf Gill says that would be the case here as well. respond appropriately as we always do to any measures taken against one or more of our member states. In a statement, the Spanish trade ministry says the defense spending debate is not about increasing spending for the sake of increasing it, but about responding to real threats. And Spain

argues it's developing those capabilities. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz. The Kansas Young Republicans organization is now inactive. This after an investigation from political showed an exchange of racist and anti-Semitic messages in a national group chat. Zane Irwin of the Kansas News Service has the story. The group chat included leaders of young Republican groups in Kansas, New York, Arizona, and Vermont. Politico reported the group chat members used slurs for gay and black people, repeated white supremacist slogans, and joked about being pro-Nazi. The Kansas GOP and the Young Republicans National Federation condemned the messages. One group chat member was fired from his post at the Kansas Attorney General's office. Vice President J.D. Vance,

however, has come to the group's defense. Vance said on social media that he, quote, refused to join the pearl clutching and referenced defensive texts that a Democratic Virginia Attorney General candidate sent in 2022. For NPR news, I'm Zane Irwin in Kansas City, Missouri. You're listening to NPR. Health officials of New York say a Long Island resident has tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus, chicken gunya. Nassau County health officials say is the first locally contracted case in six years. Several other cases involve people who were infected while traveling abroad. A chicken gunya outbreak in southern China has resulted in thousands of cases this year.

Federal health officials have clarified the eligibility of pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19. More from NPR's Rob Stein. The Health and Human Services, Department says pregnant women fall into the same category as any other healthy adult. They're eligible for a COVID shot as long as they first discuss the decision with the healthcare professional. The eligibility of pregnant women has been unclear because of conflicting messages from federal health officials, but in response to a query from NPR, an HHS spokesperson

confirmed that pregnant women are eligible. The American College of Obstitutions and Gynecologists however, goes further, saying the shots should be recommended for pregnant women, not just be an option, because COVID can be very dangerous for pregnant women. Rob Stein and PR News. The government shutdown is starting to affect the nation's air traffic control system. The FAA has reported staffing issues and flight delays in major cities since October 1st when the shutdown began. Experts say that cracks quickly emerged because the system was already strained, by chronic understaffing and aging equipment.

This is NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin. If you're tired of small talk, check out the Wild Card podcast. I invite your favorite celebrities to open up about the big topics we all think about but rarely talk about. Tune in this fall to hear Matthew McConaughey, Shonda Rhymes, and Padma Lakshmi. Talk about everything from grief and God to ambition and forgiveness.

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