NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-03-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

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Extreme weather disasters like wildfires and floods can devastate communities. On the Sunday story from Up First, we ask, are there places that just aren't safe to live anymore? People are going to die. They will be me and my neighbors and I don't want that to happen. How we respond to disasters in an era of climate insecurity. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Migration and trade are dominating. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's first trim is Trump's top diplomat. In El Salvador, he's encouraging the government there to agree to hold Venezuelan gang members deported from the U.S. North Memphiars, Michelle Kaliman. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele hosted Rubio

at his lakeside villa about an hour outside the city. They looked out over the lake as a jet ski and boat came by with cheering fans. 90% approval rating. Ha ha ha. So the secretary knows Salvador. Bukele is popular here for his crackdown on gangs. He says he's working with Rubio on migration and hinted at a big important deal.

Secretary Rubio came here from Panama, where he says he had a frank discussion about the Panama Canal, which Trump wants back. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News with the Secretary in El Salvador. Billionaire Elon Musk under the auspices of Doge continues to move to consolidate control over large swaths of the federal government. Musk, who is not appointed by Congress, is working on behalf of President Trump. The entity tasked with streamlining government says it's shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was created by Congress to provide international aid.

Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin mungles at a protest in Washington, D.C. against the administration's actions. This is billions of dollars of work that is being done all over the world, and they're trying to disrupt it and block it. And it comes from Elon Musk, and we don't know exactly what authority he's operating under. The Trump administration has placed two top security officials at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material. The White House maintains Musk is working for Trump as a special government employee. State Farm says it is seeking an emergency rate hike in California.

That's in the wake of devastating wildfires around Los Angeles. As Kevin Stark of Member Station KQED reports, the insurance company says it's already paid out more than a billion dollars on thousands of claims. State Farm says the rate hike is needed to avert a dire situation, raising serious questions about the health of its California subsidiary. They've asked to raise the average California homeowner's policy by more than 20 percent, starting in May. The company is the state's largest insurance group, Stanford's Michael Wara.

State farms isn't very healthy financially because it has been really trying to stay in the California market and grow in the California market as opposed to doing what most of the other companies have done, which is to shrink. State regulators say they're setting hearings to consider their request. For NPR News, I'm Kevin Stark in San Francisco. Salvage crews have recovered another piece of the commercial jet that crashed into the Potomac River last week following a mid-air collision with a military helicopter. The crash claimed the lives of a total of 67 people.

The Dow was down 122 points today. This is NPR. down 122 points today. This is NPR. In Brazil, the new school year begins today with a significant change for students there. The effects of a law that bans the use of mobile phones in schools. Julie Canaro reports from Rio de Janeiro. Kids are returning to school, but cell phones aren't. Electronic devices will have to be put away during school hours, including breaks. This according to a new law in Brazil signed in January. Now it's up to schools to decide how to enforce the ban.

Some are providing lockers to put away phones, others creating penalties for those who disobey the rule, and kids are complaining on social media. Electronic devices may only be used for class activities if students have disabilities or in exceptional circumstances. The Ministry of Education says this is meant to protect students' mental, physical, and psychological development. A UNESCO report says nearly one in every four countries have restricted the use of cell phones in schools. For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro in Rio. Americans have been seeing steady increases in home values in many parts of the country, but some of that is expected to be tempered by climate change.

That's according to a new study from the climate research company First Street, which estimates high insurance costs and homeowners avoiding some riskier neighborhoods could lead to a nearly one and a half trillion dollar drop in home values by 2055. So far any sign of the price declines has been hard to find, however some areas of the country including California have seen sharply higher insurance costs. Crude oil futures prices edged up modestly, oil gaining 63 cents a barrel to 73.6 Tina barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear and PR News in Washington. This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. And I just talked to Pamela Anderson about her big career comeback after years in the

tabloids and not being taken seriously. She's entered a new era on stage and screen. Find this interview with Pamela Anderson wherever you listen to Fresh Air.