NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-01-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held. Lawmakers are back on Capitol Hill this week after an August recess that was marked by voter frustration. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports many constituents voiced concerns over the economy and other hot-button issues at town hall meetings. Lawmakers faced blowback from constituents to address rising prices fueled in part by President Trump's tariffs and concerns that changes at the Federal Reserve could put further. strain on the economy. Many also push back on Trump's signature bill passed this summer, concerned about cuts to Medicaid, and other government spending. However, the hardest job on tap for lawmakers may be averting a government shutdown tied to a September 30th deadline. Claudia Rises, NPR News. U.S. colleges and universities are facing a steep drop in international student enrollment this fall. As Frank Morris of member station KCUR report, it comes after a Trump administration crackdown on student visas.

Last year, well over a million international students helped American schools pay the bills. But President Trump's State Department has aggressively denied and revoked student visas. University of North Florida economist Madeline Zavodny says the sharp drop in foreign students is hitting American universities already facing plunging domestic enrollment. This is a big problem for colleges and universities, again, from small privates to big publics that have increasingly emphasized recruiting students from abroad. The final enrollment numbers aren't in, but Savani says the expected drop could cost the U.S. economy some $7 billion and force some small private universities to close.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris. The United Nations is appealing for international aid for victims of Afghanistan's earthquake that struck around midnight last night. At least 800 people were killed, more injured with casualties expected to rise. NPR's Omkarkandekar reports. Spokesperson of UN's refugee agency, Bapar Biloch, said the earthquake came at a time the country was already reeling from a drought and forced expulsion of millions of Afghans from the neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. He said the scale of the disaster far exceeds the capacity of the local authorities. Since roads are obstructed and mobile networks cut off in many places,

aid workers are forced to go on foot to reach victims in remote villages. Afghanistan is vulnerable to earthquakes because of its location at the intersection of two major tectonic planes. An earthquake in the country's west in 2022 killed more than a thousand people. Omker-Kandekar, NPR News, Mumbai. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of a regional summit in China today in a show of deepening ties. New Delhi's ties with Washington have been strained over the purchase of Russian oil. This is NPR News. Mexico is about to mark a significant new chapter in its democracy.

NPR's Ader Peralta reports tonight, judges who were elected by the people will take over the federal judiciary. Constitutional scholars say this is an unprecedented experiment in a democracy. Usually democracies try to insulate their judges from politics. Mexican voters instead approved a constitutional amendment that made all judges directly elected by the people. and through the judiciary, straight into the political arena. By this evening, the whole federal judiciary will be replaced with judges who were elected in June. The country's new Supreme Court Chief Justice will be Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, who grew up herding goats in southern Mexico.

To critics, this change means the erosion of checks and balances. Supporters say in a country where justice is rare, it now makes the judiciary responsive to ordinary citizens. Arapalta, NPR News, Mexico City. At the Nevada Arts and Music Festival Burning Man, police say they're investigating the death of a man as a homicide. He was found this weekend in what police say appears to be an isolated incident, but they urged festival goers to remain vigilant. Burning Man, which brings in tens of thousands of visitors to the Black Rock Desert annually, ends today. The Western U.S. is dealing with above-average warmth.

Forecasters say parts of the Pacific Northwest are likely to experience a possibly record-breaking heat wave with triple-es. digit highs. But in the Northern Plains and Midwest, a strong cold front midweek is forecast to send temperatures plummeting by as much as 25 degrees above below normal this week. It's NPR News.