NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-30-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. President Trump is flying home from South Korea. He'd been to an Asian economic forum. Trump met with China's leader, Xi Jinping. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports that Trump expressed very positive feelings about their conversation. The two leaders met for about an hour and 40 minutes at a South Korean military air base near the city of Busan. Aboard Air Force One, Trump said that Xi said China will do more to curb the flow of fentanyl ingredients into the U.S. Trump said the tariffs on China because of the fentanyl issue would be reduced effective immediately.

Just before the meeting, President Trump announced that the U.S. will resume testing nuclear weapons. China has recently been expanding its nuclear arsenal. Trump said that he would visit China in April and Xi Jinping would visit the U.S. sometime after that. Anthony Kuhn, in PR News, Guangzhou, South Korea. The federal government shutdown is more than a month old, and federal programs are at risk of running out of money on Saturday. That includes the Federal Food Assistance Program, or SNAP. More than 40 million Americans rely on it.

Officials in Louisiana, New Mexico, and Vermont say they'll use state money to help SNAP recipients. From member station WRKF, Alex Cox, reports a law passed in Louisiana won't be enough to cover that shortfall. 53,000 of those who rely on the program probably won't get the benefits. Louisiana Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein says that's because they are prioritizing children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The intention is that we're not covering able-bodied adults. That's the direction that we're headed. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the people who won't qualify for the state-funded benefits should lean on food banks or pursue jobs highlighted on the state-run online job board. For NPR News, I'm Alex Cox in Baton Rouge. Israel has again carried out a targeted strike in northern Gaza.

This came hours after Israel declared it was resuming the U.S. brokered ceasefire after conducting an earlier bombardment. And P.R.'s Rob Schmidt's reports from Tel Aviv. The strike, according to Israel's military, targeted what it called terrorist infrastructure in the northern Gaza town of Baitlachia, where it said weapons and aerial means were stored. A spokesperson for Israel's military said the site was intended to be used for an imminent terror attack against Israeli soldiers in the state of Israel. The strike came a day after Israel launched a series of strikes throughout Gaza,

which, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, killed 104 people. Meanwhile, Lebanon's prime minister is condemning an Israeli raid in the border village of Bilda in which one man was killed. Israel's military said the incident is under investigation. Rob Schmitz and Pierre News, Tel Aviv. The National Hurricane Center says that Hurricane Melissa is moving farther into the Atlantic Ocean. It crashed into Cuba yesterday. and it hit Jamaica on Tuesday.

Reports from Jamaica indicate catastrophic damage. This is NPR. Officials in Alaska are moving hundreds of people from mass shelters into hotels. People fled Western Alaska earlier this month ahead of a typhoon. Hundreds of people evacuated to Anchorage. Entire villages in Western Alaska were destroyed by the storm.

It's not clear when many residents can go home. Months after merging into Paramount Skydance, the entertainment company has announced layoffs. NPR's Mandalay-Dilbarco has details on the cost-cutting measures. 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, necessary 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. China says it's moving forward on its place. to send people to the moon by 2030. Officials from China's space program have introduced their latest class of astronauts. They'll take a turn aboard the Chinese space station that's now in orbit. China was excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. security concerns.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.