NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-01-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: February 2, 2025

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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. on NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his country is retaliating after President Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods, along with a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy today. Canada will be responding to the U.S. trade action with 25 percent tariffs against $155

billion worth of American goods. This will include immediate tariffs on 125 billion dollars worth of American products in 21 days time. Trudeau says they're also considering several non-tariff measures including some relating to critical minerals and energy. Trump also put 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and 10 percent on China. They all take effect on Tuesday. Mexico has also vowed to retaliate. The White House says the tariffs are meant to address the illegal flow of drugs and migrants across the U.S. northern and southern borders, but it sets the stage for a trade war as U.S.

consumers brace to get hit with higher prices on everything from fruits and vegetables to electronics. Hamas released three hostages today, among them a dual American-Israeli citizen and a dual Israeli-French citizen as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. In exchange, Israel released 180 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails. And Piers Eleanor Beersley reports French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated the release. Ofer Calderon is free, tweeted Macron. Calderon was kidnapped with his wife and two of his four children who were freed in the last hostage ceasefire deal in November 2023.

I reached Yishai Dan in Israel. The Calderons are his late brother's family. He says Ofer Calderon learned to survive on very little food and rarely saw the light, but he never lost his sense of humor. Dan, who traveled to France and Europe pleading for the hostages release, says this is the first time he's had hope in 16 months of anguish. I believe in future, in happiness. And the first time he believes all the hostages could return and the war could actually end. Eleanor Beardsley in PR News, Paris.

President Trump has fired the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The move was expected. Rohit Chopra was known for his aggressive enforcement and expansion of consumer protection laws. He was let go early from a five-year term that was scheduled to end next year, though he lasted longer than many thought he would. Chopra took on a number of financial companies to protect consumers during his run as director of the Bureau, suing the country's top banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, for failing to protect consumers from widespread fraud. This is NPR News. The website for the U.S. Agency for International Development went offline with no explanation today.

As President Trump froze billions of dollars, U.S. funded foreign aid and development around the world. That includes humanitarian and security assistance. Trump and congressional Republicans say much of foreign aid and development programs are wasteful. They single out programs that they say advance liberal social agendas. USAID is the world's biggest donor of humanitarian aid. Avian Flu, a disease that's widespread in birds around the world, is being watched carefully by the CDC. It's also been found in humans. And outbreaks of the disease have been found in US poultry and dairy cows. Michael Braun from member station

WGCU reports now experts say it's claimed the lives of two American bald eagle chicks. Dr. Jessica Comely with the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife announced the diagnosis and said the current strain of avian flu has caused devastating losses in birds. We received notification that the two eaglets tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. Comalie said birds like waterfowl can shed the virus while remaining asymptomatic. It can also be carried by contaminated objects. The eaglets in this nest were likely contracted the disease by eating an infected bird. It wasn't known if the eaglet's parents were infected, but observers were watching over

the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam. For NPR News, I'm Michael Braun in Fort Myers. And I'm Janene Hurst. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington.