NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-10-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

NPR News: 03-10-2025 12AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey, I'm Scott Schaeffer. And I'm Marisa Lagos. We host Political Breakdown. With the 2024 election over and President Trump in the White House, there's going to be a lot to keep up with this year. Political Breakdown has got you covered. We'll bring smart analysis, a wide range of voices, and even some laughs. Join us for Political Breakdown every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from KQED, part of the

NPR Network. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Congress is facing a deadline of Friday night to pass a bill to prevent portions of the government from shutting down. On Saturday, House Republicans released a 99-page stopgap spending bill, but it's unclear if they have the votes to pass that plan. President Trump Sunday expressed confidence that a shutdown can be avoided with some qualification.

It could happen. I mean, the Democrats want that. They want to destroy the country. So I can't tell you, but it could happen. It shouldn't have happened and it probably won't. I think the CR is going to get passed, we'll see, but it could happen. You never know. Later in the day, Trump also did not rule out the possibility of a possible recession

later this year. The former governor of the Bank of Canada has become the new leader of that country's Liberal Party and is now the Prime Minister-designate. And as Dan Karpanchuk reports, Mark Carney hinted strongly that a general election is on the way. Carney has flirted with politics several times but never actually taken the plunge until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced early last month that he would be resigning. During the Liberal Party gathering in Toronto, Carney said he would stand shoulder to shoulder with

his fellow candidates in fighting the next election with the focus on the challenge from the White House. Carney won handily with 85% of the members voting for him. Former Finance Minister Christopher Freeland came in second with 8%. Carney has not been tested politically. He has repeatedly pledged to call an election soon so he can win a seat in parliament and fight the conservatives who are leading in the polls. Parliament resumes on March 24th. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpanchuk in Toronto. Russian special forces apparently walked inside a gas pipeline this weekend in order to attack

Ukrainian forces from behind. According to reports from a pro-Kremlin blogger, the Russian forces walked about nine miles pipeline this weekend in order to attack Ukrainian forces from behind. According to reports from a pro-Kremlin blogger, the Russian forces walked about nine miles inside the pipeline. The attack occurred in Russia's Kursk region, where the Russian troops are trying to recapture territory that was taken by Ukrainian forces last August. March is known for wild swings in weather, but it's not even mid-month and the forecast is unusually mild for many parts of the US.

Ampere's Amy Held reports on an upcoming widespread warming trend. Most states can expect to experience at least 70 degrees this week as waves of low pressure from Canada are expected to push temperatures up to 30 degrees above normal in the Dakotas and Minnesota, then move eastward. Warmth that could be sustained above normal temperatures also forecast in much of the eastern U.S. next week. In sharp contrast to what the National Weather Service says was likely the coldest winter the U.S. has seen in at least a decade,

thanks to unusual Arctic air blasts that made the U.S. an outlier. Globally, January went down as the hottest the Earth has ever seen. Heat records keep breaking as humans keep burning fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change. Amy Held, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News. Air Force fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft Sunday that was flying in the restricted airspace near President Trump's Florida home. They deployed flares to get the pilots' attention. Trump was finishing a round of golf at his West Palm Beach course at the time of the

incident. Jets were also used in another intercept on Saturday. Drone footage of narwhals shows that these Arctic whales sometimes use their long tusks to manipulate fish. But as NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boys reports, it's not clear just why they do this. The narwhal tusk is a long spiral like a unicorn horn. Males have them, but most females don't. Recently, researchers have been spying on narwhals with drones. They've seen narwhals chasing fish and using their tusks to mess

with them, flipping them, hitting them. It seems like play, but they could stun or kill fish this way. Courtney Watt is a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She says females hunt just fine, so tusks aren't necessary for getting food. But I think maybe they've learned to use them to assist them with foraging. The new observations are in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Scientists think the main job of a narwhal's tusk is to impress females when males are competing for a mate. Nell Greenfield, Boyce, NPR News. Alex Ovechkin is drawing closer to the all-time NHL career goal record. He scored his 886 goals Sunday as the Washington Capitals beat Seattle 4-2.

That means he needs just nine more goals to beat the record currently held by Wayne Gretzky. It was the 33rd goal of the season for the 39-year-old. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. Bella DiPaolo is glad if you're happily married, but she is perfectly happy being single. I would love to have someone who took care of my car or someone who cleaned up the dishes after dinner. But then I'd want them to leave. From yourself to your dog, to your spouse, are significant others. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR.