NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-30-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

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On this week's Wildcard podcast, Gray's Anatomy and Scandal creator Shonda Rhymes says she doesn't need people to like her shows. When you believe the good things people say about you, you also then are obligated to believe the bad things. Watch or listen to that wildcard conversation on the NPR app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump has just arrived back in Washington, D.C. from a week securing new trade packs in Asia. The final leg of his trip was a major economic gathering in South Korea. On the sidelines, Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in person for the first time in six years, opening the door to a de-escalation in tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

Trump talked about agreements addressing lower tariffs, access to rare earth materials, and fentanyl controls. As NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports, Trump also said China, is committed to buying U.S. soybeans. The U.S. side says that China has agreed to purchase 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans a year. That's more than a fifth than the U.S. is projected to harvest this year. So it is a very big deal. And they're going to start by purchasing 12 million metric tons just between now and January. And PR is Anthony Kuhn.

Federal Aid for the SNAP Hunger Relief Program runs out Saturday due to the government shutdown. In New York State, Governor Kathy Hokel has declared a state of emergency and is promising to keep some food aid flowing. NPR's Brian Mann reports. Speaking in Harlem Hockel, a Democrat, said stopping aid for hunger relief would hurt farmers and food distributors as well as families and children. She called on the Republican-controlled Congress to use contingency funds before Saturday to keep snap food aid flowing. The clock's going to run out on 42 million Americans, including 3 million New Yorkers. Apparently, our cries for help, their cries for help. have fallen on deaf ears.

As part of her emergency declaration, Hokel allocated $65 million in state money to support food banks and pantries. State agencies and schools will help distribute millions of meals. Republicans, meanwhile, have blamed Democrats in the Senate for delaying a new federal budget as part of a partisan standoff over health care subsidies. Brian Mann, NPR News, New York.

As Hurricane Melissa closes in on Bermuda, other island nations are recovering from extensive loss of life and property left this week, whether or not they were struck directly. As many as 30 deaths, tens of thousands of displaced people and damage reported from Hispaniola to the Bahamas. Tuesday, Melissa was a strongest storm to make landfall in Jamaica. Nick Davis is surveying the damage there where several people died. We're just driving into Falma, which is where my dad was from, and it's also where I have my business here in Jamaica. And as we're coming in, you can see trees everywhere.

I mean, like, this is a very green country, and it currently looks like broken matchsticks and twigs along the road. A moment ago, we just drove past car lot. I think it was a car lot. All I know is there was a lot of water and a lot of vehicles in it. That's Nick Davis reporting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down more than 100 points. This is NPR News. More arrests reported today in France. A Paris prosecutor says authorities captured five more suspects

nearly two weeks after the historic jewel heist at the Louvre. The official tells local media that investigators believe they now have three of the four people who allegedly broke into the museum and stole the jewels. The theft took place shortly after the museum opened and lasted only a few minutes. Well, tomorrow is Halloween, time to bring out the costumes and the candy and maybe the Ouija board. Dana Pritchap reports people have been playing with versions of this spooky toy for nearly 150 years. After movies like The Exorcist, it's understandable why some people may fear the Ouija board. We often associate Ouija boards with inviting demons into your home and into your body, but they do not have that history at all. Emily Clark teaches religion at Gonzaga University and says Ouija boards originated out of the spiritualist movement that came after the Civil War, two 21st century sleepovers.

I think the questions that people ask of a Ouija board are questions that they feel like there's no other way to have the answer to. Whether that's if your loved one is at peace, if you're going to marry your middle school crush, or the name of the demon who's really controlling the Ouija board. For NPR News, I'm Dina Pritchip. The NASDAQ has closed down 377 points or roughly 1.5%. The S&P lost 68 points and the Dow closed down more than 100 points. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, in Washington.