NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-25-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: October 25, 2025

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Jane Austen turns 250 in December, and what better way to celebrate than reading her most famous book, Pride and Prejudice? This week on Books We've Loved, we explore Austin's seminal work with pop culture happy hours Linda Holmes and hear from superfan author Casey McQuiston. Find Books We've Loved in NPR's Book of the Day podcast feed on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. Representatives from the U.S. and China are meeting to talk about trade again. This time they're gathering in Malaysia. As M.P.R.'s Emily Fang reports, China's newest restrictions on rare earth exports are at the top of the agenda.

Beijing said Chinese premier Hewifone will be meeting U.S. trade representative Jameson Greer and the Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. Besant said before he headed to Malaysia that he was optimistic about the talks, but a potential stumbling block is rare earths. China controls up to 90% of the refining of these key minerals and metals used in all sorts of electronics, and Beijing recently widened its controls on the export of rare earth products. That prompted President Trump this month to impose an additional 100% tariff on all Chinese imports. The trade meeting will also help set the tone for a meeting between Chinese

leader Xi Jinping and Trump that the White House says will be next week in South Korea. Emily Fang and Peer News. The federal government shutdown is now in day 25, and party officials are not even talking about how it might be ended. One of the biggest casualties of the shutdown as government employees, most of them have been furloughed without pay. MPR's Andrea Shue says many workers are getting help with basic living expenses and more from some unlikely allies. Food banks have been distributing boxes of provisions to government employees. Those events have drawn hundreds of people with lines, you know, stretching around the block. A lot of federal workers do their banking at credit unions, and now these credit unions all over the

country are offering short-term interest-free loans to help with things like house payments or car payments. That's NPR's Andrea Shue. The U.S. is sanctioning Colombia's presidents and several other people. They're being accused of being involved in the drug trade. And as Julia Carnero reports, tensions are escalating as the U.S. military ramps up operations in the Caribbean. The sanctions were imposed against Colombian president Gustavo Petro, his wife, his son, and one of his ministers. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Besson said Petro has, quote, allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity and that the U.S. would not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into its territory. Petro replied on social media, saying it was a paradox to face this measure

after years of fighting drug trafficking and helping to curb cocaine consumption in the U.S. Colombia is a major U.S. ally, but the U.S. strikes destroying vessels in South American waters have led to growing tension between the countries. For NPR News, I'm Juley Karnayr. In Game 1 of the World Series, standout rookie starter, Trey Yosavage limited the L.A. Dodgers to two runs over four innings Friday night as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 11 to 4. It was the 22-year-old's seventh major league appearance.

Anya Savage became the second youngest pitcher to start in a World Series opening game, just behind Brooklyn's Ralph Branca in 1947. The next game is tonight at 8 p.m. in Toronto. This is NPR News. A federal appeals court has declined to review a panel ruling that weakens federal voting rights protections in seven states. As NPR's Hans-Zilo-Wong reports, the ruling affects voters with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. The Immigrant Advocacy Group, Arkansas United, sued over a state law that bans a person from helping more than six voters cast ballots. A part of the Voting Rights Act, known as Section 208, generally allows

voters who need help because of a disability or an inability to read a right to get help from a person of their choice. A judge ruled the Arkansas law violated the Voting Rights Act. But after Republican state officials appealed, a panel of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled private groups like Arkansas United and individuals did not have the right to sue. Only the U.S. Attorney General does. The full Eighth Circuit now has rejected a request to review that ruling. Two similar cases are before the Supreme Court, which is also reviewing the constitutionality of another key part of the Voting Rights Act. On Ziluang, NPR News.

Japan's new prime minister pledged Friday to accelerate that country's military build-up and spending. In her first major policy speech since taking office on Tuesday, Sunae Takaichi also said she would complete an early upgrade of the country's security strategy as tensions rise

with China, North Korea, and Russia. She's Japan's first female leader. Delegations from Pakistan and Afghanistan are heading to Turkey for a second round of crisis talks. The meeting follows fighting between the two nations that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more. The security dispute was becoming increasingly violence. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.