NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-05-2026 4AM EST

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

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Live from NPR News, I'm Gail Snyder. With the war in the Middle East now in its sixth day, President Trump says he was justified in launching strikes against Iran this past weekend. Speaking at the White House Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. needed to act before Iran did. I think we have great support, and I think if we didn't do it first, they would have done it to Israel and give us a shot if that was possible. The Trump administration has been criticized for giving conflicting reasons for military action against Iran, and Democrats accuse the president of launching a war of choice. But they failed to push through a war powers resolution in the Senate. Senate Republicans block the measure in a largely

party-line vote Wednesday. The House is expected to take up its own war powers resolution today. Iran's foreign minister is calling the sinking of an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka in atrocity at sea. Sri Lankan officials say at least 80 people were killed. Defense Secretary Pete Hegas says a U.S. Navy submarine fired on the vessel. China's economy has been sluggish in recent years, and the government has now set its lowest economic growth target in decades. M.P.R.'s John Ruich reports. The Chinese government sets targets each year for a raft of economic figures, a holdover from the planned economy era. At the start of the annual session of Parliament, Premier Li Chang says the authorities are aiming for gross domestic product growth of 4.5% to 5% this year.

It's the least ambitious target for GDP since 1991, according to Bloomberg. Last year's target was around 5%, so it's not a major downshift. The authorities have been tolerant of what for China counts as slow growth for several years. They're trying to shift away from a dependency on investment and exports to growth based on domestic consumption, but the process has been slow. Officials have also amped up efforts for China to become a tech powerhouse. The authorities announced an expected 10% rise in spending on. science and technology. The defense budget is said to grow two up this year by 7%. John Ruich,

NPR News, Shanghai. Montana Republican Senator Steve Danes has announced his retirement. He withdrew from his reelection bid Wednesday just before Montana's deadline for candidates to file for the November midterm election. Montana Public Radio's Shaley Rager has more. Danes, who was heavily favored to win re-election, said in a statement that he's been wrestling with the decision for months. Serving the people of Montana in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate the past 13 years has been the greatest honor of my professional career. Montana Republican U.S. attorney Kurt Almie filed to run for U.S. Senate just as Danes dropped out, minutes before the candidate filing period closed. Danes immediately endorsed Alme. President Donald Trump appointed Alme the state's U.S. attorney twice and endorsed his candidacy on truth social.

Alme has not run for office before. You're listening to NPR News. President Trump says he'll make an endorsement soon in the Texas Senate runoff between Republican incumbent John Cornyn and State Attorney General Ken Paxton. And in a social media polls, Trump said the candidate who does not get his endorsement should drop out for the good of the party. Cornyn and Paxton advanced to a runoff this May after Tuesday's primary election. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee,

Vettie voted Wednesday to subpoena, Attorney General Pam Bondi. Lawmakers in both parties want Bondi to testify in oversight's investigation into the late-convited sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. A senior Chinese leader who took part in the revolution that put the country's Communist Party in power has died. Emily Fang has more. Song Ping was 109 years old when he died in Beijing, making him older than China's Communist Party itself. He joined the party as a young college graduate rising through the ranks to become one of the first directors of Xinghua, which would become the official state news agency after 1949, working directly with senior leaders like chairman Mao Zedong and foreign minister Joe in line and then finally joining the party's elite Politburo. So infamously criticized pro-democracy protesters during big demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989, and he was also a kingmaker, while the party's chief in northwestern Kansu-prong. province, Song mentored and then elevated Hu Jintao and Wynzabal, both of whom would later go on

to head the party. But under Xi Jinping, who succeeded Hu Jintao, Song's protégés and their networks fell out of favor. Emily Fang and Pier News. And I'm Jail Snyder. This is NPR News. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus. NPR. That's plus. npr.org.