NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-22-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: October 23, 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 Rylan Barton. The University of Virginia has reached an agreement with the federal government that would pause ongoing civil rights investigations. NPR's Alyssa Nadwerni reports the Justice Department has been looking into the school's use of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and its handling of anti-Semitism on campus. The agreement between Virginia's public flagship and the DOJ comes after months of negotiations and will suspend the five remaining investigations into the university's admissions practices and DEI programs.

The deal doesn't require UVA to pay anything or give up academic control or freedom, which makes this agreement different from deals that the White House has made with Brown University and Columbia University to reinstate federal funding in exchange for agreeing to specific political priorities. Instead, UVA agrees to follow civil rights law regarding race and report quarterly to the DOJ to demonstrate it is following those rules. The university's interim president Paul Mahoney said, the deal represented, quote, the best available path forward. Alyssa N. Adwarni, NPR News.

The entire east wing of the White House is coming down. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, it's an expansion of the scope of President Trump's White House ballroom project. The East Wing was built during World War II and has been modified over the years. Until recently, it housed the offices of the First Lady's staff, explaining that it needed to be torn down, President Trump downplayed its significance. It was never thought of as, being much. It was a very small building. Trump said it didn't make sense

to save the East Wing at the expense of the massive new ballroom he has planned. In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure. Images of excavators tearing into a wing of the White House have set off alarms for groups concerned with historic

preservation. The White House says preservation work was done and calls the controversy, quote, Pearl Clutching. Tamara Keith, NPR News. told its employees today, it plans to cut hundreds of jobs in its artificial intelligence division. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, the layoffs come after a years-long hiring spree at the tech company. Meta is laying off about 600 employees who work on AI development.

That's according to an internal announcement confirmed by NPR. There are still thousands of meta employees working on AI projects, including super-intelligence or building AI systems that can exceed the capabilities of the human brain. But the layoffs indicate that some of META's recent AI hiring has been overest, zealous. It comes just as investor fears grow that the AI industry has become a bubble that could pop and cause economic upheaval. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has spent billions to recruit top AI talent from OpenAI, Google, and other tech companies to try to stave off competition in the AI race. Bobby Allen, NPR News. Tropical storm Melissa has dumped rain on parts of Haiti. It's expected to

strengthen into a hurricane by Friday. This is NPR News from Washington. The Pentagon says a new press corps of 60 journalists will be allowed into the building. It comes after mainstream reporters turned in their credentials. They refuse to agree to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's new policy to only write about news he approved. The new group includes small conservative outlets like Gateway Pundit and the National Pulse. The director of the Louvre has acknowledged what she calls a terrible failure after a stunning heist of France's crowned jewels over the weekend. She says she offered to resign but was refused. In testimony to the French Senate, the director said the museum had a shortage of security cameras and other weakness exposed by the theft.

The film Begonia, starring Emma Stone, opens on Halloween, but it's already getting buzz thanks to a publicity stunt as NPR's Mandolet Del Barko reports. At a theater in Culver City, California this week, moviegoers were treated to a free advanced screening of Begonia after getting their heads shaved bald, like Emma Stone, the movie. Among those getting sheared in the lobby was Olabisi COVID. I can feel some air hitting my scalp right now. Triple Play Studios produced the experience. Three years ago, the company hyped the horror film Smile by getting people to smile continuously at baseball games. To plug the long walk last summer, they had moviegoers walk on treadmills throughout the entire movie. If you stop, you will be escorted out. Triple Play Studios founder Alex Craig says studios are turning to viral social media moments to get people back into cinemas.

Something that's off the wall and gets the internet's attention. Mandalay-Del Barco, NPR News. This is NPR News. Support for NPR, and the following message come from Yarl and Pamela Mohn, thanking the people who make public radio great every day and also those who listen.