NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-03-2025 1PM EDT

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Republican-led Senate is expected to hold a vote at this hour. It's another attempt to break a partisan impasse that forced the government to shut down this week. Lawmakers will vote on rival plans, one backed by Republicans, the other by Democrats. NPR's Claudia Grisellis reports both measures have repeatedly failed to pass. They need Democrats to reach this required 60 vote threshold today, but we're not expecting them to help. So far, only three have defected to vote with Republicans. And as we know, the GOP only controls 53 Senate seat. So they need at least seven Democrats, probably more, as one Republican Kentucky Senator Rampal is expected to vote no. That's NPR's Claudia Grisellis reporting. President Trump has given Hamas a deadline to respond to an American proposal to end the war in Gaza. Otherwise, Trump warned, quote, all hell would be unleashed.

NPR's Emily Fang reports the militant group has until Sunday at 6 p.m. to respond to the plan. The plan would end the war, release hostages, led an aid, and then turn over control of Gaza at first to an international board headed by Trump. In the group's first public comments since the proposal went public, Hamas official Mohamed Nizal told Al Jazeera this week that the group is still reviewing the plan and that it rejects a quote, take it or leave it approach to negotiating any ceasefire, adding that Hamas needs clarification on certain parts of Trump's plan. And while deliberations continue, Israel also continues to pound Gaza. Israel's defense minister has said anyone remaining in Gaza City this week

will be considered a militant or a supporter of terror. Emily Fang and Pier News, Tel Aviv. Stocks on Wall Street are trading higher at this hour as the government shutdown delayed the September jobs report. NPR, Scott Horsley, has more. The jobs report typically delivered on the first Friday of the month is one of the government's most closely watched economic indicators. Analyst will have to wait a little longer, though,

to find out how many jobs were added or subtracted in September and what happened to the unemployment rate. The workers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics who compile that report have been furloughed until the government shutdown ends. If the congressional stalemate drags on, it could also delay the September inflation report, which is supposed to be published, in about two weeks. Excitement over artificial intelligence continues to drive the U.S. stock market higher. All the major stock index is closed at record highs on Thursday. Scott Horsley-Mpaher News, Washington. Stocks on Wall Street are trading mixed at this hour.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 458 points. The NASDA composite down 24. The S&P 500 up 18 points. This is NPR News in Washington. The Trump administration is suspending more than $2 billion in federal infrastructure funding for Chicago, halting two major transit modernization projects. The decision marks the latest move by the White House to pull back money from Democratic-led cities, the government shutdown began. Officials in Brazil are reporting a surge of poisonings from

alcoholic drinks contaminated with methanol, an industrial alcohol that can be deadly. Six people have died from suspected methanol poisoning and dozens of others have been sickened. Julia Carrnero has more from Rio de Janeiro. It's an unusual weekend for bars across Brazil, with a country under alert over the growing number of poisonings from methanol in alcoholic drinks. The Ministry of Health has warned the public to avoid drinking spirits if their source is uncertain. Authorities are tracking adulterated beverages across the country and rushing to purchase antidotes for methanol from health agencies abroad, like the FDA. Alcohol bootlegging has exploded in the country recently.

Brazil's association to combat counterfeating estimates that more than a third of the spirits sold here are adulterated and suggests links to organized crime. For NPR News, I'm Julie Kahnero in Rio de Janeiro. Apple has removed apps that are used to track and monitor immigration and customs enforcement agents following pressure from the White House. Advocates say it's a win for privacy rights, but critics accuse the tech giant of caving to political demands. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.