--:-- Nora Rahm: The federal government has shut down. What are lawmakers arguing about? And what does it mean for you? The NPR Politics Podcast is here to make sense of it all, giving you updates and news every day to keep you informed. The NPR Politics Podcast. Listen every day.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: The Trump administration says more than 4,000 federal employees have received layoff notices. And government officials say that number is subject to change.
--:-- Nora Rahm: NPR's Stephen Fowler has more.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: About 4,200 people across seven agencies were slated to receive reduction in force notices Friday, including about 1,500 in the Treasury Department and 1,200 at the Department of Health and Human Services.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: Earlier in the day, the White House Budget Office called the layoffs, quote, substantial, and President Trump said the cuts would be, quote, a lot.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: After earlier cuts to the federal workforce made by the previous administration and voluntary buyouts, there are about 2 million civilian federal employees.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: Four people are dead after a mass shooting overnight north of Jackson, Mississippi.
--:-- Nora Rahm: NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports a suspect is not yet in custody.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: The shooting took place in downtown Leland where family and friends had gathered to celebrate following a homecoming football game.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: Leland is a small rural community of about 3,000 people.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: According to Mayor John Lee, 16 people in total were shot. Several of the survivors had to be airlifted to nearby medical centers.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: Events like this have never happened in this city's history.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: We're a close-knit city. We're not a violent city.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation says it is assisting local police.
--:-- Jeff Brumfield: The Gun Violence Archive says the U.S. has seen more than 330 mass shootings, with four more people shot so far this year.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Jeff Brumfield, NPR News.
--:-- Nora Rahm: The sheriff of Humphreys County in Tennessee says it appears no one survived an explosion at a munitions plant yesterday.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Officials had said that 18 people were missing. Its cause has not yet been determined.
--:-- Nora Rahm: The company supplies and researches explosives for the military.
--:-- Nora Rahm: National Guard troops arrived in Memphis, Tennessee yesterday.
--:-- Nora Rahm: It's the latest city where the Trump administration has deployed them.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, says he didn't request them, but he's working to make sure they benefit the community.
--:-- Matt Bloom: Voters in New Orleans are heading to the polls today to elect a new mayor.
--:-- Nora Rahm: NPR's Matt Bloom reports a wide field of candidates are competing to lead the southern U.S. city.
--:-- Matt Bloom: New Orleans has drawn the national spotlight this year for a number of issues including a major jailbreak and as one of several Democratic cities where President Trump has said he wants to deploy National Guard troops to fight crime.
--:-- Matt Bloom: The city's current Democratic mayor, LaToya Cantrell, is term-limited and also faces federal corruption charges.
--:-- Matt Bloom: More than 10 candidates are vying for her seat, and most are running on promises to restore stability to city politics.
--:-- Matt Bloom: It's one of several major cities, including New York and Detroit, that will elect a new mayor this fall.
--:-- Nora Rahm: NPR's Matt Bloom reporting.
--:-- Nora Rahm: And you're listening to NPR News in Washington.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Thousands of Palestinians are heading home to northern Gaza as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding.
--:-- Nora Rahm: It took effect yesterday in the first phase of a U.S. plan to end the war.
--:-- Amy Held: On this World Migratory Bird Day, people are reminded to make their outdoor spaces bird-friendly, with native plants, unranked leaves, and turning off lights at night.
--:-- Nora Rahm: A new study published in the journal Science shows just how light-sensitive birds can be.
--:-- Amy Held: A dawn chorus of bird song makes clear, birds respond to light.
--:-- Amy Held: Now scientists who used the total solar eclipse of April 2024 as a backdrop say light may be the most important cue for birds.
--:-- Amy Held: Observing them when it was lights out midday, some species seemed unaffected.
--:-- Amy Held: But study co-author Kimberly Rosevall at Indiana University told the science podcast most were affected.
--:-- Amy Held: They treated it like even when night lasted for four minutes and came at the completely wrong time of day, when the sun came back on at the end of that, the birds who normally sing a dawn chorus, that's what they did.
--:-- Amy Held: It sheds light on just how attuned birds are to even short changes in light, affecting migration, feeding and breeding, as humans flood the night with light pollution.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Amy Held, NPR News.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Quaker is retiring. He was one of five British cavalry horses that was spooked by construction noises and ran away from their trainers last year.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Their escape was broadcast worldwide.
--:-- Nora Rahm: Quaker was seriously injured, and unlike the others, he won't be able to return to active duty.
--:-- Nora Rahm: I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.
--:-- Terry Gross: Hi, it's Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air.
--:-- Terry Gross: Hey, take a break from the 24-hour news cycle with us and listen to long-form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians, and musicians, the people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times.
--:-- Terry Gross: So listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHYY.
