NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-25-2025 2AM 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. Trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa are growing. President Trump called off trade negotiations with Canada because of a TV ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan opposing tariffs. As Dan Carpenchuk reports, Ontario's premier says he will pull those ads starting next week. In a social media post, Trump said, quote, Canada cheated. And the ad fraudulently uses remarks from a 1987 radio address by then-president Ronald Reagan. Trump announced that he was calling off trade talks with Canada. The move is seen as a serious setback for the Canadian economy. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government is paying for the $75 million ad campaign. Ford says the intention was always to begin a conversation about the impact of the tariffs and get Trump to take notice. But after speaking to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ford agreed

to pull the ads beginning on Monday. However, they will still run during televised coverage of the first two games of the World Series. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenchuk in Toronto. Problems are continuing to crop up at the nation's airports. The federal government shutdown and has moved into its 25th day, and while air traffic controllers are still working, they're not getting paid. The strain of the shutdown is causing problems and staffing shortages, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the nation's air system remains safe. If we don't have enough controllers, if we have controllers that are more stressed and less able to do the job, we pay close attention to that, and we will reduce the capacity of airplanes

taking off and landing, or we will cancel flights. International aid groups say Israel is still blocking life-saving aid to Gaza. Dozens of government organizations say almost $50 million in aid is piling up at border crossings and in warehouses. And Pierre's Jane Reef has our reports. Israel is requiring aid organizations that have been registered for years with the Israeli government to re-register under new rules. Those rules allow it to reject any aid group it deems anti-Israeli.

It's already affecting aid. The group said from the October ceasefire in Gaza until 12 days later, Israel rejected 94% of requests to send in desperately needed shipments. Israel did not respond to a request for comment. The aid group said most shipments were rejected on the grounds that their organizations were not authorized under the new regulations. Israel is obligated under the U.S. brokered ceasefire agreement to allow a surge in aid to Gaza where famine has been spreading. Jana Ralph, NPR News, Amon. New York's Attorney General pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges, accusing her of lying on mortgage papers to secure favorable loan terms.

The case has been pushed by President Trump. After leaving the courthouse, James said the case is about a justice system that's being used as a tool of revenge. James faces bank fraud and false statements charges. Her trial is scheduled for January. You're listening to NPR News. and Barger had the first pinch-hit Grand Slam and World Series history Friday night as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in game 1, 11 to 4.

Game 2 is Saturday night at 8 p.m. Eastern in Toronto. We have new details tonight about what led to that massive blast to the Tennessee explosives plant earlier this month. 16 people were killed in that explosion. The site is about 60 miles from Nashville. Cynthia Abrams of member station WPLN. On the day of the blast, more than 24,000 pounds of explosives detonated at accurate energetic systems. Authorities have identified where the explosion originated, on the plant's first floor, and developed several hypotheses for the cause.

But Jamie Van Vleet, a special agent in charge at Tennessee's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, said they will not be disclosing these until evidence is thoroughly tested. Those results don't come quickly. They come through time, care, and precision. And that's what this community deserves. Answers that are proven, not guessed. Investigators still have not been able to identify the remains of two of the people who were killed. For NPR News, I'm Cynthia Abrams in Nashville.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is urging the U.S. to expand sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies to cover the entire sector. After meeting with European leaders on Friday, he also appealed for long-range missiles that would allow his country. to hit Russia's oil infrastructure. The meeting was an effort to increase pressure on Russia's president to agree to peace negotiations. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.