NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-22-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

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Lakhshmi Singh, NPR News. The Office of Management and Budget is directing U.S. agencies to put staff in diversity, equity, and inclusion roles on paid leave in the coming hours. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order that NCEI federal programs. Republican Representative James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, spoke to CNN about how the Department of Government Efficiency, as Trump calls it, factors into whether to keep or drop a program. That's what Doge is focused on.

We're going to try to make government more efficient. If there's a program that we feel was unnecessary, but once we bring the employees in and learn more about it, maybe we were wrong, I think that program will stay. But if we feel they're unneeded, then we're going to try to get rid of it. President Trump is threatening to impose economic penalties on Russia unless the Kremlin quickly settles its war against Ukraine. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the warning comes in a social media post from the president. President Trump says it's time for Russia to make a deal and end the war in Ukraine,

adding, quote, we can do it the easy way or the hard way. Trump said in a social media post that unless a deal is struck soon, he'll have no choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything Russia sells to the U.S. Russia actually sells very little to the United States. Imports from Russia account for less than one-tenth of one percent of total U.S. imports and they've fallen by about 90 percent since the year before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China, all of which are much bigger U.S. trading partners.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Police in Nashville, Tennessee are on the scene of a shooting at a high school. Authorities say one student was killed, another was injured, and the alleged attacker, also a student, shot and killed himself at Adiak High School. Israel ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza is holding. This is day four of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv says, as the truce holds in Gaza, Israel has started a new military operation in the

occupied West Bank. The Israeli military has turned the Jenin refugee camp essentially into a closed military zone. Jenin is an urban area that's home to many Palestinian families and kids. It's also long been a militant stronghold. Israel says this is a counterterrorism operation aimed at strengthening security in the West Bank. But some Palestinians in the West Bank, like 53-year-old Walid Amira, say it feels like

the war in Gaza is shifting over to them. Of course the war is coming here, he says. The Israeli government wants to prove something to their people, and the West Bank will become the place to prove it. Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, called this new operation a quote, significant shift in Israel's approach to the West Bank. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. US stocks are trading higher this hour.

The Dow is up 164 points at 44,189. This is NPR. Millions of people are contending with the aftermath of what's being described as once-in-a-generation snowfall in the southern U.S. Several deaths are linked to Tuesday's winter storm. Florida, nicknamed the Sunshine State, recorded as much as eight inches of snow in some areas. Pensacola broke a more than century-old record with more than seven inches of snow, states of emergency were declared from Florida to Louisiana. The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2025 inductees this morning, spanning genres of country, funk, rock, and bubblegum pop.

NPR's Sydney Madden has details. George Clinton, Ashley Gormley, Rodney Darkchild Jerkins, Mike Love, Tony Macaulay, and three members of the Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald, Tom Johnston, and Patrick Simmons have officially been added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. This is the first class since 2017 to include no women on the list. Songwriters like Janet Jackson and Sheryl Crowe were nominated but didn't make the cut this year. The new honorees will be inducted on June 12th at a ceremony in New York City. Sydney Madden, NPR News. U.S. stocks higher with NASDAQ climbing 269 points. It's up now 1.3 percent at 20,028. Madden, NPR News.