NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-25-2024 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

NPR News: 10-25-2024 2PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you're Black or Brown or a person of color, you know that stories about race in the news can sometimes feel like they're made for a different audience. At Code Switch, we're not about that. We're interested in how race and identity shape your world in real and sometimes funny ways. Come work it out with us together on the Code Switch podcast from NPR. more get out with us together on the Code Switch podcast from NPR. Winzer Johnston Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Winzer Johnston. The presidential candidates are hitting the campaign trail in Texas today. NPR's Deepa Sivaraman reports in the final run-up to Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris will underscore the importance of protecting reproductive freedom at a rally in Houston.

Harris is trying to bring her message on reproductive rights back into the forefront. And Texas has had some of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. There are several women from Texas who during this campaign have shared their stories in speeches and ads of being denied an abortion when they needed them, which has put their lives at risk. That's NPR's Deepa Sivaram reporting. Former President Donald Trump is also in Texas. He's recording an interview with the popular podcast host, Joe Rogan, in Austin. Trump will also host a campaign event later today that will focus on immigration and border

security to key issues among voters in Texas. A federal judge is ordering the state of Virginia to restore some 1,600 registered voters that a state program recently purged from voter rolls. NPR's Hansi Lo-Wong reports the state says it's appealing the ruling. The federal judge ruled Virginia's voter removal program illegally purged registered voters from the state's rolls during the 90-day quiet period before a federal election when such programs are banned. An August executive order by Virginia's Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin resulted in daily updates to the state's voter rules in order to remove people who are not able to verify they

are U.S. citizens to Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles. The judge is now ordering the state to restore removed voters to the list. Ellswill voters in Virginia still have time to register to vote in this fall's election. In-person voter registration continues at voting sites through election day. Last week, another federal judge blocked a similar voter removal program in Alabama. Hansi Luong, NPR News. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Kremlin will not bend in its demands in order to achieve peace in Ukraine. Putin's comments followed his hosting of a summit for developing nations in which several

major powers, including India and China, urged for a peaceful settlement. NPR's Charles Maines has more from Moscow. Putin has repeatedly insisted any negotiations over Ukraine hinged on key of recognizing what he calls the new reality. In essence, Russia's right to annex four Ukrainian territories, Moscow claims, but is never fully controlled. In an interview on Russian state television, Putin said Moscow would make no concessions and expressed confidence in recent Russian advances on the battlefield.

Putin also noted a recent change in the West's rhetoric on Ukraine, implying Western nations now understood Russia could not be defeated. He also appeared to soften earlier comments that suggested thousands of North Korean troops were already in Russia and en route to fight in Ukraine, saying it was still an open question. Charles Mayne's NPR News, Moscow. This is NPR News. Three journalists were killed in southeast Lebanon today. They were sleeping in guest houses, clearly marked press, when Israeli forces carried out a missile strike in the area.

The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the strike and later said it was looking into it. Israel claims to have killed some 2,000 Hezbollah militants in Lebanon since last October. Wildfires have destroyed large parts of Brazil's Amazon rainforest this year. The region is in the second year of a record-breaking drought. NPR's Kary Kahn reports satellite analysis of the fires show the number of acres destroyed by blazes are at the highest level in decades.

According to satellite data obtained by the Associated Press, fires devastated an area of the Amazon the size of Switzerland so far this year. That's an increase of more than 800 percent over the same period last year. A thick smoky haze has covered multiple states in the Amazon, producing some of the worst air quality in the world. Scientists attribute the fire's widespread destruction to the current drought in the Amazon now in its second year,

which is tied to global warming. However, officials in Brazil say criminals are also to blame as they take advantage of the record dry conditions and set fires to clear land for illegal uses. Federal police say they're working to expand efforts to combat such environmental crimes. Carrie Cahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. Stocks are trading mixed on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow was down 275 points.

The Nasdaq up 112. This is NPR.