NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-11-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

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A good internet domain name can be worth millions. Think apple.com or zoom.com. So what is up with the guy who owns milk.com? I happened to like chocolate milk, you know, and so he started calling me Milkboy. Like, hey, milk boy, how's it going? Milk boy. Yeah, milk boy. On the latest Planet Money podcast, the strange economics of million-dollar domain name.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi. The gunman, suspected of killing right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk at an outdoor rally in Utah yesterday, is still at large. Investigators say they believe the shooter is a college-age man who blended in well at Utah Valley University. NPR's Kirk Sigler has more from the UVU campus in Orem. At a news conference, authorities said they have surveillance video of the suspect moving through campus and onto the roof where he fired from, then running after the attack into a nearby neighborhood. FBI special agent in charge Robert Bowles said investigators found a high-powered bolt-action rifle in a wooded area where the suspected gunman fled. Bulls said police do not know how far he may have run or whether he's still in Utah. I can tell you that this was a targeted event. We don't believe that the community is at risk. However, we are exhausting every resource to find him.

Asked whether recent high turnover at the FBI was hindering the hunt for the suspect, Bowles says his Salt Lake City field office has the resources it needs. Kirk Sigler, NPR News, Orem, Utah. Still expressing disbelief over Kirk's assassination, President Trump told members of the media today. He planned to speak with Kirk's family this afternoon. He also says he will posthumously award the slain conservative influencer the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Kirk was among Trump's most prominent allies. Democratic political leaders are also condemning the shootings, saying political violence in any form,

should be denounced by all Americans. Today marks 24 years since the 9-11 terrorist attacks and annual commemorations are underway. At Ground Zero, New York City, the Pentagon, and in Jacksonville, Pennsylvania, the attack claimed nearly 3,000 lives. President Trump and other elected leaders have been taking part in 9-11 observance.

In other news, inflation rose last month as consumers paid more for both groceries and gasoline. NPR Scott Horsley has details. Consumer prices in August were up 2.9% from a year ago. That's a sharper annual increase than the previous month. Prices rose 4 tenths of a percent between July and August, fueled by rising costs for rent, groceries, and gasoline. Americans also paid more last month for clothing, airfares, and new and used cars. August was the month when President Trump imposed higher tariffs on many U.S. trading partners, which may have contributed to higher prices for imported goods like coffee.

A federal appeals court has ruled most of those import taxes are illegal, but they remain in effect pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The High Court said this week it would hear arguments in the tariff case in early November. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News. Smoke from the Canadian wildfires in 2023 poured into the U.S. for weeks. A new study reports that more than 300 million people were affected by that smoke. NPR's Alejandro Burunda reports it contributed to at least 5,000 deaths.

That was a summer when New Yorkers woke up to orange skies. People in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and even Georgia got hit with haze and ash. For many, it was the first real experience. dealing with wildfire smoke. A study now published in the journal Nature calculated the impacts. It found smoke from those Canadian wildfires affected millions of people across North America and even Europe. And because wildfire smoke hurts people's lungs, hearts, and even brains, the study found

that it contributed directly to at least 5,000 deaths and played a smaller role in some 64,000 more. Scientists determined before that climate change played a role in making the 2023 wildfires worse. More major wildfires have plagued Canada again this summer. Alejandro Burunda, NPR News. The British ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mendelsohn has been fired over his connection to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Prime Minister Kirstarmer issued a statement announcing his decision yesterday after the Sun

newspaper published emails from the 2000s, revealing Mendelsohn supported Epstein when he was facing imprisonment for sex abuse crimes. U.S. stocks are trading higher this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial average of 582 points or 1.2% at 46,070. You're listening to NPR News.