NPR News: 09-04-2026 1AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News, I'm Childe Snyder. The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to clear the way for a plan by the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail-in voting for the midterm election. NPR's Hansi Lawong reports. For now, the U.S. Postal Service is blocked from moving ahead with key parts of its plan. We should note U.S. PS's financial support of NPR. The Postal Service's plan involves delivering mail-in balance only to people on voter lists that the states would have to turn over to the mailing agency. A federal judge in Boston has found that plan is likely illegal because U.S. PS says no authority to control voting by mail. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled on a procedural question about this legal fight. The High Court has not ruled yet on the legality of the Postal Service's plan. And there's a little time left for the plan to be fully carried out before mail-in voting starts for the midterm election. North Carolina said to begin sending out ballots Friday. Hansi Lawong and NPR News. The billionaire Leon Black is refusing to speak with lawmakers about his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

1:00Instead he's filed a lawsuit against the Congressional panel running the investigation. Here's NPR's Bill Chapel. Leon Black is refusing to obey two subpoenas from the House Oversight Committee. The panel wants him to share any non-disclosure agreements he might be a party to and to testify about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. But Black says the House Committee doesn't have the power to do that. His lawsuit names the committee and its chair Republican Representative James Comer of Kentucky. In response, Comer says he wants to hold the billionaire investor in contempt. Of all the powerful people interviewed by the committee, Comer said Leon Black is the first to file a lawsuit. Bill Chapel, NPR News. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell is applauding a state court's action that paves the way, at least for now, for the return of two NFL players to college football. Murrell says the players were not getting a fair shake from the SEC or the NCAA. You know, I want to congratulate the lawyers here for the players. They came to this court asking for a fair and unbiased forum to decide agreements that

2:07they brought about the way these rules were being applied to them. After an hour's long hearing, Thursday and Judge and East Baton Rouge Paris issued a preliminary injunction in that high profile eligibility case that's working its way through the courts. The judge's order means the two players can join their former coach at LSU, which opens play against Clemson this weekend. Nine days after a huge flash flood in Nepal, officials say rescuers have pulled two survivors from a tunnel linked to a hydro power plant. The two have been identified as a mechanical form and a mechanical supervisor. Local authorities say some 900 workers are missing from multiple hydro power projects in Nepal, with many believed to be trapped in tunnels of floods. Nine days ago killed more than 1200 people, thousands remained missing. This is NPR. The Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers is expected to make an initial court appearance Friday.

3:08NPR has confirmed that ICE officer Christian Castro turned himself in and is in federal custody. Castro is charged with lying to investigators about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The city of Toronto, still cleaning up after a powerful storm hit southern Ontario. Dan Carpenshawg reports that even Roger Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's Blue Jays, sustained significant damage. Video taken from a health stadium staff are still assessing the damage nearby tents in temporary structures were also destroyed. The storm brought almost a month's worth of heavy rain, golf ball-sized hail and winds gusting to more than 60 miles an hour. Trees were downed in several major roads including the North South Don Valley Parkway and Gardner Expressway were flooded. Some drivers needed to be rescued from the vehicles. Environment Canada also issued weather alerts across southern Ontario as well as a tornado warning. At the height of the storm thousands of people in the city were without power.

4:09For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenshawg in Toronto. Global stock markets are advancing shares in Asia and largely higher in Friday trading after Wall Street gained ground stocks in Japan, South Korean, China rising. After the S&P 500 rose more than 1% Thursday, what tech stocks powering much of the gains, looking ahead, investigators are waiting, rather investors are waiting for their Friday release at the Labor Department's jobs report. This week on Newsmakers, after more than a decade in comedy, I wasn't sure that we would get here. Robbie Hoffman is fearless. I had a small feeling I wasn't sure. And fully herself. My line, Lord. Hello. You can go out and flash. Well, I'm not home now. I'm doing something. We plunge into comedy and success with Robbie Hoffman on NPR's Newsmakers.