NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-17-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: October 18, 2025

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This message comes from NPR sponsor, Subaru. All month long, Subaru is helping shelter pets find loving homes, including the hard-to-adopt underdogs. Learn more at Subaru.com slash pets. Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump says Ukraine and Russia should stop where they are and negotiate an end to their war. He described his meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as cordial and interesting today. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. Ukrainian leader came to Washington with hopes of getting long-range tomahawk missiles as well as more help with air defenses to stop daily Russian missile and drone strikes. He came away saying he was, quote, realistic about the prospects of getting tomahawks, but he says the meeting was productive and he agrees with Trump's message on truth social. President is right that we have to stop where we are. This is important to stop where we are and then to speak. But he says this is a message for Putin who started the war. Zelensky says he thinks Trump can pressure Putin to stop the aggression. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

The Trump administration has fired the entire team that supports sexual and reproductive health clinics. The program is called Title X. And as NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports, the clinics that rely on it are reeling. Title 10 is a long-standing program. It was signed into law by President Nixon. It helps pay for birth control, cancer screenings, and testing for sexually transmitted infections, and nearly 4,000 clinics all over the country. Jessie Hitchens runs a clinic in Nebraska that receives Title 10 funds.

She's really concerned by the fact that the whole Title 10 federal staff was just fired. Not knowing where we stand right now is really hard to plan for the future. She says Title 10 has gotten results, like bringing down high rates of syphilis and gonorrhea in Nebraska. If the whole Title 10 program goes away, she says, We are likely to see those diseases spike in our rural communities. Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News. The brother of the King of England is giving up his royal titles and honors. Prince Andrew has made embarrassing royal headlines stemming from his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

NPR's Lauren Freer reports. The Epstein scandal prompted Prince Andrew to step down from royal duties more than five years ago. But British media have now published excerpts of a posthumous memoir by Epstein's best known accuser who said she had sex with the prince when she was 17. Andrew denies that, but in a statement from Buckingham Palace, he says the continued accusations distract from the work of his majesty, King Charles. So after discussion with the king and with their wider family, Andrew says he will no longer use the title Duke of York. He remains a prince, is expected to keep living near Windsor Castle, and his daughters will still be princesses. But his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson,

will lose her Duchess of York title. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. Gold prices topped $4,300 for the first time this week. Gold sales can rise when anxious investors seek a safe haven for their money. This is NPR News from Washington. A landmark agreement to cut emissions from global shipping has been postponed for at least a year. The deal was negotiated over a decade and then blocked by the Trump administration, as NPR's Camilla Dominovsky reports.

The giant ships that move cargo around the world mostly run on oil. Alternative fuels could cut emissions and help the global fight against climate change. The International Maritime Organization has spent years negotiating a deal that would set legally binding rules to cut emissions. It was almost finalized this week. Then the U.S. started working to undo the deal. President Trump called the effort to cut emissions a, quote, green new scam tax that would raise costs. The U.S. is the world's largest oil producer, and along with other large producers like Russia and, Saudi Arabia, managed to push the final decision on the rules back by at least a year.

In a post on ex-Secary of State Marco Rubio called the vote a huge win for the president. Camila Dominovsky, NBR News. The country's largest teachers unions are teaming up with companies like Microsoft and Open AI to help educators build literacy in AI. The tech giants are paying for their training for teachers to apply AI skills in the classroom. For the companies, the partnerships are also opportunities to make inroads into schools. and win over students in the race for AI dominance. And Taylor Swift's new album is becoming a boon for sea otters in northern California. In the film that accompanies the record, she wore a vintage Monterey Bay Aquarium otter conservation t-shirt,

sparking a frenzy to buy it. The aquarium re-released the shirt and has raised $2 million so far for sea otter conservation. I'm Ryland Barton. This is NPR News from Washington. 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.