NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-31-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: August 31, 2025

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You've probably seen some people going straight to the front of the line at airport security. I had like angry clouds darkening over my head. I was just sort of like starting to fume. On the Sunday story, we take a closer look at how the private sector has taken on what used to be the government's job at the airport. Listen now to the Sunday story on the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR news, I'm Dale Wilman. Denmark's foreign minister says Israel is undermining a two-state solution to the Middle East crisis by its actions in Gaza. Lars Lachrasmussen told reporters on Saturday that Denmark will keep working to help the people of Gaza.

We will continue to work to secure the necessary support among the EU countries to do so. We must at the same time work hard to relieve the immense humanitarian suffering in Gaza. That's why we have called for Israel to reopen the medical corridor from Gaza to east Jerusalem and offered our support to treat patients from Gaza. Many of my colleagues echoed that approach. Israel's military, meanwhile, continues its preparation for the launch of a new offensive aimed at Gaza City. The Israeli army has confirmed that it launched an airstrike on a village near Yemen's capital city this week. The attack on Thursday killed the Prime Minister of the Houthi rebel.

controlled government, along with several government ministers. The Iranian-backed Houthis have been launching missile strikes at Israel during Israel's war on Gaza. The Trump administration is canceling more than $600 million for ports around the country. The grants were to support the growing offshore wind power industry, and Piers Lawrence Summer, Paz Moore. Offshore wind turbines are much bigger than those on land. So ports need special infrastructure to build wind farms on the ocean. Many ports around the country were hoping to become economic hubs for the industry. The Trump administration is now canceling $679 million in federal grants for 12 port projects. In a statement, the Department of Transportation called the projects wasteful. Trump has been a longtime critic of wind power and ordered a Rhode Island

offshore wind farm to stop construction just a week ago. Energy analysts say hampering the wind industry could drive up electricity prices given the country's growing need for power. Summer, NPR News. American support of labor unions remains near a 60-year high. That's according to a new poll that's out now from Gallup, MPR's Andrea Shue reports. Every year, Gallup asks a sampling of Americans, do you approve or disapprove of labor unions? This year, 68% of U.S. adults said they approve. That's pretty much unchanged from last year.

It's the fifth year in a row that approval ratings for unions have reached a level last enjoyed in the late 50s and early 60s, the heyday of U.S. manufacturing following World War II. Support for unions split sharply along party lines, with 90 percent of Democrats surveyed approving of unions compared to 41 percent of Republicans. Broad overall support for unions comes even as only a small sliver of the workforce remains unionized. Only 15 percent of those surveyed said they live in a household with at least one union member. Andrew Hsu and PR News. listening to NPR News. Russia launched a major aerial attack on southern Ukraine Saturday that included more than 500

drones and decoys as well as 45 missiles. Officials say a residential building was hit. At least one person has died and 28 others were wounded. The attack comes two days after an airstrike on Central Kiev killed 23 people and damaged offices of the European Union. In the world of publishing, audio is going through a boom in business. In 2024, digital audio brought in some $2.4 billion in revenue for the industry. That's a 22% bump over last year.

MPR's Andrew Limbaugh reports. These numbers come from the Association of American Publishers, which just published its annual report, looking at the dollars and cents of last year. And this rise in audio is part of a bigger trend. According to the report, over the past five years, revenue for the digital audio format has grown by 78%. Over on the print side of things, there's growth, but smaller, with both paper and hardback formats, bringing in about $8 billion in revenue each. That's about 3% more than last year.

That said, print is still the bread and butter of publishing, making up nearly three quarters of the revenue of the entire industry. Andrew Limbong and Pierre News. Lawyers are demanding the release of a longtime Oregon resident who was arrested this week by Border Patrol. The man was on a crew fighting a wildfire in the state when he was arrested. His lawyers say he's been in the U.S. for 19 years, and he's already on track for legal status after he helped investigators solve a crime against his family. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees.

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