NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-23-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. Virginia Democrats are planning to redraw the state's congressional map next week. It's an effort to counter President Trump's call for Republican-led states to redistrict to boost the GOP's chances of keeping control of Congress in next year's midterms. Democrats hold six of Virginia's 11 congressional seats. This could give them two more. Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have already redistricted to favor Republicans. Virginia joins California trying to counter for Democratic.

Democrats. States have begun warning low-income people that they may not receive food assistance next month if the federal government shutdown continues. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, 42 million Americans rely on the supplemental food assistance program or SNAP to feed their families. According to a notice posted by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has directed states to stop issuing SNAP benefits for the month of November until further notice. Catherine DiMato of the Greater Boston Food Bank says anti-hunger nonprofits won't be able to meet the added demand. There's no way that our charitable food network with assistance in this country can provide that much food overnight or quickly. It's an impossible task. Maine, Pennsylvania, Texas, and many other states have issued similar notices. Maria Godoy and PR News. The Senate rejected dueling bills to pay federal workers during the shutdown today. Republicans and Democrats blamed each other, as many employees are set to miss their first

full paycheck tomorrow. The Democratic bill would have paid all federal workers and blocked President Trump's mass firings. The Republican one would have paid employees who are working and not furloughed. President Trump has pardoned the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. He's been in prison for money laundering, as NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports. The move is another shot at former President Biden. Chang Peng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 and also stepped down as the CEO of Binance. Zhao, also known as CZ, was later sentenced to four months in prison. The prosecution was carried out under the Biden administration, which aggressively targeted

the crypto industry and sought to establish guardrails to prevent the flow of crypto for criminal purposes. The Trump White House seeks to contrast Trump with Biden. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says Zhao was prosecuted in the previous administration's quote, war on cryptocurrency. In 2024, Trump ran on pro-crypto policies, and his family runs multiple crypto-related businesses, including crypto-platform World Liberty Financial. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, the White House. Oil prices spiked today after the U.S. announced massive new sanctions on Russia's oil industry in an attempt to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine.

analysts say if the situation continues, consumers will soon be paying more at the pump. stocks rose today. The S&P 500 climbed six-tenths of a percent. This is NPR News from Washington. Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore is using anti-smog guns in a bid to combat hazardous air pollution. More than a dozen truck-mounted devices are spraying fine mists of water to help settle dust and airborne particles. An initial rollout saw 15 anti-smog guns go to various parts of the city. Last week, Taylor Swift set sales records with her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. NPR's Stephen Thompson says she still rules the charts this week. The Life of a Showgirl sold more than 3.4 million copies in its first week.

And she landed all of the top 12 songs on last week's singles chart, led by the fate of Aphelia at number one. This week, the album's numbers are more modest by comparison. Still, it's sold another 101,000 copies while she relinquishes only two spots in the top 10 to pre-existing hits, led by Huntrix's Golden at number three. As sales slow down, the life of a showgirl will become more reliant on streaming as it looks to duplicate the long chart runs of other Taylor Swift records. But at least for this week, it would easily top the chart based on streaming alone. Stephen Thompson, NPR News. Tesla is recalling more than 63,000 cyber trucks because the front lights are too bright. That can disrupt other drivers and increase the risk of a collision.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that Tesla is not aware of any wrecks or injuries related to the lights. I'm Rylan Barton. This is NPR News from Washington.