by Brittney Melton

October 23, 2025

Good morning. Recent changes at the USPS may affect when your mail is postmarked. If you're nearing a deadline to mail in your ballot, tax return or legal documents, consider sending it early. Here’s the news we’re following today:

A federal appeals court is expected to decide on President Trump’s authority to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Ore., within the coming days. A similar case about troop deployments in Chicago is going to the Supreme Court. The federal government deployed troops to both cities against the wishes of the Illinois and Oregon Democratic governors, and district courts temporarily blocked the deployments. Here’s what you should know about legal battles over the deployments in both states.

The side view of two National Guard members shows them from the lower half of their torso to the top portion of their legs. Their hands are crossed at their hips, and their guns are in their holsters.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

🎧 The central focus in these cases is determining whose facts to trust when it comes to the situation happening on the ground in these states: the president’s or the local officials', NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf tells Up First. There are several court cases involving the National Guard's deployments. Chicago is the first one to go to the high court. If the Supreme Court provides an emergency decision on the case, it won’t set precedent nationwide, but it will provide more clarity on the power the president has to deploy and federalize the military, even against local officials’ wishes.

New reporters now hold Pentagon press passes after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth informed news organizations that they had to sign off on a new policy for covering the military by the middle of last week. Hegseth rolled out the policy a few weeks ago, asking reporters to sign a document stating that they are not entitled to broadcast, print or ask for information the Pentagon hasn’t authorized for release. In response, nearly all the journalists decided to turn in their media passes instead.

🎧 Hegseth said that Pentagon reporters were wandering around everywhere within the building, which NPR’s David Folkenflik says is not true. This policy change means that the American people’s knowledge of the military will be what Hegseth and company want them to know and nothing else, Folkenflik says.
➡️ NPR’s Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years but decided to turn it in due to the new media guidance. Read why.

European Union leaders are convening in Brussels for a summit to discuss how much more pressure to put on Russia to end its war in Ukraine. At the top of the agenda is a controversial proposal to provide Ukraine with a large loan using frozen Russian assets that are held in Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend the summit, where he is expected to advocate for support for the idea to EU leaders.

🎧 The loan to Ukraine would involve a little over $160 billion of money that belongs to the Russian Central Bank. The money has been held in Europe, mostly by Belgium, and was immobilized due to the full-scale war, says Reporter Teri Schultz. The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, wants to provide this loan guaranteed by the Russian money because Moscow will owe at least that much to Ukraine in a future peace settlement. However, Belgium, fears that at some point, Russia would have the right to demand this money back, and it would be on the Belgians to supply it. Belgians want each of the EU countries to sign a pledge to share in the loan, which other EU member states have been hesitant to do so far, according to Schultz.

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Living better

This image shows a cartoon-like pink brain with thin arms and legs walking on a treadmill. The brain is wearing a lime-green headband, and droplets of sweat drip out of the brain.

adventtr/iStockphoto/Getty Images

Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.

A new 10-week study has provided the first compelling evidence that cognitive training can increase levels of a brain chemical that typically declines as people age. The research, which involved people 65 or older, discovered that engaging in rigorous mental exercises for 30 minutes a day boosted levels of the chemical messenger acetylcholine by 2.3% in a brain region involved in attention and memory. This cognitive training seemed to reverse age-related decline in this brain area by about 10 years.

🧠 Of the 92 healthy participants, half played computer games like Candy Crush for 30 minutes while the other half spent the same amount of time doing cognitive exercises. The results showed no changes in acetylcholine levels for those who played games, while the cognitive training gave positive results.
🧠The cognitive exercises were part of a scientifically tested program that challenged users to remember the types and locations of items that appear and disappear at increasing speeds.
🧠 Early Alzheimer's drugs reduced symptoms by raising acetylcholine levels. Intensive brain training might offer similar benefits and help prevent cognitive decline, according to Michael Hasselmo of Boston University's Center for Systems Neuroscience.

Melissa Lobos, the lead singer for the dissident band Cachitas Now!, holds a mic as she performs. She is seen wearing a bralet and leather pants. A red light shines on her, and the crowd is lit in dark blue and purple.

Karla Gachet

Cumbia Across Latin America is a visual report covering the people, places and cultures that keep this music genre alive in six countries.

The history of Argentine cumbia cannot be analyzed without considering the role migration plays in the genre, says Luciano Rombolá, host of the radio program Cumbia de la Pura. Around the 1950s, the University of Buenos Aires welcomed foreign migrants, who could study for free, attracting many music students. Among the students was Mario Castellón from Costa Rica, who formed a group with two Colombians, a Peruvian and a Chilean to perform at a wedding. This collaboration led to the formation of Los Wawancó, one of Argentina's most iconic cumbia bands. Since then, other influences like chicha and huayno tropical from Bolivia, cachaca from Paraguay, cumbia chicheras, chacaloneras and norteñas from Peru and Colombian cumbia have made their way to Argentine cumbia. Learn more about Argentina's influence on the genre of music and see pictures of the vibrant culture developed. You can also read the article in Spanish.

new calls with clack! same lousy advice.

Ever wish you could still call Ray from Car Talk? Now you can.

Starting this month, as a new bonus feature on Car Talk+, members will get to hear the younger Tappet Brother yuck it up with listeners again on a semi-quasi-regularish basis. “Whenever I can fit it in between my yoga classes, Mahjong games, and mechanics’ romance book club meetings,” says Ray.

The best part of joining Car Talk+, aside from supporting public media? You can ask Ray a car question yourself by leaving him a message at 888-522-5478. If he picks your question, he’ll take your call and chat with you about your expiring Explorer or limping Lamborghini.

In other bonus episodes for Car Talk+, you’ll hear producer’s picks of some of the best moments from the series, highlights of Tom’s mail segments, and prehistoric excerpts from Weekend Edition, aired on NPR before Car Talk was even launched. And supporting Car Talk+ means you’ll also get archive access to 800+ OG Car Talk episodes.

Join Car Talk+ and join us in welcoming back Ray!

Listen to Clack, only on Car Talk+

The outside of the Museum of Christian & Gospel Music from the street. The business moniker can be seen in large letters on the building.

Jewly Hight/Nashville Public Radio

The Museum of Christian & Gospel Music opened this month in Nashville. It is the first museum in the U.S. designed to celebrate the diverse history of Christian music.

Billboard has updated its system for removing songs from the Hot 100 singles chart once they are too old to qualify as contemporary hits. The new measure has knocked 10 tracks off this week’s chart.

This week, Iceland recorded mosquitoes within its borders for the first time in the nation’s history.

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This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

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