NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-23-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

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United States is slapping sanctions on two Russian oil companies in hopes of pressuring the Kremlin to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine. President Trump announced the move days after canceling plans to meet with Russian President Putin before the end of the month. Today is a very big day in terms of what we're doing. Look, these are tremendous sanctions. These are very big. Those are against their two big oil companies. And we hope that they won't be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled. We just answered having to do with the various forms of missiles and everything else that we're looking at. But we don't think that's going to be necessary. Trump's speaking at the White House alongside the head of NATO. Meanwhile, the European Union is set to hold a summit on Thursday

to discuss sanctions against Russia and plans to use Moscow's frozen assets to support Ukraine. The UN's stop court has ruled that Israel must work with the world body to get aid into Gaza. As NPR's Rob Schmitz reports the ruling is a rebuke of the blockade that Israel imposed on the territory earlier this year. The International Court of Justice as President U.G. U.S.awa took more than an hour to read the court's opinion that Israel, because it exercises a degree of control over Gaza, is deemed by the Geneva Convention in occupying power. As such, the court reason, Israel is bound by the Convention's Law of Occupation, which states

that an occupying power must provide humanitarian aid to the civilians under its occupation. In this case, Gazans. The court went further, saying Israel as an occupying power may never invoke reasons of security to justify the suspension of humanitarian aid and that the population of Gaza has been inadequately supplied by Israel. The court also said the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees or UNRWA has not violated any laws as Israel has claimed. Rob Schmitz and Pierre News, Tel Aviv. Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley concluded a 22-and-a-half-hour-long speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday. It was one of the longest in the chamber's history. As NPR Sam Greenglass reports,

Merkley criticized the Trump administration. Senator Merkley did not break the record set earlier this year by fellow Democrat Cory Booker, but the Senate press gallery says the remarks are the fourth longest in Senate history. We are in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War. The stunt comes as lawmakers are at an impasse on ending the government shutdown. Republican Senator John Barrasso chastised Merkley for keeping staff overnight as they go without pay. I come to the floor today to ask a simple question. What did Democrats actually accomplish? After the speech, Merkley

chugged a gatorade, then the Senate failed to advance a funding measure for the 12th time. Sam Greenglass, NPR News, Washington. U.S. futures are slightly lower in after-hours trading following Wednesday's losses. The Dow Jones Industrials fell 34 points. This is NPR. President Trump is defending his administration strikes on boats in the Caribbean. Trump says all of the vessels were hauling illegal drugs and that military action is needed to combat drug traffickers. Two people were killed in the latest deadly strike, bringing the death toll from the attacks to 34. Doctors have new tools to evaluate a person's biological age

compared to their chronological age, which is based on a person's date of birth. NPR's Allison Albury reports that President Trump's doctor now estimates that the 79-year-old has the cardiac age of someone who's 65. Using the results of an electrocardiogram, doctors can use AI to estimate a person's cardiac age. Physician Douglas Vaughn of Northwestern University explains the tool has been developed by using millions of EKG results and machine learning to detect very subtle change. changes and patterns that track with heart disease risk. So I'm a cardiologist. I can't tell your age. I have no clue what your age is based on how we learn how to read electric cardigan, but this tool does things that the human eyes can't do. He says the tools are still being studied for accuracy and may become part of preventive

medicine to detect disease earlier in life. Allison Aubrey, NPR News. Misty Copeland has retired from the American Ballet Theater following her last spin on the dance floor at the Lincoln Center in New York. Her retirement comes 10 years after Copeland became the first black female principal dancer in the company's 75-year history. On Asian market, shares are mostly lower down 1% in Tokyo. This is NPR News. 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.

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