NPR News: 10-20-2025 7AM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are visiting Israel.
What recent events in Gaza are impacting the ceasefire?
That's after an outburst of fighting in Gaza over the weekend threatened to derail the ceasefire. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.
Israel says Hamas opened fire at troops Sunday, killing two soldiers. Israel responded with a wave of strikes, killing at least 46 Palestinians, according to Gaza hospital officials. President Trump said it appeared to be a rebel group within Hamas that launched the attacks. Israel said it would halt aid shipments to Gaza, but Israel quickly reversed course after the U.S. intervened, telling Israel and mediating countries not to harm the ceasefire and to continue aid to Gaza. That's according to a person briefed on the matter, not authorized to speak publicly. U.S. envoys Witkoff and Kushner are visiting Israel, and Vice President J.D. Vance is also expected to visit this week to negotiate the next steps in the ceasefire.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says U.S. military forces have destroyed another boat in the Caribbean Sea and that three people aboard were killed. He says they were drug traffickers from Colombia but provided no evidence. This is the seventh known U.S. attack on boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks. The government of Colombia was once a key U.S. partner in the war on drugs. But President Trump is now accusing Colombian President Gustavo Petro of being a leader in the illegal drug trade. John Otis has more.
For months, Trump and Petro have exchanged insults, prompting Washington to revoke Petro's U.S. visa. Now, tensions are rising over Trump's policy of attacking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea. Petro accused Trump of murder after claiming that one of the victims was a Colombian fisherman. On Sunday, Trump took to social media to call Petro, quote, an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs. He also threatened to cut off U.S. aid to Colombia. Petro quickly responded by describing himself as the main enemy of Colombian traffickers and by saying that Trump was uninformed about his country. For NPR News, I'm John Otis in Bogota, Colombia.
The COVID-19 vaccines may do more than protect people against the coronavirus. NPR's Rob Stein reports new research suggests the shots may also help fight cancer.
Researchers at the University of Florida studied more than 1,000 patients being treated for advanced lung and skin cancer and found that those who had gotten a COVID vaccine, in addition to powerful immune system drugs, were significantly more likely to survive than patients who hadn't gotten a COVID shot. The researchers say the COVID vaccines appear to help rev up the immune system to battle cancer. But more research is needed to explore how the COVID vaccines might help cancer patients. Rob Stein, NPR News.
This is NPR. This is day 20 of the federal government shutdown. Republicans and Democrats are not in any significant talks to bring this to an end. Meanwhile, the Defense Department has shifted money to pay U.S. troops during the shutdown. Most federal workers won't get paychecks, and some, like air traffic controllers, must stay on the job. President Trump says he could send National Guard troops to San Francisco next. That's even though federal judges have blocked the deployment of the National Guard troops in Chicago and Portland. Trump says he could use the Insurrection Act to deploy them if he wanted. French police continue the manhunt for a brazen team of thieves. They stole priceless jewels yesterday from Paris' Louvre Museum in broad daylight.
NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports the case is taking on political tones.
The thieves pulled a moving truck with an extendable ladder alongside a wing of the museum, sawed through a window, and made off with royal jewels worth millions in a matter of seven minutes. Speaking on the radio, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin says all of France feels like it's been burgled. When Notre Dame burned, it was our church burning, even if you weren't Catholic, he said.
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