NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-03-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

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Life is a mystery for those of faith or no faith. Ye gods with Scott Carter is the podcast that makes sense of how we make sense of life. Each week we talk to celebrities, scholars, and mere mortals to on earth what on earth we believe and what we don't. Listen to Ye gods with Scott Carter, part of the NPR network wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Beijing. Wednesday for a military parade commemorating 80 years since the end of World War II. China's President Xi Jinping addressed crowds in Tiananmen Square, flanked by Russia's

President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. As the BBC's Frank Gardner reports, some of the weapons that were displayed are worrisome. From massive underwater torpedoes to state-of-the-art laser weapons that shoot down drones, China's latest military parade is being closely analyzed by Pentagon experts and defense officials around the world. China's People's Liberation Army, the PLA, has embarked on an extensive military modernization program that's seen it catching up and in some areas overtaking the United States. Hypersonic missiles that travel at more than five times the speed of sound is one area where it leads the world. But China has also been investing heavily in artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons. The BBC's Frank Gardner reporting.

U.S. forces destroyed a ship in waters off Venezuela, heightening U.S. tensions with the South American nation. As John Oda's reports, Trump says the destroyed vessel was carrying drugs headed for the United States. Trump announced the attack by the U.S. Navy from the White House. Over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat. These came out of Venezuela. In a social media post, Trump wrote that 11, quote, terrorists were killed. He described them as members of the Tren der Lago of Venezuelan criminal gang. It was the first confirmed U.S. attack since Trump ordered Navy destroyers and cruisers to the Caribbean to help stop the flow of illegal drugs. Washington accuses

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel. Maduro claims that the U.S. military buildup is meant to overthrow his government. For NPR News, I'm John Otis. A federal judge says the Trump administration's use of National Guard soldiers for immigration raids in Los Angeles was illegal. Hours later, President Trump vowed to send troops to Baltimore and Chicago. Illinois's governor, J.B. Pritzker, says he opposes the use of federal forces in local law enforcement. I refuse to play a reality game show with Donald Trump again.

What I want are the federal dollars that have been promised to Illinois and Chicago for violence prevention programs that have proven to work. Pritzker says his sources and the Trump administration have told him that federal officers are already being relocated from Los Angeles to Chicago. U.S. futures are higher in after hours trading on Wall Street after Tuesday's losses, the Dow fell 249 points, on Asia-Pacific markets' shares are mostly lower. This is NPR. The House Oversight Committee has released the government's files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and posted them online. The data includes hundreds of records from years-old court filings on Epstein and is convicted accomplice Gillen Maxwell, who's serving a 20-year sentence.

Epstein died in a New York lockup awaiting sex trafficking charges. He had already been convicted of sex crimes in 2008. California Congressman Roe Kana, meanwhile, says he'll hold a press conference with some of Epstein's victims on Wednesday. A new report from the World Health Organization suggests Over a billion people around the world have a mental health disorder. And NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports that most are living in low or middle-income countries. Mental health is a growing problem for the globe.

According to the WHO, where the last decade the number of people living with mental health disorders increased at a faster pace than the population as a whole. Deaths by suicide, however, are down 35 percent since the year 2000, but still claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year. year. Depression and anxiety are the most common conditions and cost upwards of $1 trillion each year from productivity losses, the report estimates. On average, governments allocate a tiny fraction of their health budgets to mental health, putting treatment out of reach for many. Jonathan Lambert NPR News. The Disney company has agreed to pay a $10 million fine to settle a federal trade commission lawsuit alleging it violated the Privacy of Children's Online Privacy Act. The FTC says Disney allow the collection of personal data on children under the age of 13.

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