NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-27-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: November 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. The two National Guard members shot yesterday in Washington, D.C., have been identified as 24-year-old Andrew Wolf and 20-year-old Sarah Bextrum. Both underwent surgery and remaining critical condition, according to authorities. NPR's Juliana Kim reports. The West Virginia National Guard says Sarah Bextrum is an Army specialist who join the service in 2023. Andrew Wolf is an Air Force Staff Sergeant who entered the service in 2019. Bextram is from Somersville in central West Virginia, while Wolf is from Martinsburg, which is in the state's eastern panhandle and less than a two-hour drive to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Both Bextram and Wolf had been deployed to D.C. since August when the troop deployment in this city began. Authorities have described the shooting as a targeted attack, and it's being investigated as an act of terrorism. Juliana Kim, NPR News. At least 65 people are dead and hundreds are missing after a fire broke out of the massive housing complex in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Cherise Fam has more. Firefighters are going through the wreckage of apartment buildings floor-by-floor searching for survivors. The fire department said they rescued an elderly man from the 31st floor of one of the buildings on Thursday afternoon. Later in the evening, more than 24 hours after the fire started, they found another survivor in a staircase, according to local media reports. The public housing complex where the fire broke out is home to about 4,600 people. The high-rise apartment towers had been under renovation and covered in bamboo scaffolding, which caught fire and collapsed. Police said the construction material found around the buildings did not meet safety standards

and may have been the reason the fire spread so quickly. Three people from the company responsible for the renovations have been arrested on suspected manslaughter charges. For NPR News, I'm Sheree Fam in Hong Kong. Retail Federation says holiday sales will likely surpass $1 trillion for the first time this year. If their prediction holds, it would mean a 3.7 to 4.2% sales increase over 2024. Federation Chief Economist Mark Matthews says the increase would in part be due to President Trump's tariffs, but he also says Americans are in a spending mood, and they're shopping even earlier.

What we've seen over time is, you know, this weekend, in a shopping context, used to be about, you you know, in store on Black Friday, that's change, right? People are shopping earlier than before, and they're shopping across the holiday weekend, not just in store, but online. Videos being shown on TV stations in the Middle East right now appear to show Israeli soldiers killing two Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they had already surrendered. Palestinian officials say the men were murdered in cold blood. Israel's military says it's investigating the claim, and it says the two were wanted militants, who had thrown explosives at troops.

You're listening to NPR News. For many Americans, it's an unspoken rule to avoid political discussions at the Thanksgiving dinner table. And as NPR's Elena Moore reports, the latest NPR, PBS News, Marist poll, may help explain why. It finds that both Democrats and Republicans are skeptical of people who are in the other party. Vast majorities of both Democrats and Republicans say that folks who support the other party are, quote, mostly close-minded. Plus, 72% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats believe those on the other side of the aisle are, quote, mostly dishonest. For some, like Democratic voter Teresa Tucker in Michigan, engaging in political discussions has become difficult. I think it's definitely gotten worse.

I think, unfortunately, this administration has pitted people against each other. And, you know, if we would have more conversations, I think we would find we have a lot more in common than we don't. She says this holiday season, the focus at her dinner won't be on politics. It'll be on family and festivities. Elena Moore and PR News. A new joint U.S.-Russian crew has reached the International Space Station. The team lifted off this afternoon from Kazakhstan and docked with the station several hours later. The three are expected to stay at the space station for eight months.

They're joining seven other astronauts already in space, including three from the U.S., three from Russia, and one from Japan. Pope Leo the 14th is in Turkey today, where he said that country could become a source of stability and dialogue in a world torn by conflict. And he praised the country's historic role of being what he called a bridge between the West and the East. The Pope also offered a message of peace. It was his first international trope, a trip as Pope. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.