NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-27-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

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What's in store for the music, TV, and film industries for 2025? We don't know, but we're making some fun, bold predictions for the new year. Listen now to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Federal agents continue expanding their deportation operations as they move to fulfill President Trump's promises on illegal immigration, carrying out raids across the country. Resistance by immigrant rights groups is also growing.

We'll hear from MPR's Adrian Florido. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and partner agencies have reported raids to pick up more than a thousand immigrants in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, San Diego, Miami, and many other cities. ICE says it's targeting potentially dangerous criminal aliens. Its press releases highlight arrests of people convicted or wanted for crimes like extortion, homicide, domestic violence, and narcotics violations. But advocates say it's also getting people who pose no threat. In Atlanta, activists reported immigrants with pending asylum claims were rounded up. In Puerto Rico, the ACLU said ICE had detained

people with legal status and no criminal history. Advocates have filed a raft of lawsuits to try to slow the deportation dragnet. Adrian Fledido in PR News, Los Angeles. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinian citizens are streaming back into northern Gaza. It is their first chance to return there after 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, though it's not entirely clear what in some cases they'll be returning to. As a fragile ceasefire between the respective sides enters its second week, Israel says eight of the hostages to be returned in the weeks ahead are believed to be dead. The return of Palestinians to Gaza marks a dramatic

reversal to the mass exodus many feared might be made permanent by Israel. Humanitarian and civic projects in Ukraine are in limbo after the Trump administration suspended their funding. MP Yoshua Nikakis reports from Kyiv that US support for schools, hospitals and Ukraine's energy grid is now uncertain. USAID supports several projects in Ukraine's energy grid is now uncertain. USAID supports several projects in Ukraine, including school reconstruction, the provision of medical services, and the repair of the energy system, which has been badly damaged by Russian attacks. NPR spoke to two employees from USAID projects who confirmed that they were told about the stop work order by the State Department.

The employees asked NPR not to name them because they are not authorized to speak to the press. Speaking to reporters this week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says the Trump administration's stop work order does not affect military funding but declined to comment on the status of humanitarian assistance. Joanna Kekesis, NPR News, Kyiv. Scott Besson has one confirmation to be the nation's next Treasury Secretary. Senators approving President Trump's pick by vote of 68 to 29. The vote signals a degree of bipartisan support for Besson, a wealthy hedge fund manager.

As Secretary, Besson will be leading voice for the administration on economic policy. He's expected to lead the push to extend and possibly expand the 2017 tax cuts. On Wall Street today, the Nasdaq fell more than 600 points. This is NPR. Starbucks hopes nicer mugs and free refills will get more people in the door. This week's new changes are part of the new CEO's efforts to bring the world's biggest coffee chain closer to the image of a local coffee house at Piazzolini Cellucor reports. Starbucks is trying to change its vibe. Starting this week, people who want to hang out at Starbucks can now get their drinks

and ceramic mugs and get free refills of tea and coffee. The chain is also bringing back self-serve sugar and cream, which had gone away in the pandemic. And earlier, Starbucks also went back to its old policy on bathrooms, saying they are only for paying customers. All this is part of an overhaul by CEO Brian Nicol, who was brought on to fix declining sales. Nicol has argued Starbucks has strayed too far from its roots, with drinks and menus so complicated they overwhelm the baristas and the customers. On Tuesday, he'll address investors as Starbucks releases its latest financial report. Alina Seluk, NPR News.

The Federal Reserve's interest rates setting arm meets this week in Washington with many economists anticipating that its first meeting of the new year will stand pat on rates as it seeks further direction for the markets. Fed officials and Chair Jerome Powell have cut interest rates for three meetings in a row, taking rates from 5.3 percent to 4.3 percent. Or, with several economic reports showing healthy hiring and steady progress on inflation, policymakers are expected to take a breather. Critical futures prices took a dip today. Oil trending down amid continued worries about tariffs and other economic developments.

Oil dropped $1.49 a barrel to $73.17 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.