NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-25-2025 7AM EDT

Episode Date: October 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Gail Snyder. The former top U.S. diplomat to Venezuela, James Stor, says the escalating tension between Washington and Caracas could lead to action against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. For the administration, the preferred outcome is that somebody close to Maduro does one of three things. It extradites him to the United States, exile him to another country, or removes him from the scene, and we'll personal. manner, rather than the United States to get involved. Maduro has repeatedly accused the U.S. of attempting to drive him from power. Yesterday, the Pentagon announced a U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier and its strike group to the Waters' South America after conducting 10 air strikes on vessels the Trump

administration accuses of carrying illegal drugs. Pentagon confirming that it has accepted the anonymous $130 million gift that President Trump announced on Thursday. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell issued a statement saying the money falls under the Defense Department's General Gift Acceptance Authority. The money is to be used to help pay members of the military during the government shutdown, but the gift raises ethical questions. UN Security Council commemorated the 80th anniversary of the United Nations on Friday, as Linda Fasulo reports. Secretary General Guterres said the Council remains a vital necessity and a powerful force for good, but warned that its legitimacy is fragile. Too often nations have acted outside the U.N. Charter, he said, which stalls action and puts everyone at risk.

Guterres also stressed that reform was imperative and overdue. He called for expanding the Security Council to include permanent seats for members from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. He also welcomed proposals by France and Britain to voluntarily limit the use of the veto. Security Council reform would require the approval of all five veto-holding permanent members, including the U.S., Russia, and China. For NPR News, I'm Linda Fasulo in New York. Republican lawmakers in Virginia criticizing Democrats' plans to redraw the Commonwealth's congressional districts, Virginia now the latest state, where Democrats are trying to counter mid-decade redistricting in GOP-led states,

as Brad Cutner of Radio IQ and Richmond reports. Republican State Senator and Constitutional lawyer Bill Stanley joined a growing number of Virginia Republicans who say more than 800,000 early votes cast before Thursday's announcement should void Democrats redistricting scheme. I would think some of those voters that have already voted may want to change their vote, and they can't now because of what they're seeing the Democrat Party in Virginia doing. Virginia Democrats have so far said little about the effort, but a lawmaker familiar with the process said any GOP efforts to use the courts to slow it down are a, quote, desperate Hail Mary to deflect from their undemocratic efforts to prevent accountability nationwide for

their policies. For NPR news, I'm Brad Cutner in Richmond. This is NPR. President Trump is on his way to Asia. He departed aboard Air Force one late last night. His first stop is in Malaysia, but the main focus of his trip is the president's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as trade war tensions escalate. Mall Street had another record-breaking week as the federal government made an exception to the shutdown and released a crucial inflation report. As MPR's Maria Aspen reports, Adela, ended the week above 47,000 for the first time ever. Annual inflation was slightly lower than expected in September, the government said Friday. It's not releasing most economic data during the shutdown, but it needs this particular report to determine the cost of living increase for Social Security recipients.

Now those 75 million people will see an extra $56 per month, on average, in the cost. Social Security checks, starting in January. Meanwhile, investors welcomed the inflation report as another sign that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again next week. The Fed is trying to keep prices under control, but it's also increasingly worried about the job market. The shutdown means it's flying mostly blind, as the government has not released the most recent jobs report. Maria Aspen and PR News, New York. Tropical storm, Melissa, is expected to strengthen into a hurricane today. Forecasters are warning that Melissa could touch off catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic through the weekend.

National Hurricane Center says Melissa could dump more than two feet of rain through Monday, Melissa the 13th named storm of the Atlantic season. I'm Jail Snyder, NPR News.