NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-02-2025 4AM 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 Shea Stevens. The partial government shutdown will continue at least until Friday.

Republicans are calling for passage of a temporary measure to continue current spending through November 21st. House Speaker Mike Johnson says they have nothing more to negotiate. In a scenario like this, if the Congress's hands are tied by the minority party who will not do the right thing, then the power shifts to the executive. That's not Mike Johnson doing that. That's Chuck Schumer doing that. Democrats are insisting on an extension of health care tax credits that expire at the end of the year.

Republicans suggest that that would lead to taxpayer funded health care for undocumented immigrants. Roughly 16,000 employees from the National Park Service are now furloughed because of the partial shutdown. However, Colorado Public Radio's Molly Cruz reports that parks remain open with minimal staffing. Access to the more than 400 sites overseen by the National Park Service have widely varied across the country.

The Park Service says National Park Roads, Trails, and Lookouts will still be accessible. But many services, like visitor centers, will be closed. Elizabeth Creeble had been camping at Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado since Sunday. Luckily, we were able to visit the visitor center, but we're hoping to come back here today and grab some souvenirs and get our passport stamp. The Park Service plans to tap into recreation fees to pay for remaining staff at the parks, but some Western state governors, like Governor Jared Polis of Colorado and Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, say they

plan to prop up operations in national parks with state funds. For NPR News, I'm Molly Cruz in Denver. The federal government is preparing new advice on alcohol drinking. Existing guidelines recommend no more than two drinks a day for men and only one drink daily for women. But as NPR's Will Stone reports, there are questions about whether the updated advice will downplay the harms of alcohol. Federal health officials were going to consider two different reports on alcohol, one of them from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found moderate drinking was

associated with a lower risk of dying, including from cardiovascular disease. The other study essentially came to the opposite conclusion that even low levels of drinking increase your risk of dying for many causes, including cancer and stroke. Scientists who worked on that report were told recently it would not be considered as part of the new guidelines. Mike Marshall is with the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance. To be focused on making America healthy again, without addressing alcohol is inexplicable. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not comment on why the report was being excluded. Willstone NPR News. Rescuers are using heavy equipment and snipper dogs to look for survivors and collapsed buildings in the Central Philippines. A magnitude 6.9

earthquake has claimed at least 72 lives there and the death toll is expected to rise in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns. This is NPR. Organizers of an aid flotilla say Israeli forces intercepted 14 boats carrying aid for civilians in Gaza and arrested the occupants. Almost 50 boats carrying 500 activists and a shipment of aid sailed into international waters north of Egypt hoping to breach an Israeli blockade. The Foreign Ministry says the Israeli Navy tried to contact the activists to request that they change course and allow Israel to transfer the aid through other channels. anthropologist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91. She helped transform the world's

understanding of apes. NPR's now Greenfield Boys has this remembrance. Jane Goodall became fascinated with Africa and its animals as a child. After going to secretarial school, she visited a friend in Kenya and introduced herself to the famous paleontologist Louis Leakey. He hired her as his secretary, then later sent her off to Tanzania, to study humanity's closest living relative, the chimpanzee. Goodall was the first researcher to live among wild chimps and learn their ways. Within months, she made a startling discovery. Like humans, they could make and use tools. Her observations of chimp families were featured in numerous books and popular magazines like National Geographic. Later in life, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute and became a passionate

advocate for the protection of wildlife and the environment. Nell Greenfield Boyce, NPR News. U.S. Futures are flat and after hours trading on Wall Street following the slight gains on Wednesday on Asia-Pacific markets, shares are higher, up 1% in Hong Kong. This is NPR News.