NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-03-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

NPR News: 10-03-2025 11AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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. President Trump says he's giving Hamas until 6 p.m. Sunday to sign on to the 20-point peace agreement outlined by the U.S. and agreed to by Israel. On social media, Trump calls it a last-chance deal saying, if they don't agree, quote, all hell like no one's ever seen before will break out against Hamas.

Hamas earlier said it's reviewing the plan. The Republican-led Senate will hold a fourth vote on a stopgap spending bill from both parties this afternoon, trying to end the government shut down, though the bills are not expected to succeed. Both parties blame each other. A major sticking point for Democrats extending the affordable care tax credits that make health insurance more affordable for millions of people. House Speaker Mike Johnson is against the idea. We have a lot of reforms that we need to push through, but the answer is not to grow government and further subsidize insurance companies, which is exactly what those subsidies do. It doesn't help bring premiums down. We've got to do it for the people, not for the insurance

companies. Speaking there on Fox News, the union representing Transportation Security Administration workers says the federal shutdown is taking a toll on workers at Atlanta's airport the world's busiest. Leila Oppenheimer from member station WAB has more. Every day Atlanta TSA workers stop the highest number of firearms at any U.S. airport from making it onto planes. Now local union representative Aaron Barker says those officers will be showing up for work without a full paycheck. Congressional members still get their pay. I don't think that that's fair. For you to still receive a paycheck and the person who's out on the front line actually doing the work to be held in limbo and moved around and their benefits, everything is being played with, you know, it feels like

we're pawns. Leaders with the Airline Pilots Association also warned the shutdown could cause staffing shortages and communication issues in air traffic control. For NPR news, I'm Lily Oppenheimer in Atlanta. As President Trump expands his federal and anti-crime interventions to more democratic-run cities, crime experts are watching closely to see how well they work. And here's Martin Costi reports. The homicide rate dropped sharply in Washington, D.C. during the first two months of the federal intervention there. But Jim Birch of the National Policing Institute says that's not surprising. Any city in America with a 50% increase in their officers is going to be able to have some kind of impact on public safety.

But that's not reality. That's not the fiscal reality. And I also don't think that's the long long-term reality for these federal deployments. It's more of a short-term strategy, a shock and all, if you will. Now that National Guard troops have been ordered to Memphis and Portland, Oregon, criminologists are watching to see whether the crime deterrent effect can hold, especially in places where local leaders and the community may oppose federal intervention. Martin Costi, NPR News. Wall Street's trading higher at this hour. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Officials in Southern California are investigating a massive explosion and fire at a large refinery plant.

Steve Futterman reports, so far no injuries have been reported. Videos on social media show huge plumes of flames and smoke that instantly followed the explosion. It was felt in a wide area and could be seen for miles. Within two hours, crews said they had contained the fire. The refinery is adjacent to a residential. area near Los Angeles International Airport. It's owned by Chevron and is one of the largest on the West Coast. It's been in operation for over a century. According to the company, it has the ability to refine 290,000 barrels of crude oil each day. The explosion took place in a small part

of the plant. In a statement, Chevron labeled it an isolated fire and said all personnel and contractors have been accounted for. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. The most popular beer in Japan could soon be off the shelves after a cyber attack on the country's biggest brewery that brought domestic factories to a halt. The Tokyo-based Asahi Group, maker of Asahi Super Dry, says it's dealing with system failure from the cyber attack, which disabled order and shipment operations at most of its 30 factories. The overseas sites don't appear to be affected by the attack. Stores say they're running out of the product. The company says it's working to restore operations, but that there's no timeline right now for that to happen. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.