NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-28-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Panningly. Hurricane Melissa is approaching Jamaica as a Category 5 storm with top sustained winds near 175 miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center in Florida is warning Melissa's winds and rains could produce life-threatening flooding and catastrophic damage. NPR's Michael Levitt says the storm is expected to move over Jamaica this morning. Melissa is expected to be slow-moving and brutal, with up to 40 inches of rain predicted in some areas. Flooding and storm surges as high as 13 feet threatened coastal communities, while communities on hillsides face the potential for dangerous mudslides. Peter Lindau is a resident of Norbrook, a suburb in the foothills north of Kingston.

He says he's bracing not just the weather of the storm, but also for what comes after. I'm expecting that we won't have power for several days. I'm expecting that communication will be compromised for several days. Roads will be blocked. Living will be difficult for a few days. Earlier, Lindau dropped off supplies to his elderly mother, who lives across town. He says he hopes it's enough to sustain her through the storm and its aftermath. Michael Levitt, NPR News.

In Tokyo today, President Trump and Japan's Prime Minister, Sanay Takachi, signed a trade agreement involving rare earth minerals. The Prime Minister called it the start of a new golden age in the two countries' relationship. Trump also had words of praise. We very much appreciate the trade. We're going to do tremendous trade together, I think more than ever before. The agreement comes two days before President Trump is scheduled to meet with China's President Xi Jinping at talks in South Korea, where Trump hopes to secure a trade deal with Beijing.

Premiums for Affordable Care Act health plans in the U.S. are set to jump sharply next year, Federal subsidies that kept plans affordable are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. Democratic lawmakers want Republicans to negotiate an extension of the subsidies before ending the government shutdown, which is now four weeks old. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has more. Chloe Chalacani is 31 years old and runs a small culinary business with her partner in Mid-Cost, Maine. She says she's already at her limit, paying $460,000. a month for an ACA plan. So if the premium gets more expensive...

I don't plan to get insurance next year. Health policy experts warn that healthy people leaving insurance markets can lead to something called a death spiral, where only the most sick and oldest people participate. Open enrollment is coming up on November 1st. There are currently no signs of progress on this issue in Congress. Selina Simmons-Duffin, NPR News, Rockland Harbor, Maine. Wall Street futures are mostly higher this morning following yesterday's record close on Wall Street. This is NPR News.

Game 3 of Major League Baseball's World Series went 18 innings last night before a home run by the Dodgers Freddie Freeman gave Los Angeles a walk-off win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The final score was 6 to 5. The game lasted more than 6 and a half hours at Dodger Stadium. It tied the record for the longest World Series game. In 2018, a World Series match between the Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox also went 18. L.A. now leads the best of seven series two games to one. Game four is tonight again in Los Angeles. Indiana's governor is calling lawmakers into special session next week.

As Ethan Sandweiss with member station WFIU reports, the governor wants Indiana to do what other states have done and redraw its congressional map. Indiana has been under pressure from President Trump's administration to draw new boundaries that could give Republicans additional U.S. House seats. Vice President Vance visited the State House in recent months, urging lawmakers to join the redistricting push. Republican told a supermajority in Indiana State House. It's unclear whether lawmakers have the votes to pass a new map. Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have drawn new districts favoring Republicans, while Virginia and California are preparing to counter with Democrat-leaning seats. For NPR news, I'm Ethan Sandwice

in Bloomington, Indiana. Wall Street is coming off the day of record high closes for the Dow, the S&P 500, and the NASDAQ. The Dow added 337 points yesterday to close at 47,544. The S&P gained more than 1%. The NASDAQ added more than 1 and 3 quarters percent. I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington.