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

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Hamas says it accepts some elements of President Trump's peace plan, but that others require further negotiation. The president had given the militant group a Sunday deadline to respond to the U.S. brokered proposal. The Senate has once again failed to pass a short-term funding bill that would reopen the government. The shutdown is now on its third day with Republicans and and Democrats deadlocked on how to move forward. With the ongoing shutdown, many federal workers at the U.S. Department of Education were recently surprised by a change to their email.

NPR's Corey Turner reports. If you email furloughed workers at the Education Department, you're likely to get the same out-of-office response. It says, thank you for contacting me. Unfortunately, Democrats senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate, which has led to elapse in appropriations. Multiple employees confirmed to NPR that though this message was written in the first person and sent from their email, they did not write it, and were not told it would

replace whatever message they had written. The partisan message may also be at odds with the Hatch Act, a law that limits political speech by federal employees. A request for comment to the department's press office was returned with the same message. Corey Turner, NPR News. The White House says it's looking to cut federal funding. for Portland, Oregon, amid ongoing protests over the presence of federal immigration agents, press secretary Caroline Levitt says Trump is directing his team to review what money can be withheld.

We will not fund states that allow anarchy. There will also be an additional surge of federal resources to Portland immediately, including enhanced CBP and ICE resources. Trump has taken similar steps to cut off funding in other Democratic-led cities, including Chicago and New York. Democratic governors are pushing back. on a White House move to cut clean energy projects in states that did not go to President Trump in last year's election. Minnesota Public Radio's Dana Ferguson reports. The Energy Department announced that hundreds of projects were reviewed and didn't advance the nation's energy needs. The projects are in 16 states that didn't vote for Trump last year.

Minnesota is among them. Governor Tim Wall says the move is politically motivated. This whole idea that they see states as, Democrats and Republicans, or they see areas as red or blue, is simply the most egregious violation of their oath to try and take care. You have a responsibility to give your best for people who vote against you. The department says award grantees will have 30 days to appeal. For NPR News, I'm Dana Ferguson and St. Paul. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 238 points, the NASDAQ down 63. This is NPR News in Washington.

Britain's Home Secretary is urging pro-Palestinian demonstrators to cancel planned rallies this weekend in the wake of a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday. NPR's Fatma al-Kasab reports from London. For months, protesters have held rallies in support of Palestine action, a group which the British government banned under terrorism laws this summer. But police want this weekend's rally cancelled. They say it would divert police from guarding synagogues in the aftermath of the attack in Manchester. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the BBC protesters need to step back.

Just because we have the freedom to protest, doesn't mean to say you have to use it at every moment. She called pro-Palestinian protests which have taken place since the synagogue attack on British. Protest organisers say they'll go ahead as planned and exercise their freedom of speech. Fatemar al-Kasab, NPR News, London. Demonstrations continue across the nation against Israel's offensive against Hamas and Gaza. In Europe, the biggest protests have been in Italy where labor unions are calling for a national strike over the war. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports from Rome. Italy is up in arms over the civilian suffering in Gaza.

In quite remarkable scenes, tens of thousands of people are marching in every major city in the country and in smaller towns, too. Over 100 demonstrations, local media says, protest Israel's decision to stop the flitillia to Gaza and to call for an end to the war in Gaza. That's NPR's Ruth Sherlock reporting. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.