NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-29-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

NPR News: 01-29-2025 10AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The indicator from Planet Money is diving into the world of batteries. Not the kind you buy at the grocery store. We're talking really big batteries, the kind that can power thousands of homes. This technology came seemingly out of nowhere. We're digging deep into the battery industry in three back-to-back episodes. Listen to the indicator from Planet Money podcast on NPR. Live from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright. Senate confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are underway at this hour. President Trump nominated Kennedy as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy is criticized for his skepticism of vaccines and other controversial viewpoints. Some employees of the federal government are being offered what the Trump administration is calling deferred resignations with full pay and benefits if they agree to leave their jobs by the end of September. The deadline to decide is a week from tomorrow. NPR's Andrea Schuze says this follows President Trump's order on day one to end remote work for federal employees.

I think some workers who have been remote for years since before the pandemic, they may have already been planning to resign. So maybe some of them will. But others I've spoken to this week are really determined to stay in their jobs. You know, they took these jobs because they believe in the mission. They believe in serving the country. They want to be enforcing the law. NPR's Andrea Hsu reporting. A federal judge is temporarily blocking the Trump administration's plan to freeze federal payments for grants, loans and other programs, at least until Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited to the White House. It's President Trump's first White House invitation to a foreign leader since returning to office.

NPR's Danielle Estrin reports from Tel Aviv. Netanyahu's office says the Israeli leader is invited to meet Trump in the White House next week on Tuesday. Trump and his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff were instrumental in pressing Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire and hostage prisoner exchange with Hamas on the eve of Trump's inauguration. The Trump administration is urging Israel to extend the ceasefire. Netanyahu is under pressure from far-right allies to return to fighting in Gaza. Netanyahu is scheduled to testify three times a week in his corruption trial, and it's

unclear if the Israeli court will grant him a reprieve for a White House visit. Danielle Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Stocks open mix as investors wait to hear from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell this afternoon. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow rose about 30 points in early trading. Powell and his Fed colleagues are widely expected to hold interest rates steady today as the central bank tries to wrestle inflation back down to its target of 2 percent. Prices are still climbing a little bit faster than that.

There's also considerable uncertainty about how President Trump's policies will affect the cost of living, so the Fed is likely to proceed with caution. The nation's trade deficit hit a record high in December, topping $122 billion. Exports were down during the month, while imports jumped. Some of the increased imports were the result of businesses hustling to bring goods into the Country before any potential Trump tariffs take effect Stocks were higher in Tokyo today most other Asian markets were closed for the Lunar New Year Scott Horsley in pair news, Washington. You're listening to NPR news in Washington The Trump administration's halt of refugee programs has stranded thousands of Afghans

who helped the U.S. military at war. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports veterans groups are pushing for a change in policy. Afghans who helped out the U.S. military over 20 years of war were promised U.S. visas, but now thousands of them and their family members are stranded. The suspension of foreign aid also means no support for Afghans that the U.S. has evacuated to third countries. Veterans say they made promises to these Afghan allies. Tim Kennedy is a Green Beret who fought in Afghanistan. The men that we were fighting alongside in Afghanistan, they would take extraordinary and exceptional risks and demonstrate countless acts of valor in the protection of us. On his first official day as Secretary of Defense

Pete Hegseth was asked about the issue. He said the US stands with its allies but didn't elaborate. Quill Lawrence NPR News. Two Colombian military planes carrying migrants deported from the US arrived in Bogota. The White House has said it would lift visa restrictions and other measures once the Colombian government accepted migrants. Over the weekend, Colombia's president rejected two U.S. military flights of deported migrants from Colombia. President Gustavo Petro and President Trump traded tariff threats until Petro eventually relented. WNBA star Brittany Greiner is signing with the Atlanta Dream. Greiner made the announcement on Instagram in a video alongside some of her new teammates.

She spent her 11-year career with the Phoenix Mercury. She missed the 2022 season when she was detained in Russia for 10 months. She was freed in a prisoner swap. I'm Kristin Wright and this is NPR News from Washington.