NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-02-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

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In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Despite threats of mass firings from President Trump, some federal workers say they're in favor of holding out in the spending fight that sparked the government shutdown that's now on its second day. From Member Station WAMU, Jenny Obama has more. Federal workers showed up alongside Democrats on Capitol Hill to show their support for holding firm on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Elizabeth Riley, a USDA employee, says she's no more afraid of losing her job during the shutdown. than she was before it. We've been under attack for nine months as federal workers, and this is just another day at work. Although we aren't working, a lot of my colleagues are going to struggle missing a paycheck, but a lot of us also feel that they need to hold the line. Democratic lawmakers, such as Jamie Raskin and Maryland,

whose district hosts over 50,000 federal workers, says constituents have been calling and emailing his office saying hold the line. For MPR News, I'm Jenny Abamu on Capitol Hill. In Manchester, England, police say at least two people are dead, several others injured after a car ramming and stabbing at a synagogue as people gathered for Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Police say the suspect was shot by police and is also dead. The attack happened in a part of the city that's home to many Orthodox Jews, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. It is a serious incident, but at the same time I can give some reassurance immediately to people that the immediate day. danger appears to be over, and greater Manchester police have dealt with it very quickly and has

been amazing support from, I think, members of the public and security at the location. Speaking there to the BBC, British Prime Minister Kier Starmor says he was appalled by the attack. Security at synagogues around the UK has been increased. Stocks opened higher this morning amid news of a big computer chip deal. And Pierre Scott Horsley reports the Dow rose about 75 points in early trading. Stocks and computer chipmakers around the world are getting a boost after a couple of South Korean companies announced a deal to supply memory chips to open AI. It's the latest sign of how the artificial intelligence boom is powering chipmakers, not only in South Korea and Taiwan, but here in the U.S. as well. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is buying Occidental Petroleum's chemical division in a deal valued at nearly $10 billion.

The acquisition could be the last big purchase for Buffett, the billionaire investors stepping down as Berkshire CEO at the end of this year. On Thursdays, we usually get a weekly report on unemployment claims, a good proxy for layoffs. No news this week, though. The report was sidetracked by the federal government shutdown. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. And on Wall Street, the Dow is up 61 points. The NASDAQ is up 60 points, and the S&P 500 is up six. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

Glaciers in California's mountains are disappearing. fast and will likely be gone by the end of the century. Daniel Venton from Member Station KQED reports in new research geologists found that these glaciers predate humans' arrival in the Americas. Scientists used to think that glaciers in the Sierra Nevada had shrunk and regrown over time, as other glaciers have. But by studying isotopes and glacial bedrock, they found the state's glaciers have not melted during the last 20,000 years. That means there's no precedent for glaciers disappearing from the state since human settlement. Researcher Andrew Jones says human-caused global warming is melting California's glaciers. I mean, you hear about two degrees

Celsius of warming. And to most people, that's just this imperceivable difference on their home thermostat. But our findings here are tangible. Jones says if in the future the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were to decrease, glaciers could stabilize and even return. For NPR news, I'm Danielle Vinton in San Francisco. A legendary skateboard belonging to Tony Hawk just sold for a record-breaking $1.5 million. It's the board he used to make history in 1999, landing the first 900 trick at the San Francisco X Games,

where, after 10 failed attempts, he finally succeeded, thrilling the crowds. The auction also included other Hawk memorabilia, with proceeds benefiting the skate park project, which is his nonprofit foundation. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.