NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-09-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

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On the Embedded Podcast. No, no. It's called denying a speech and mis-speech. It's misinformation. Like so many Americans, my dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. These are not conspiracy theories. These are reality. I spent the year following him down the rabbit hole, trying to get him back. Listen to Alternate Realities on the Embedded Podcast from NPR, all episodes available now.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Israel has ordered its power company to immediately cut off the electricity supply to Gaza. As Adil Halshalchi reports, it's the latest tactic Israel is using to pressure Hamas to agree to an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Israel's decision to cut off the electricity supply to Gaza comes a week after it blocked all aid, including food and medical supplies, into the Strip. Israel wants Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase of a ceasefire deal which ended last month. In it, Hamas would free half of the remaining hostages. But the militant group says it wants to begin talks for a second phase of the ceasefire

deal. That proposal would see a second phase of the ceasefire deal. That proposal would see a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a permanent end to the war. Almost all two million Palestinians in Gaza depend on humanitarian assistance, according to aid organizations. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Jerusalem. Canada's ruling Liberal Party is selecting a new leader today to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. NPR's Jackie Northam reports. There are four candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The front runner is Mark Carney. The 59-year-old comes from the world of finance, including stints as head of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. That expertise

could be critical to tackle Canada's economy. But Carney says he will also be tough with President Trump and his seemingly chaotic trade policies. Trump has helped energize the Liberal Party's leadership contest. His taunts about turning Canada into a 51st state have sparked a wave of nationalism. They have also helped burnish Trudeau's legacy. Two months ago he was deeply unpopular. Now he's seen as standing up to Trump. Jackie Northam, NPR News.

House Republicans have released the details of a temporary spending plan that they're hoping to pass by Friday when some government money runs out. NPR's Amy Held reports the GOP has little wiggle room, but leaders are expressing confidence they can get it done. President Trump posted a plea to social media for Republicans to stay united and vote yes on the legislation that funds the government through September, slightly boosting defense spending with moderate cuts to other programs. To pass, it will need some Democratic support, and Republicans are daring them to tank it

and risk getting blamed for a partial government shutdown. But it is Republicans who have full, if extremely narrow, control of Congress, and Democrats have signaled they are not ready to bail them out, framing the bill as another power grab for the White House. Amy Held and PR News. Civil rights activists are marching across a bridge in Selma, Alabama this afternoon. It was 60 years ago that hundreds marched to demand their constitutional right to vote. They were beaten by Alabama state troopers, an event that became known as Bloody Sunday,

and helped galvanize the civil rights movement. This is NPR News. At least one brush fire is still burning on Long Island. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency yesterday after four separate blazes broke out. Fire crews worked through the night to contain them. One firefighter was injured. Officials say it may take some time to contain the fourth fire because the National Weather Service is predicting strong winds today.

Archaeologists in Britain have identified a circular burial site that may have been a prototype for the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge. Vicki Barker reports from London. The prehistoric flagstone monument near the town of Dorchester is a circular ditch made of intersecting burial pits, a so-called proto-henge, formed as Neolithic Britons moved from building straight or rectangular monuments to circular ones. Now a new analysis of some of the human remains, deer antler, pickaxes, and charcoal found there reveals it was dug around 3200 BC, at least 200 years before Stonehenge. Trade and cultural exchanges were very much a fact of late Stone Age life and

the researchers say it's plausible to posit that flagstones would go on to influence the builders of Stonehenge some 50 miles away. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. In London, a barefoot man climbed the Big Ben Tower yesterday holding a Palestinian flag and wouldn't come down. It took several hours before responders removed him using a cherry picker. Traffic around the palace of Westminster came to a halt and tours of the Houses of Parliament were canceled. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.