NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-13-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: September 13, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. President Trump says he's ready to impose new sanctions on Russia, but only with action from fellow NATO countries first. As NPR's Daniel Kurtzleben reports, it's Trump's latest threat as Russia continues attacking Ukraine. On social media, Trump posted what he said was the text of a letter to all NATO nations and the world. He wrote that he'll be ready to impose new sanctions on Russia

when other NATO nations have stopped buying oil from the country. He also said he wants NATO countries to impose tariffs of 50 to 100 percent on Chinese goods. China is a top buyer of Russian oil. Trump met with Putin in Alaska last month in an effort to broker peace in the Ukraine war. Since then, Russia has continued to attack Ukraine, and its drones were also shot down in Polish airspace. And Trump has been facing pressure from within his own party to increase sanctions on Russia as its aggression has continued. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. A 22-year-old man is being held with Al-R.

bail in Utah, he suspected of the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday. Well, Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson is expected to be formally charged next week. In Orham, Utah, many in the community say they don't feel safe, even with the alleged assassin in custody. NPR's Marisa Pena Loza reports. Orm's nickname is Family City, USA. It's known as a welcoming, safe community, and that's one of the reasons case Deirden and his family moved here. Now the father of two young kids is concerned that violence could escalate, he says. The tensions are just rising and rising. The violence needs to stop. The division is what's causing this problem. So if we're going to keep pointing fingers,

more people are going to be murdered. Dearden and many others here say there needs to be a way to talk with each other, even when people disagree. Marisa Penne. Yelosa, NPR News, ORM, Utah. Stocks jumped this week in anticipation of lower interest rates. NPR's Scott Horsley reports, all the major stock indexes spent time in record territory during the week. The government's latest cost-a-living report shows the highest annual inflation in seven months, as double-digit tariffs triggered higher prices for imported goods like coffee, clothing, and small appliances. But concerns about stubborn inflation are taking a back seat for now to worry.

about the sagging job market. Hiring has slowed sharply in recent months, and new claims for unemployment benefits point to a possible uptick in layoffs. Investors are betting the Federal Reserve will try to prop up the job market by lowering interest rates next week. That sparked a rally on Wall Street, where the Dow climbed nearly 1%. The S&P 500 index jumped 1.6%, and the NASDAQ soared more than 2%. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. The Missouri Senate yesterday approved a new congressional map backed by President Trump. It could help Republicans win an additional seat in the U.S. House in next year's midterm elections.

In 2022, in the middle of a global outbreak of monkeypox, the World Health Organization changed the disease's name to M.Pox. The U.S. followed suit, but now U.S. spokespeople have reverted to the old term monkeypox. NPR's Gabriella Emanuel explains. The term was retired because it was inaccurate. The virus does not come from monkeys and because it was viewed as stigmatizing. Africans and gay men have been heavily impacted by the virus, and the word monkey has been associated with dehumanizing tropes. Bahuma Tatanji is a physician at Emory University.

She finds it baffling that the U.S. is going back to the old name. No one in the research community is clamoring for this. No one in the public health community is clamoring for this. The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the change, but did not respond to questions about why it was made. Gabriela Emmanuel, NPR News. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has new research on insect populations.

They're on the decline. Scientists have attributed previous declines to human factors, such as boosts and agricultural productivity. But researchers found insect populations drop more than seven 72% in a remote meadow in the Colorado Mountains. They attribute this due to higher temperatures due to climate change. Insects are vital to human survival. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News.