NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-27-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

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Crime looks different than it used to. A loophole in a crypto wallet could yield a billion dollars. A deep fake of your voice could be used to steal money from your bank. We have PhDs in our team, and they can't tell the difference themselves. A.I. has gotten that good. The indicator from Planet Money is digging into the evolving business of crime. And listen in the NPR app or wherever you get podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Jamaica is bracing for what could be the strongest known hurricane to strike the island. Hurricane Melissa's top sustained winds have intensified to 175 miles per hour, according to the latest reports from the National Hurricane Center. NPR's Rebecca Hersher has more.

Category 5 hurricanes have extremely powerful winds, strong enough to knock down homes that are made of wood and rip off most roofs. and Hurricane Melissa is also moving extremely slowly, which means it will linger over land, dumping huge amounts of rain. The storm is expected to bring multiple feet of rain to some parts of Jamaica. That's particularly dangerous because the island has hills and mountains. When a large amount of rain falls in such an area, it can cause deadly flash flooding because the water picks up speed as it flows downhill. Climate change makes large, rainy hurricanes like Melissa, more likely. Rebecca Hersher, NPR News.

With the government shutdown running nearly four weeks, House Speaker Mike Johnson return to the podium today to detail how the political standoff in Washington over agency funding is acutely affecting services to millions of Americans. This morning, the public heard from Small Business Administrator Kelly Luffler. Small businesses that rely on federal contracts, thousands of them across the country have received stop work orders. Thousands more who rely on federal.

workers as their customers are seeing their revenue dry up. Air traffic controllers are expected to miss their first full paycheck tomorrow. The U.S. had already been experiencing a shortage of personnel responsible for sky safety. King Charles has again been heckled over his younger brother, Prince Andrews, involvement in the Epstein affair. The scandal loomed on a day when the monarch unveiled a national memorial for gay veterans in the English Midlands. NPR's Lauren Fair reports the event was King Charles's first official event in support of LGBT rights.

King Charles laid flowers at a bronze sculpture carved with words from personal letters once used to incriminate gay service members. An independent commission found they suffered systemic abuse under a ban on homosexuality in the military that lasted until the year 2000. Crowds lined up to thank the king for his support for LGBT. TQ writes, but others yelled at him about his younger brother's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. How long are you denying about Andrew and Epstein? In a posthumous memoir published this month, one of Epstein's accusers says she also had sex with the prince, something he denies when she was 17. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. At last, check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 241 points.

This is NPR News. In South Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet separately later this week with the leaders of the U.S. and Canada. Relations between the North American allies are frosty after President Trump put trade talks on ice with Prime Minister Mark Carney as a result of a dispute over an anti-U.S. tariff television ad, Ontario, Ren. President Trump is currently visiting Japan. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug that reduces hot flashes and night sweats. NPR's Alison Aubrey reports a drug offers an alternative to hormone replacement therapy to treat symptoms of menopause. Many women experience symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats that can disrupt sleep, lasting more than a decade during the menopause transition. The symptoms are caused by a drop in estrogen.

The drug will be marketed in the U.S. under the brand name Lindquite. It's a capsule taken once a day around bedtime. The drug has been shown to reduce severity and frequency of hot flashes, which helps improve sleep and quality of life. This non-hormonal drug contains no estrogen and offers an option to women who do not want to take estrogen-based hormone therapy in clinical trials, mild headaches for the most common side effect. Alison Aubrey and PR News. U.S. stocks are trading higher this hour with the Dow up 241 points of roughly half a percent. The SMP has risen 1 percent. And the NASDAQ has climbed 1.7 percent. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News. Every day, a lot happens in the world of politics. And every day, the NPR Politics podcast is here to make sense of it all. We're your daily companion, giving you the updates and news you need to stay informed. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast. on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.