NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-09-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. UN Secretary General Antonio Gattarish is condemning Israel's strike in Doha, targeting Hamas leaders as a violation of Qatar sovereignty. Israel says it prepared for the strike after a deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem yesterday. A Hamas official tells NPR no Hamas leaders were killed in the strike. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv. A Hamas official speaking on condition of anonymity told NPR that Hamas leaders were not killed in the strike, but it did kill the son of Hamas's top negotiator, Khalil al-Haya, according to his family.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he instructed his security officials yesterday to prepare for a possible strike on Hamas leaders after a pair of Palestinian gunmen from the West Bank opened fire at a bus stop in Jerusalem, killing six Israelis. Hamas today claimed responsibility for yesterday's shooting attack. Netanyahu said he approved the Doha strike midday today, quote, in light of an operational opportunity. The strike came as Hamas and Israel were reviewing President Trump's new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages.

Daniel Estrin NPR News, Tel Aviv. The governor of Illinois is responding to a White House plan to move forward with a deportation operation in the state. Governor J.B. Pritzker confirmed that federal immigration agents have arrived. They already have been effectuating their plans. We have not seen the bulk of those ICE agents yet in communities, but we have seen some, and we know that they are gathering steam. Illinois is one of the late of states to be targeted by Trump administration efforts to crack down on crime and detain unauthorized immigrants. New national test scores are out today. These measure eighth-grader's science skills and 12th graders' math and reading abilities. MPR Sequoia Carrillo reports. These test scores are part of the National Assessment for Educational Progress, also known as the nation's report card, and they come in the wake of massive cuts to the U.S. Education Department.

Math scores for students in the 12th grade dropped three points from the previous test in 2019, while eighth graders followed a similar. pattern with a four-point average drop in science. In both science and math, drops happened across all achievement levels, so low and high-performing students dropped this cycle. Reading scores also dipped for nearly all 12th graders compared to the last test. But when you compare these scores to the First Nations report card for 12th grade reading more than 30 years ago, today's average score is 10 points lower. Sequoia Carrillo, NPR News. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 196 points, the NASDAQ up 80. This is NPR News in Washington.

South Korea is planning to send a chartered plane to Atlanta this week to bring home workers detained in a sweeping immigration raid last week. The operation targeted a car battery plant in Georgia, that officials say, had been long under investigation. Ethiopia has inaugurated its controversy. mega dam on the Nile River today. It's the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa, but it's divided the region and even caught the attention of President Trump. Kate Bartlett reports. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, was 40 years in the making, and cost $5 billion. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abe Ahmed hopes the dam, which will double Ethiopia's energy production, will transform the country's economy.

But neighboring Egypt sees the dam on a tributary of the Nile River as a disaster and has tried to block it for years. Egypt is worried it will result in water shortages. Trump claimed recently the U.S. government had mostly paid for the dam after angering Ethiopia in his first term by suggesting Egypt would blow it up. For NPR news, I'm Kate Buttig in Johannesburg. Commuters in London are turning to bikes, boats and buses to get around the city after underground tube workers went on strike. The rail network came to a standstill on Monday as staff began a week of walkouts over pay and working conditions. Most underground trains are expected to remain out of service through Thursday. I'm Windsor Johnston, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.