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

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. In Tennessee, authorities say at least 19 people are missing and feared dead after an explosion at a military munitions plant in Bucksnort about 60 miles west of Nashville this morning. Several people were hospitalized. Humphrey County Sheriff Chris Davis was asked to describe the scene. Can I describe the building? There's nothing to describe.

It's gone. Again, it's the most devastating scene. that I've seen in my career. Davis says they feel the scene is secure and that the ATF and FBI are investigating, but right now there's no word on a cause. He says they expect to be there for days. The blast was reportedly felt 10 miles from the plant

that manufactured, stored, and researched explosive materials. White House Budget Director Russell Votes says layoffs of federal workers began today. This follows President Trump's threats to fireworkers and close agencies. if the federal government shutdown continues, it's now in its 10th day with no end in sight. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsseth says the U.S. will build a Qatari Air Force facility in the U.S. And Pierce Quill Lawrence has more.

Hegseth praised Qatar's substantial role in brokering President Trump's Gaza peace deal, which is in the early stages of implementation. Hexseth added, I'm also proud that today we're announcing, we're signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari-Imuri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho. He said the base will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots in continuation of a long military partnership between the two countries.

The U.S. has relied on Qatar to base troops in the Middle East for decades. This year, the Trump administration has drawn criticism from ethics watchdogs over accepting a gift from Qatar of a half-billion-dollar luxury jet intended to be a replacement for Air Force One. Quill Lawrence NPR News. MIT says it won't be signing a Trump administration letter in exchange for federal funding. And Pierce Alyssa Nadwurney has more. The letter from MIT President Sally Cornbluth says,

The Compact, quote, includes principles with which we disagree. MIT was one of nine universities asked by the Department of Education to sign the agreement to ensure access to federal funding and grants. The compact requires schools to agree to a list of demands, including a five-year tuition rate freeze, limits on international students, and prohibiting the use of race or sex as admissions factors. Cornebeth writes, the university believes that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone. And therefore, quote, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

The university is the first school to respond publicly to the administration's compact. Alistin Adwarnie and PR News. All Street sharply lower by the close after President Trump threatened higher tariffs on China, accusing the country of becoming very hostile with restrictions on rare earth metals, Dow down 878 points. This is NPR. Scientists are hoping to treat diseases,

including Alzheimer's, by influencing the way cells decide when to die. MPIRS John Hamilton has more on efforts to control the process known as programmed cell death. In Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, nerve cells decide to self-destruct long before they should. So, biotech companies are looking for ways to keep these cells alive by blocking signals that start the fatal process. Doug Green of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital says several firms think they can do this with treatments known as anti-sense drugs.

If they're right, it's going to cure a lot of diseases, diseases that we associate with aging and inflammation. Antisense drugs can keep a cell from making certain proteins. In this case, the drugs are designed to reduce proteins that carry the signals responsible for program. cell death. John Hamilton, NPR News. Britain's antitrust watchdog is labeling Google a strategic player in the online search advertising market. That paves the way for regulators to force the company to change its business practices to ensure more competition. A government agency says its investigation found that the U.S. tech giant has strategic market status because it has substantial and

entrenched market power in general search and search advertising. It's the first time the watchdog has issued the designation since the new UK digital rules took effect at the start of the year. On Wall Street, the down 878 points has done 1.9%. The NASDAQ down 3.5% losing 820 points. The SMP 500 down 182 points. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News.