NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-03-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Trump administration says it will restart food benefits during the government's shutdown. People will only get half of their normal amount, and it could be a while before they get that money, as NPR's Jennifer Ludden explains. I will say this money, the way it goes out is complicated. It goes from the federal government to states, then through contractors onto the debit-like cards that people use to buy food. And recalculating for partial payments does take time. But in its court filing, the administration said it could be weeks, if not months, especially it said, in some states with decades-old systems. So it leaves this possibility that people in some states might see benefits before others. NPR's Jennifer Lutton. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine says she's hopeful that bipartisan negotiations will end the shutdown.

Maine Public Radio's Kevin Miller reports. Collins says a group of Democrats and Republicans are trying to, quote, chart a path forward to end the month-long impasse. One potential compromise, she says, would involve the Senate quickly taking up legislation to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies once government reopens. Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, hopes a vote ending the shutdown, will happen by week's end. I don't want to create false hopes out there, but that is based on discussions that I've had with numerous Democrats as recently as last night, as well as with my Republican colleagues. Republican and Democratic leaders would have to endorse any deal.

For NPR news, I'm Kevin Miller. More than 20 Democrat-led states are suing the Trump administration for new restrictions to the public service loan forgiveness program. The rule blocks non-profit and government workers from the program. If federal officials determine their employer has a, quote, substantial illegal purpose, states argue the administration has overstepped its authority. Officials in Michigan say they thwarted a potential ISIS-inspired attack on Halloween. Two men are facing terrorism charges, as NPR's Ryan Lucas reports. The two defendants, Muhammad Ali and Majin Mahmoud, are charged by criminal complaint with receiving and transferring firearms to be used for a crime of terrorism. Court papers say the defendants had ISIS-related materials in their social media communications.

The two men also allegedly purchased guns and practice shooting with their purported co-conspirators at local shooting ranges. Investigators say they uncovered communications in which the defendants allegedly discussed an attack to take place on quote-unquote pumpkin, which officials believe was of reference to Halloween. Agents seized firearms, tactical vests, and ammunition during court-authorized searches of the men's homes, as well as a storage unit, a detention hearing is scheduled for next week. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.

More than 150,000 people have evacuated to safer ground in the Philippines as a typhoon approaches. It's forecast to slam it to shore today or early tomorrow. From Washington, you're listening to NPR News. Famine is spreading in war-torn Sudan, according to the world's leading authority on hunger crises. paramilitary forces rampaged through the besieged city of El Fashehr in the Darfur region last week, killing hundreds of people. Sudan has been torn apart by a power struggle between the military and the paramilitary group rapid support forces. Surgeons have transplanted another genetically modified pig kidney into a patient in the hopes of helping solve the chronic shortage of organs for transplantation.

NPR's Rob Stein has the story on the latest developments in the research. Doctors at NYU Langone Health in New York performed the operation, implanting a kidney from a pig that had been genetically modified to try to make it compatible for humans. The transplant was the first operation to be performed in the first carefully designed study approved by the Food and Drug Administration to test modified pig organs. Doctors previously performed a handful of operations that implanted modified pig kidneys and hearts into people, but those transplants were done outside of a formal state. study. They all eventually failed. Researchers remain hopeful, however, that genetically engineered pig organs could eventually succeed. Rob Stein, NPR News. Researchers are developing tiny drones inspired by bats for search and rescue missions. The robots use echo location to navigate in the dark in challenging conditions where conventional drones cannot. The group at Worcester

Polytechnic Institute are exploring how to create autonomous drones that can be deployed. in swarms. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply.