NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-03-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: October 3, 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 Shay Stevens. The partial government shutdown is expected to run through the weekend.

But NPR's Claudio Grisales reports that the Senate plans to vote today on already rejected stopgap bills. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he'll put the failed stopgap bills on the floor again to keep up pressure on Democrats. But even Thune is skeptical. Anything will change. He'll have a fourth chance tomorrow to vote to open up the government. And if that fails, then we'll get in the weekend to think about it. I'm back, and we'll go again on Monday. Republicans have 53 seats in the Senate,

so they'll need support from at least seven Democrats to reach a required 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster. But the parties are stuck. Democrats are demanding an extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, and Republicans say that won't happen in a short-term measure. Claudia Rises, NBR News, the Capitol.

The Trump administration is asking nine schools to adopt certain policies in exchange for preferential treatment in federal funding. From member station GBAH, Kirk Carrapeza reports that some university officials are objecting to the proposal. Under the proposed deal, colleges would have to ban race or gender considerations in admissions and hiring, freeze tuition, and cap international enrollment at 15%. McKell de Graf teaches linguistics at MIT, where he's been accused of harassing a Jewish student. He sees the compact as a major escalation of the campus culture wars.

For me, it's nothing new. Faculty have been quite teenated, but I hope they will join the fight before it's too late. MIT confirmed to GBAH it has received the memo from the Trump administration, but declined to comment. For NPR News, I'm Kirk Carrapeza in Boston. California Governor Gavin Newsom is threatening to withhold funding to California colleges that sign an agreement supporting the Trump administration's education agenda. Russian President Vladimir Putin says it is Europe's responsibility to end the war in Ukraine. His comments came at a political forum where Putin addressed recent remarks by President Trump.

More from NPR's Charles Mainz. In his remarks, Putin blamed Europe for dragging out the war in Ukraine through its military support for Kiev and vowed to respond to Europe's militarization amid what he argued were falsely hyped Russian threats. Yet Putin said reports that the U.S. was considering providing American-made Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would mark a new stage of escalation. Putin also took aim at President Trump's recent comments calling Russia a paper tiger over its failure to subdue its neighbor. In response, Putin said Russia had been fighting the entirety of the NATO alliance and was still making steady advancements in Ukraine. If we are a paper tiger asked Putin, then what is NATO itself?

Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. Discraised hip-hop mogul, Sean Diddy Combs, is scheduled for sentencing today. On the eve of his sentencing, Combs asked the judge to for leniency. Prosecutors say Combs should serve 11 years in prison for his conviction on two prostitution-related counts. Defense attorneys say their client should be freed. Combs has been in custody since his arrest last year. A Russian tanker transporting oil banned under international sanctions,

has been stopped off the Atlantic coast of France. The story from NPR's Eleanor Beardsley. Macron spoke from Copenhagen after a two-day EU summit on Russian drone interference in the European airspace. He said drones over the EU must be shot down and the oil tanker stopped. There are around 1,000 boats in this Russian phantom fleet moving Russian oil, he said, and proceeds from oil sales are financing up to 40% of Russia's war against. against Ukraine. Macron said European naval chiefs from countries supporting Ukraine will meet in the coming days to outline a plan to begin stopping these ships. He said the move would help

force Russia to the negotiating table. Eleanor Beardsley and Pierre News, Paris. South African government is calling for the release of three citizens detained by Israeli forces that intercepted an aid flotilla that was headed for Gaza on Wednesday. The Israeli Navy stormed the vessels and seized the activists involved, including the grandson of South. South Africa's first democratically elected leader Nelson Mandela. Israel says that the activist had been advised to change course. This is NPR News. There are a lot of books out there.

Big ones, small ones, smart ones, silly ones, ones that thrill and ones that are, well, kind of a bore. But NPR's Book of the Day podcast is here to help you find your favorites. Through our author interviews, you can find out if a book is right for you in 15 minutes or less. So listen to NPR's Book of the Day podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.