NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-09-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

NPR News: 03-09-2025 12AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts. Perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. President Trump is urging congressional Republicans to pass a temporary government funding bill in hopes of avoiding a government shutdown. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, Trump posted the message on his social media site after House Republicans released the bill language on Saturday. Republicans released the bill language on Saturday. The government shuts down Friday night if a spending bill isn't passed.

And with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate, Trump wrote on Truth Social, quote, We have to remain united, no dissent, fight for another day when the timing is right. His argument is that although this measure punts the deep spending cuts conservatives want, it buys time for Republicans to pass what he really wants, big tax cuts and bulked up spending on immigration enforcement. Democrats are already rallying against it, saying it hands too much power over to the White House to determine which programs are cut.

Tamara Keith, NPR News, Palm Beach, Florida. Plans to erase the iconic Black Lives Matter street painting near the White House will begin on Monday. It comes after a bill was introduced in Congress giving Washington DC an ultimatum to either remove the mural or risk losing federal funding. NPR's Julianna Kim reports on the mural's significance. The Black Lives Matter mural was created overnight in June of 2020 in defiance against President Trump, who had ordered federal officers to clear protesters. Over the past five years, the plaza became a popular meeting spot for joy and resistance.

People gathered to celebrate Juneteenth there, as well as protest and march for an array of issues, from racial justice to the environment. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the mural inspired millions, but the city simply can't afford to be distracted by quote, meaningless congressional interference, end quote. Julianna Kim, NPR News. More than a thousand people have been killed in two days of fighting in Syria. Most of the dead are civilians. NPR's Jane Arrafe is in Damascus.

She says the fighting is the biggest challenge yet for the new Syrian government of President Ahmed al-Sharah. Jane Arraff, MPR, is in Damascus. Now, Sharah is trying to knit together a multi-sectarian, multi-ethnic country, very heavily armed, lots of different groups, and he needs to unify security forces. There's a vacuum at the moment. There aren't enough of them. The country is struggling with sanctions. There's no police force or army. There's

no money to pay them. It's a big, big, big problem. That's NPR's Jane Arraff filing that report. Iran's supreme leader says he's rejected a push by US President Donald Trump for talks between the two countries. In comments that he gave on Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would not discuss limits on Iran's missile ranges or on the country's regional influence. And while not mentioning the U.S. by name, he did reference a bullying government that was persistent in its push for talks. You're listening to NPR News.

Police in Toronto are continuing their investigation into a bar shooting Friday night that injured 11 people. They say three people walked into the bar and began firing randomly and with no warning. One of them was armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle. Chief Myron Demkew says they are still looking for the suspects and he called the incident a brazen act of violence. I'm not going to speak to the motive. This is still a very fresh act of investigation so I won't be speaking to motive. Six of the victims were shot while the others were injured by flying glass. British scientists have confirmed what many owners of Labrador dogs can tell you, they eat a lot.

But as Vicki Barker reports from London, their findings may shed some new light on their owners' dietary habits as well. Why do some Labrador dogs waddle around swathed in fat while others remain sleek and slim? On the off chance that this was not down to overindulgent owners. Cambridge University scientists analyzed the genes of 250 Labradors, looking for a genetic basis for that urge to overeat. They found changes in one gene in particular

present in the heavier dogs, and then discovered the same overeater gene was associated with high body mass in humans, suggesting that genetic predisposition not willpower keeps the pounds off or as one of the authors told the BBC owners of slim dogs are not morally superior and the same is true of slim people for npr news i'm vicki barker in london i'm dale willman and this is nPR News.