NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-03-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

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Hey, it's Rachel Martin. I'm the host of Wildcard from NPR. For a lot of my years as a radio host, silence sort of made me nervous. That pause before an answer, because you don't know what's going on on the other side of the mic. But these days, I love it. Hmm. Ah. Gosh. Give me a minute. Yeah, yeah. Think. Listen to the Wild Card podcast only from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Steven. China has celebrated the 8th anniversary of the end of World War II with the military parade. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports that some two dozen foreign leaders attended the event, but very few of them were from Western nations. Troops marched in precise lockstep through Beijing's Tiananmen Square, drones, laser weapons, and other hardware, which China claims only it has, also rolled by. On the reviewing stand, China's leader Xi Jinping was flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In a speech, Xi Jinping called on China's people to carry on the spirit of resistance

that led them to victory in World War II. He finished by saying, The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable. Despite the striking image of Xi, Putin, and Kim standing together, the three are not expected to hold a formal trilateral meeting. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. The governors of Illinois and Maryland say they do not want National Guard troops dispatched to cities in their states to aid crime enforcement.

But President Trump says he's sending federal officers to certain cities, whether they like it or not. Chicago is a hellhole right now. Baltimore is a hell hall right now. Parts of Los Angeles are terrible. If we didn't put out the fires, and I mean the other fires, the bullet fires. Trump made the remark hours after a federal judge ruled his use of federal troops to aid immigration enforcement in Los Angeles was illegal. The ruling is on hold, however, until September 12th to give the administration time to appeal. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has revived a contract with an Israeli spyware company. The original deal was paused for human rights concerns under the Biden administration, as NPR's Jenna McLaughlin reports. A federal contracting records database shows ICE has reactivated a contract with Paragon Solutions,

and Israeli spyware company formed in 2019. While the company has claimed it has put safeguards in place to prevent abuses, researchers from the University of Toronto's citizen lab have found evidence of the company's invasive software on at least one prominent European journalist's phone. The deal was first signed in 2024 during the Biden administration. However, the Biden White House ordered the company to stop work during a review after putting out an executive order focused on curbing abuses of spyware technology.

ICE could use the software to ramp up its ongoing immigration raids and spy on potential targets. Gentleman Goughlin, NPR News. Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth is authorized sending military lawyers to the DO Day to serve as temporary immigration judges. That's according to an Associated Press report, citing a memo dated August 27th. The Trump administration has increasingly turned to the U.S. military to assist immigration agents with arrests and deportations. This is NPR. A U.S. Navy ship struck a vessel in the South Caribbean on Tuesday.

The Trump administration says the strike intercepted and alleged drug shipment from Venezuela. The Trump administration has accused Venezuela's president of being a drug lord. The incident on Tuesday came days after the U.S. deployed several warships to the Caribbean and Pacific. A recount of Washington, D.C.'s unhoused population shows no change since the Trump administration vowed to banish homelessness there three weeks ago. As NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports, the hundreds of federal agents deployed to the city are helping police move people out of tents. When he federalized D.C.'s police force to crack down on crime, Trump also decried the city's quote, tense, squalor, and filth. He said people living outside would be sent far from the Capitol. The White House says 50 encampments

have been cleared, but the city did an emergency count to see where people in those tents went so it could better help them. It found 764 people still living outside. That's just 28 fewer than were counted in the regular annual tally in January. Homeless advocates say forcing people to move quickly and scatter is disruptive and can make it take longer to eventually get them into housing. Jennifer Ludden and Peer News, Washington. Authorities in southwest Pakistan say a suicide bombing has killed at least 13 people and wounded 30 more. The attacker detonated his explosions outside a stadium where supporters of a nationalist party candidate had attended a rally. This is NPR News.