NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-03-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. With the leaders of Russia and North Korea by his side, China's President Xi Jinping addressed thousands during a military parade today commemorating the end of World War II. As the BBC's Frank Gardner reports, the parade showcased China's newest weapons, and some of them could be caused concern. 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 well. weapons. The BBC's Frank Gardner reporting. California Congressman Roe Kana plans to hold a news conference this morning with several of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers. Kana is the co-author of the Epstein Files Transparency Act and a member of the House panel that released government files on

Epstein last night and posted them online. Epstein was convicted of sex crimes in 2008. He died in 2019 while awaiting a New York trial on sex trafficking charges. His convicted accomplice Galen Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex crimes. Federal officers are still patrolling streets in the nation's capital, and President Trump is vowing to send National Guard troops to Chicago and Baltimore as well to fight crime. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says he opposes the use of federal forces and 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 taken. promised to Illinois and Chicago for violence prevention programs that have proven to work. Pertzer says he believes that federal officers are already being relocated from Los Angeles to Chicago. Washington, D.C.,'s mayor Muriel Bowser, is facing criticism for signically a willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration's involvement in her city's affairs. WAMU's Alex Koma has more. Bowser is directing local authorities to coordinate with the federal government, quote, to the maximum extent allowable by law, even after Trump returns control of the city's

police department to D.C. leaders. She's previously said she welcomes the surge of federal officers into the city, despite her critiques of some of their tactics. That's earned her criticism from other D.C. lawmakers and stands in contrast to the much more defiant approach embraced by mayors in Baltimore and Chicago. Still, Bowser says she will renew her push to get federal officers to clearly identify themselves and stop wearing masks after facing frequent complaints from residents. For NPR news, I'm Alex Comer. in Washington, D.C. You're listening to NPR.

Two tribal nations in North Dakota are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to fully review a controversial lower court ruling that could weaken the Federal Voting Rights Act in seven states. As NPR's Hansi Luong reports, this is one of several cases that could end up limiting enforcement of protections

for racial minority voters across the nation. Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination have been mainly enforced through lawsuits by private individuals and groups, including the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe. The tribal nations challenged a North Dakota legislative map drawn by the state's Republican-controlled legislature, arguing the map dilutes a collective voting power of Native American voters. A judge agreed.

But after Republican state officials appealed, a panel of judges ruled the tribal nations do not have a right to sue, and only the U.S. Attorney General does. GOP officials are making this novel argument in multiple redistricting lawsuits at the Supreme Court, which is also set to hear a Louisiana case about whether Voting Rights Act protections and redistricting are constitutional. Hansi Luong, NPR News. The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay a $10 million fine to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging it violated the Children's Online Privacy Act, known as Kappa. The FTC says Disney allowed the collection of personal data on children under 13 for targeted ads by failing to properly label some of the videos uploaded to YouTube as made for kids.

The Kappa Act requires parental consent for use of kid-oriented apps and websites. U.S. futures are higher in after-hours trading on Asia-Pacific market shares are lower down 1% in Shanghai. This is NPR News.