NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-17-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: October 17, 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 Kurova Coleman, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, meet with President Trump at the White House today. And Piersana Palomarenko reports from Kiev, many Ukrainians remain skeptical

about a possible ceasefire with Russia. In central Kyiv, law student Leila Alexandrina is following the news of Zelensky's visit to the U.S. She says Ukrainians won't agree to a truth if it's not fair to their country. Many people, she says, have lost their homes and loved ones and won't bend. She imagines a frozen conflict that would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future Russian attacks. Vice President J.D. Vance told Newsmax that he does not believe Russia and

Ukraine are ready for peace. Hannah Palomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. The Admiral in charge of U.S. Southern Command will retire by year's end. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports the surprise move comes as the U.S. builds up its forces off the Venezuelan coast. Admiral Alvin Halsey is leaving after an unusually short tenure in charge of Southcom. On social media secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth announced Halsy would retire after 37 years in the military and praised what he called the Admiral's unwavering commitment to mission, people, and nation. This comes as thousands of U.S. troops are deployed on ships near Venezuela, where the Trump administration has ordered a string of lethal strikes on small boats.

The White House says the boats carried drugs. Critics say the strikes are illegal orders that amount to execution without trial. Admiral Halsey is black, and he joins about a dozen senior military leaders who have left this year, many of them black or female. Quill Lawrence NPR News. Today is the deadline for the Trump administration to give a federal judge a list of all federal government employees who are being laid off. The federal judge has temporarily halted these layoffs. Unions for federal workers have sued the Trump administration. Starting in January, Californians with diabetes will be able to buy low-cost insulin directly from the state's own drug label.

From member station KQED, April Dimboski explains. 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. On Wall Street, the Dow is up more than 60%. points. You're listening to NPR. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is at a federal courthouse in Maryland. He's appearing in response to a federal indictment handed up yesterday. It charges him with 18 counts of alleged mishandling of classified documents. Madagascar's co-leader was sworn in as the African Island nation's president today. Kate Bartler reports he took power

earlier this week following massive anti-government protests. People in Madagascar have been celebrating since the military takeover after protests by mainly young people over corruption and lack of basic services. He has protesters Sariaka Razim Bazafi. Right now, the army is the only institution capable of putting the country back on track. Colonel Michael Ranjiani Rina has replaced the president who fled the country. The colonel will run the country through a military council and has promised to hold elections in two years, but Africa analysts like Mohamed Ketter of the Human Rights Foundation are circumspect.

Will the military lead a short transition to civilian rule, or will it hold on to power? He says, only time will tell. For NPR News, I'm Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg. Artificial Intelligence Company Open AI and the estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Say the company has paused the creation of fake videos of the civil rights leader.

Some of the videos created recently with a company's new SORA tool have been offensive. OpenAI said previously it would allow video creations of historical figures, but now it says it will strengthen guardrails for these depictions.

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