NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-26-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: January 26, 2025

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Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts, you wish you could get more of all your favorite shows, and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held. President Trump told reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One that he'd like Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from Gaza, an area decimated by the Israel-Hamas War. NPR's Azmahallid reports. Trump described this idea of relocating Palestinians as a plan that could be temporary or could be long term. The president said he spoke

about this with the king of Jordan. I said to him, I'd love you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza strip right now and it's a mess. It's a real mess. Trump said he also plans to speak with Egypt's president over the weekend. He said Gaza right now is like a quote demolition site and he wants to get Arab nations to help build housing at a different location. Trump's comments come as additional Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were released over the weekend as part of a ceasefire deal. Asma Khalid, NPR News. Virtually all aid programs around the world that depend on U.S. funding will have to halt

operations. Following a Friday stop-work order by the State Department, President Trump had ordered a three-month pause to review whether expenditures are consistent with his foreign policy. The U.S. is the largest single donor of aid globally, dispersing some $60 billion a year for a wide range of programs, including education, health, and food. Lesley Voltaire, president of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council, says,

though they do have other resources, the poverty-stricken island needs U.S. support. The World Food Program is helping. The International Migration Organization is helping, but it's not enough. The situation will be catastrophic. Military financing for Israel and Egypt and emergency food assistance are exempt from the pause.

Student organizers in Tennessee are planning to march again at the State House to demand gun reform. This follows Wednesday's school shooting in Nashville that left two students dead, including the shooter. Mariana Bakayow of member station WPLN has this report. A groundswell movement for gun reform in 2023 after the deadly covenant school shooting did not sway Tennessee's Republican supermajority, which refused a call from its Republican governor to pass a red flag law. College student Jermaine

Cole Jr. says he doesn't expect the recent shooting at Antioch High School to change any minds, but he's still going to march at the Capitol. I'm tired of doing this. Year after year, I show up hoping that they'll do something about gun violence and it never changes. The Tennessee House has already restricted the public's access to the chamber by reserving half of the gallery for guests of lawmakers. For NPR News, I'm Mariana Bacallao in Nashville. This is NPR News. In Belarus, the presidential election is underway, but

it's a vote that observers call a farce. As authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko is expected to orchestrate winning a seventh term. Many of his opponents have been sent away to prison or exile. Lukashenko took over in 1994 after the demise of the Soviet Union and he relies on Russian support today. Amid the executive orders signed by Trump was a measure pausing the distribution of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. From member station KUNC, Alex Hager reports, that's left some people who rely on water from the Colorado River waiting to hear if they'll get the millions of dollars they

had been expecting. During its final days in the White House, waiting to hear if they'll get the millions of dollars they had been expecting. During its final days in the White House, the Biden administration issued a list of drought response projects that would share a pool of about $388 million. Steve Wolf manages the Southwestern Water Conservation District in Colorado and says water policies like this should be seen as bipartisan. We hope after the review during this pause, the administration and the federal agencies come to that conclusion and this money does move out onto the ground. The funds are mainly targeted at restoring wildlife habitat alongside rivers and streams

and to respond to drought. Projects awarded under the Inflation Reduction Act are spread across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico and Triballand. For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Fort Collins, Colorado. It's down to the final four NFL teams for the Super Bowl title. That game is set for February 9th, but today Philadelphia will host Washington, followed by the Bills Chiefs Showdown in Kansas City. I'm Amy Held in Washington, and this is NPR News.