NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-03-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Trump administration says it will restart federal food assistance during the government's shutdown, but recipients will only get half of what they normally receive. The administration had said it would not use a contingency fund for the program during the shutdown, but announced the changes after court rulings last week. As NPR's Windsor-Johnston reports, millions of people depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. The threat of missing SNAP benefits is sending a wave of anxiety,

through low-income families, many of whom already live on the edge. Mental health experts say the stress isn't just about food, it's about fear. Martha Wadsworth is a professor of psychology at Penn State University. She says the shutdown is re-traumatizing for people who've already endured poverty, displacement, and instability. Increases stress, and we know stress has effects on the brain. And for kiddos who are hungry, who have food insecurity, it affects. sex their sleep. It's hard to sleep when you're hungry. If benefits lapse, experts say it won't just be hunger, it will be a mental health crisis.

Windsor Johnston and PR News, Washington. A pair of new lawsuits are trying to stop the Trump administration from making a big change to the public service loan forgiveness program. NPR's Corey Turner explains. PSLF, as it's known, was created by Congress in 2007 and offers borrowers a quid pro quo. Work in public service for 10 years, and the government will erase your federal student. loans. Now, though, the administration says, starting in July, it will deny forgiveness to employers that engage in activities with substantial illegal purpose. Today's lawsuits, filed by a host of democratic-leaning cities, counties, and states, argue the Education Department could use this rule

to punish places that defy the administration's positions on immigration, equity, gender-affirming care. The Department has insisted the rule, quote, provides strong, clear standards anchored in law, not ideology. Corey Turner, NPR News. A federal judge has blocked National Guard deployments to Oregon for several more days. As Oregon Public Broadcasting's Conrad Wilson reports, the judge said she needs more time to review evidence from a trial that ended last week. U.S. District Court Judge Karen Emergates block on the Trump administration deploying the National Guard to Oregon extends until 5 p.m. on Friday. She said she needs time to review hundreds of exhibits and additional arguments. This new order is the latest in a month-long legal battle over the

the president's efforts to send guard members to Portland. Emergates' decision on Sunday is not final, but it suggests she's likely to side with the states of Oregon and California and the city of Portland. They've sued to block the deployment, saying President Trump's actions are unlawful and a violation of state sovereignty. For NPR News, I'm Conrad Wilson in Portland. NVIDIA and other AI stocks propped up Wall Street today with the S&P 500 rising about two-tenths of a percent. This is NPR News from Washington. The first clinical trial is underway to see if transplanting pig kidneys into people might really save lives.

United Therapeutics produces gene-edited pig kidneys and says the study's initial transplant was performed successfully. The longest lasting known transplant so far was 271 days. A famine in Sudan has spread to two regions of the country, according to a global hunger monitoring organization. The more than two-year civil war has caused the world's largest humanitarian crisis, as NPR's Emmanuel Akunwatu reports. The Integrated Food Security Phase, Classification, or IPC, said famine had been detected in Unfashir in the western region of Darfur. Twenty other areas in Darfur and Kordofan are also at risk of famine, according to the IPC.

Both regions are at the center of the conflict between the rapid support forces and the Sudanese army that has devastated Sudan, displacing more than 13 million people. There is no definitive death toll. but last year the U.S. said as many as 150,000 people may have been killed. Alface had been under siege by the RSF for 18 months until late October when it took over the city. The siege cut off food and medical supplies to thousands trapped there. Immanuel Akimoto, NPR News, Lagos. Actress Diane Ladd has died. She was 89 years old.

Her daughter, Laura Dern, called her an amazing hero and profound gift of a mother. Ladd's career spanned decades and earned three Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for performances in Alice doesn't live here anymore, Wild at Heart, and Rambling Rose. This is NPR News.