NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-25-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. President Trump says he's open to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his trip to Asia. He's making stops in Malaysia and Japan before arriving in South Korea next week. NPR's Deepa Shibaram reports. On route to Malaysia, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that if Kim was willing to meet, he'd be open to it. He said that he and Kim had a great relationship, and he says Kim knows that he's coming to the region, but he hasn't spoken with the North Korean leader. Trump last met with Kim in 2019

when he made a visit to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. It came together quickly after Trump tweeted and proposed a meeting at the DMZ to shake Kim's hand and say hello. After attending the ASEAN summit in Malaysia and traveling to Tokyo, Trump will fly to South Korea

where he's expected to attend events at the APEC summit and meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Deepa Shiverum and PRU, news traveling with the president. Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro is accusing the U.S. of fabricating a war. He's heard here through a BBC interpreter. They promised they would never get involved in another war.

And now they are inventing a war, which we are going to avoid. How? With the mobilization of the peoples of South America, because South America and the Caribbean, all say no to war, yes to peace, yes to prosperity. The U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier strike group to join operations against South American drug traffickers. In recent weeks, the U.S. military has struck 10 alleged drug vessels, mostly in the Caribbean, killing at least 40 people. Ukrainian officials say a Russian missile attack killed at least two people in the capital

Kiev early this morning. At least 13 people were wounded. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said the attack shows the need for Western air defense systems for Ukraine to defend itself. Ukraine is attempting to buy 25 Patriot air defense systems from the U.S. A federal appeals court decision allowing President Trump to send National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon, is now on pause. From Oregon Public Broadcasting, Dirk Vanderhart reports. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled President Trump could deploy national. Guard troops to the city. But on Friday, the Ninth Circuit froze that order until at least next Tuesday. The court said it needs more time to decide whether a larger group of judges

should take up the case. The continuing legal battle over the President's authority to send in the Guard began in late September. That's when Trump ordered 200 Oregon National Guard troops into Portland after months of protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. To date, no National Guard troops have been deployed in the city. For MPR News, I'm Dirk Vanderhart in Portland. This is NPR News. Tropical storm Melissa is now a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center says it's located about 235 miles southwest of Haiti,

with winds as strong as 75 miles per hour. It's expected to bring damaging winds, flash floods, and landslides to Jamaica, Cuba, and southern Hispaniola. Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Utility crews are working to restore power to parts of Texas hit by severe storms last night, with heavy rain and damaging winds. At one point, more than 100,000 homes and businesses were without electricity. In Florida, new research shows two important coral species have become extinct in local waters. NPR's Craig Allen reports.

Teams of researchers conducted thousands of surveys throughout Florida waters after a heat wave in 2023 caused widespread coral bleach and death. In the Florida Keys, home to the world's third largest coral reef tract, they found nearly all Elkhorn and Stuycorn coral had died. Andrew Baker, a marine biologist at the University of Miami, says that means the two species are functionally extinct. There's one or two or just a few scattered colonies in different reefs around the region, but they're so rare and often so small that they no longer have any real ecological role to play in the ecosystem. Marine biologists are cross-breeding Florida's Elkhorn and Steycorn with species

from Central America that are more heat-tolerant an effort they hope that may help restore Florida's reefs. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. The Toronto Blue Jays won the first game of the World Series last night beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 114. I'm Nora Rom, NPR News.