NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-29-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

NPR News: 10-29-2025 8PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When someone you love is diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness, all you want to do is help. But where do you start? On the Life Kit podcast, we have tips for you. Your agenda should be, I'm going to be with you and be totally present to whatever comes up. Listen in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts for different ways to offer support. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiyvone. Bermuda is now in the path of a weekend but still destructive hurricane. that has already killed dozens of people in the Caribbean.

It made landfall in Cuba this morning as a category three storm. Hurricane Melissa generated deadly floods in Haiti and devastated Western Jamaica yesterday. Hundreds of thousands were left without power. NPR's Michael Copley reports. A State Department spokesperson says Jamaica's government requested help after the storm made landfall as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. The spokesperson says the State Department position supplies ahead of time

to deliver emergency relief. Roads in Jamaica need to be cleared so rescue teams can get to people trapped in their homes. The government says the international airport could reopen for relief flights in the day. The storm is also causing flooding a neighboring Cuba, where it came ashore is a still strong category three storm. The State Department said in a social media post, it's deploying a disaster response team and search and rescue teams to help Caribbean countries hit by the storm. Michael Copley, NPR News. The Federal Reserve today reduced its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point. point down to about 3.9% from roughly 4.1%. This was the Fed's second easing in six weeks.

NPR Scott Horsley reports the widely expected move is designed to provide support for the job market. What they're hoping to avoid is a big jump in unemployment. You know, we've seen a slowdown in hiring in recent months. Employers actually cut the number of jobs in June. And just this week, we've seen some big companies announcing widespread layoffs. General Motors is cutting 1,700 factory jobs. Amazon's cutting 14,000 corporate jobs. Amazon, by the way, is a financial supporter of NPR and pays to distribute some of our programming. So Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says by making it cheaper for both businesses and shoppers to borrow money, the central bank hopes to prop up the sagging job market. NPR has got Hossley in Washington.

Months after a merger created Paramount Skydance, the entertainment company announced it's begun laying off its workers. And PR's Mandelie Del Barco has more on the cost-cutting measure. The first round of pink slips went out to 1,000 workers throughout Paramount's divisions, film, TV, streaming, and the corporate departments. Another thousand employees in the U.S. and around the world are expected to lose their job soon as the media conglomerate Paramount Global plans to reduce its workforce by about 10%. In a memo to employees, Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison said the job cuts were a, quote, part of the company's reorganization. In some cases, he wrote, they're phasing out roles that,

quote, are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure. These first layoffs hit staffers at CBS News, now headed by controversial editor Barry Weiss. CBS News's morning and evening streaming shows were canceled. Mandalay de Barco, NPR News. The Dow closed down a fraction today. This is NPR News. The planet is hotter than ever, and people's health is suffering. because of that climate change. That is the main message of a new report from the International Health Journal, The Lancet. NPR's Alejandra Burunda reports.

The ninth annual Lancet Countdown report focuses on the many different ways climate change affects health. Lead author Marina Romanello is an environmental health scientist at University College London. Over half a million deaths have occurred in the last 10 years

on average annually because of heat exposure. Climate change is also smoothing the path for the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever. And more potent wildfires mean higher exposure to smoke worldwide. Yet some countries like the U.S. are retreating from their previously stated climate goals. And fossil fuel production forecasts are rising. Rominella says the combination could result in more health harms from climate change in the future. Alej Buruna, NPR News. An Illinois sheriff's deputy has been convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of an unarmed woman in her own kitchen after she'd called police to report a suspected prowler.

Sean Grayson was accused of shooting and killing Sonia Massey. His attorneys arguing he was afraid of the way she was handling a pot of boiling water. Police body cam footage showed the woman asking the officers not to hurt her and the deputy shooting her in the face. The victim supporters say the charge should have been first. degree murder, the defendant could get 20 years in prison sentencing is in January. I'm Louise Skiyvone and PR News, Washington.