NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-09-2025 1PM EST

Episode Date: November 9, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Today is day 40 of the government shutdown. House members remain out of town, but NPR's Amy held reports the Senate is working to break the impasse and due to reconvene this afternoon. The Senate's Saturday session yielded no votes, no text for a package of spending bills under negotiation to reopen the government, and no detectable headway. However, their first weekend session of the shutdown did mark a start. That will not end, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters they will stay in session until the impasse is broken.

The Senate has tried and failed 14 times to pass a House-approved stopgap funding bill, but the heart of the stalemate remains. Democrats won't vote to end the shutdown until health care subsidies are extended. Republicans say they won't negotiate until the government is reopened. Amy Held and PR News, Washington. The Philippines Weather Service says Typhoon-Fung-Wong made a lot. landfall today. More than a million people had already been evacuated. Two people died in flash flooding. The BBC's Jonathan Head has more. There are great sheets of rain driving across the roads. This is not the first typhoon this season, but it may be in terms of its size,

the biggest, and it's carrying huge quantities of rain. And that's what's really worrying the authorities here. For the moment, people are sheltering in any solid buildings they can find. Earlier today, we watched coastal areas evacuating, people leaving anywhere near the sea or any low-lying or flimsy houses and moving into sports centers, city halls, any kind of solid building where they can shelter for the night while these driving winds cross the country. The BBC's Jonathan Head, a powerful earthquake shook northern Japan today. Seismologists said it had a magnitude of 6.9. There were no reports of injuries or major damage. Ukrainian cities are facing power cuts of between 8 and 16 hours after Russian strikes on the energy grid wiped out power-generating capacity. Russia has intensified attacks on energy infrastructure each fall since its full-scale invasion. NPR's Joanna Kikis reports.

Ukraine's state-owned electricity generating company, Centrnego, said that the Russian attacks had reduced capacity to, quote, zero at thermal power plants. Foreign Minister Andri Sibicha said that Russian drones also targeted two nuclear power substations deep in western Ukraine. Every fall, Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine's power and heating grid to force a harsh winter on Ukrainian cities. Many Ukrainians have adapted by using backup energy storage devices and generators in their homes and businesses. This year, Ukraine has attacked Russian oil depots and refineries to weaken what it calls Russia's war machine. Joanna Kikisis, NPR News, Kiev. This is NPR News in Washington. Britain is sending anti-dron equipment and experts to Belgium

to help that country combat drone sightings. Drones have prompted airport closures in several European countries in recent weeks. Some officials suspect Russia is behind the drones, which Moscow denies. Thousands of people attended a funeral today for the last Israeli-American hostage returned from Gaza, After being held there for more than two years, his remains were returned to Israel last week as part of a U.S. brokered ceasefire. NPR's I-Tay Stern reports from Tel Aviv. A military counter saying prayers for Itai Chen, an Israeli-American soldier who was killed in combat on October 7, 23, then taken into Gaza by Hamas-led militants. President Trump's special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, gave a eulogy by video, saying, Chen, reminded him.

of his own late son, Andrew. I've learned that life's truest measure is not in its length, but in the love that it ignites. Chen's father, Ruby, thanked President Biden and Trump for their efforts to bring home his sons' remains, and he vowed to hold Israeli government accountable for not doing enough to bring more hostages home alive. He noted that 42 soldiers and civilians abducted to Gaza died during their time in captivity. It is turn, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Today is Remembrance Sunday, Britain's annual tribute to those who died in war.

King Charles led today's service, which included two minutes of silence and a wreath laying at a stone monument in London. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News, in Washington.