NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-03-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all on the web at theschmidt.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Janene Hurst. Texas House Democrats are leaving the state to prevent Republicans from passing a heavily redrawn Congressional map aimed at securing five extra seats for the GOP in the midterm elections. Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider has more. More than 50 Democrats had planned to leave Texas, most of them to Chicago, to prevent Republicans from adopting a map President Trump and Republicans are hoping will help

them to retain their majority in midterm elections. State Representative James Tellerico of Austin posted a video explaining the move on social media. If this power grab succeeds they will hang on to power without any accountability from the voters. The Texas Democrats are fighting back. We're leaving the state. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burroughs issued his own statement on social media saying that the House would convene Monday at 3 p.m. Central Time and if there is no quorum, quote, all options will be on the table. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston. President Trump has withdrawn one of his two

nominees for the US Postal Service's governing board. NPR's Hansi Le Wang reports the move comes as the USPS faces an uncertain future under the Trump administration. The White House's press office did not immediately respond to NPR's question about why President Trump withdrew his nomination for John LaValle to join the board of governors for the U.S. Postal Service, which is a financial supporter of NPR. Last month, the names of both LaValle and Trump's still active postal governor nominee, Anthony Lo Mangino, were removed from the agenda of a Senate confirmation hearing with no public explanation.

In recent months, the Trump administration has sparked concerns that it's determined to take over USPS, which Congress set up to be an independent agency decades ago. By next year, Trump is expected to have a chance to nominate a total of five new postal governors who could dominate what is currently a board of mostly nominees of former President Joe Biden. Anzila Wong, NPR News, Washington. One of Israel's prominent right-wing cabinet members has called for the entire Gaza Strip to be occupied. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports he made his remarks from a religious site in Jerusalem

that's holy to both Muslims and Jews. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir's visit Sunday to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, a site also holy to Jews, marks the first time a minister from this Israeli government has openly prayed at the sensitive site. Ben-Gavir said the entire Gaza Strip must be occupied, sovereignty declared, Hamas uprooted and voluntary immigration promoted. The visit and prayers was condemned as an incitement by Palestinian leaders as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Under the longstanding status quo, Jews may visit but not pray at the mosque compound, which is administered by Jordan. Following Ben-Gavir's visit, the Israeli prime minister's office put out a statement saying the status quo on the Temple Mount has not and will not change. Eleanor Beardley, NPR News, Tel Aviv. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher at this hour. Dow futures up about one-tenth of a percent. This is NPR News.

The tea app describes itself as the safest place to spill the tea about potential love connections. But last month, a data breach revealed users' direct messages and even pictures of their state IDs. And here's Alana Weiss has more. Tea allows its subscribers to conduct background checks and communicate anonymously about men in the dating pool. But last month, the app disclosed that its servers had been breached and its users'

personal information was splashed across social media. Online trolls also claimed to have sourced the metadata included in the photos and used it to make a map of T-subscriber's locations. As a result of the breach, the company faces two class-action lawsuits filed in California. Experts say that networks of women quietly sharing information between themselves sounds the alarm on abusers, and it helps protect accusers from retaliation. But the app leak reveals how flawed these systems can sometimes be. Alana Wise, NPR News.

At the weekend box office, Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four First Steps, held onto the top spot in its second weekend with an estimated forty million dollars in ticket sales. The superhero film, the last major blockbuster of the summer, has made nearly three hundred seventy million dollars worldwide. In second place, The Bad Guys 2 debuted with twenty two million dollars. In third place, another debut, Paramount's slapstick comedy sequel, The Naked Gun, with $17 million. The box office is up 9.5% from last year.

I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.