NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-24-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

NPR News: 10-24-2025 1AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Rachel Martin. If you're tired of small talk, check out the Wild Card podcast. I invite influential thinkers to open up about the big topics we all think about, but rarely talk about. Tune in this fall to hear Mel Robbins, Malala Yusufzai, and Brene Brown, talk about everything from grief and God to ambition and forgiveness. Watch or listen on the NPR app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. Half a million Americans will soon miss their first full paycheck as the government shut down drags on. And millions are about to find out how much more they'll have to pay to keep their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Wisconsin U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is among Democrats worried about how their constituents are coping. I'm already hearing from Wisconsinites who are seeing doubling, tripling, quadrupling of their costs. As my Republican colleagues start hearing from their constituents, constituents, this hopefully will elevate as an urgent issue for them. Baldwin says President Trump's tax cut and spending bill contains the largest reduction in decades in funding for food assistance to low-income Americans. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says SNAP recipients in his state will not receive cash assistance next month. That story from Mel Bridges with member station WRKF in Baton Rouge.

Roughly 800,000 people here, or about 1 in 5, received SNAP benefits. With SNAP benefits running out, more people have to rely on food banks. Mike Manning, president and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, says they're still trying to figure out how they're going to keep up. Once the SNAP benefits go away and people can no longer use their snap cards, it's going to be a real challenge because we're going to see people coming to us for help. And we're already very limited in the amount of food we have available. Governor Landry, a Republican, blames the lack of funding on Senate Democrats.

Each party accuses the other of using the pain caused by the shutdown for political leverage. For NPR News, I'm Mel Bridges in Baton Rouge. President Trump says Washington and Ottawa have terminated their talks on trade and tariffs. As Dan Carpenshuk reports, Trump is upset over an anti-tariff television commercial. Trump says the ad from the Ontario government shows Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs is fake. On his true social platform, Trump said he is calling off trade talks with Canada because of the ad which he attributed to Canada. He also posted that tariffs are important to the national security and economy of the U.S. and based on their egregious behavior,

all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated. Ontario spent $75 million to broadcast the anti-tariff ad, focusing on Republican voters. It featured former President Ronald Reagan speaking in 1987, saying in the long term, tariffs do not work. The ad has been airing on all major U.S. networks. So far, there's been no reaction from Ottawa to Trump's declaration. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenchuk in Toronto.

President Trump plans to visit Japan, and South Korea next week to promote investments in U.S. manufacturing and other projects. Together, Tokyo and Seoul have pledged to invest about $900 billion in the U.S. in hopes that Trump will lower tariffs on their exports. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street following Thursday's games. You're listening to NPR. The FBI has announced criminal charges alleging sports betting and rigged poker games involving the NBA and mafia groups. Among over 30 people arrested Portland Trailblazers

head coach, Chauncey Billups, is accused of rigging poker games run by organized crime. The indictment also names Miami Heat Point Guard Terry Rosier, who was cleared of wrongdoing last year, and former Toronto Raptor Center, Jonte Porter, who the MPA has banned for life. Last year, Porter admitted betting on his team's games and sharing information with other gamblers. Doctors have long known that antidepressants come with side effects for cardiovascular and metabolic health, but a major analysis from British researchers combines data from over 150 drug trials to compare the side effects of dozens of antidepressants. NPR's Will Stone has details. The study in the Lancet this week details how each medication can affect weight, blood

pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, and other areas of health. In some cases, the impact on weight could vary by as much as 8 pounds or 20 heartbeats per minute. Dr. Toby Pillinger is a psychiatrist at King's College, London, and was the lead author of the study. The good news is that those medications that are most commonly prescribed actually aren't too bad for a number of physical health parameters, so that's reassuring. Pillinger says the point is not to single out certain antidepressants as better than others, just to help doctors and patients pick the best medications. Willstone and PR News.

On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mostly higher. are flat. You're listening to 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. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.