NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-02-2025 9AM 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 Hurst. This is day two of the federal government shutdown. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have yet to reach an agreement to fund the government. As Impeer's Lain Amour reports yesterday's Senate vote on the GOP's short-term spending bill came up five votes shy of the 60 needed for passage as it did the previous day. No votes are expected for the day in observation of Yom Kippur. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects this to be a quiet day, but that conversations between lawmakers are ongoing.

So far, just two Democrats and one independent have backed the GOP measure. But the divide is largely along party lines, with most Democrats vowing to oppose the bill unless it addresses soon to be expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Republicans have rejected that. Some say they're open to discussing the issue, but only after the government reopens. The next votes are expected on Friday. Elena Moore, NPR News, the Capitol. Meanwhile, NPR Selena Simmons-Duffin reports the Affordable Care Act,

also known as Obamacare. Well, a new analysis finds premiums on those plans are set to double. This goes back to a 2021 law that created enhanced premium tax credits. Those run out at the end of December unless Congress acts. Cynthia Cox of the Health Research Organization, KFF, just co-authored an analysis on what will happen to people's premiums next year. On average, we're expecting premium payments by enrollees to increase by 114%. If the these enhanced tax credits expire. So that means a lot of people are going to have to pay double the monthly premium they're paying now. Or they might switch to a plan with a much higher deductible, or they might lose their coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates

that if the enhanced tax credits expire over the next several years, four million people will become uninsured. Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News, Washington. Israel is ordering all residents of Gaza's most populous city to leave as it expands its ground operations there. The country's defense minister says anyone remaining in Gaza City will be considered, quote, militants and supporters of terror. But many of those remaining are elderly or in the hospital. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it's intercepted almost all of the dozens of boats floating in a humanitarian aid flotilla that's been trying to sail to Gaza and deliver food there. Activists on the boats were detained, including Greta Toonberg. And Piers' Emily Fang has more.

Israel's Navy and these convoy organizers say Israel's boarded and detained about 40 boats so far. This is a fast-evolving situation. Israel says they're going to deport all the activists. It detains. They repeatedly said they consider this flotilla a Hamas-linked provocation, but this is still a PR fiasco for Israel. And peers Emily Fang reporting from Tel Aviv. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The federal government is working on new advice on drinking alcohol as part of its new dietary guidelines.

The existing guidelines recommend no more than two drinks a day for men, one drink a day for women. But as M.P.R.'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 increased 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. Will Stone and PR News. In New York, at least one person was injured when two Delta regional jets collided on the taxiway of LaGuardia Airport last night. One was getting ready to take off while the other had just landed. The wing of one of the planes hit the other jet, damaging that wing in the nose. the windshield and the fuselage of the other plane. Delta says it will work with authorities to determine what's happened. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.