NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-05-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

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Our long national nightmare is over. Beyonce has finally won the Grammy for Album of the Year. How and why did it take so long for Beyonce to win the top prize at Music's Biggest Night? We're talking about her big wins and breaking down the Grammys for Kendrick Lamar, Chappell Rhone, and Sabrina Carpenter. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. President Trump is suggesting that the United States take over Gaza and redevelopment as displaced Palestinians are relocated to other countries. Trump also said he envisioned Palestinians and others returning to the region once it's rebuilt.

NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports Palestinians are reacting to the idea. 29-year-old Bassam Mohammed Abdelraouf stands in the central square of Gaza City, once grand and now reduced to piles of rubble, after more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas. Still, he says he would never leave. Even if there was a place that was a million times better, I would still live among the between Israel and Hamas. Still, he says he would never leave. Even if there was a place that was a million times better, I would still live among the rubble and the tents, he says. It's hard to describe my love for Gaza, my home, he adds.

But for some, life in Gaza has simply become too hard. 30-year-old Yahya Barakat says he would leave if given the chance. My home is gone, my life is gone. My future is gone, he says. If I find a country that embraces me, provides me with safety, I'll go. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv, with reporting from NPR's Anas Baba in Gaza City. More than two million federal workers are facing a deadline on Thursday to accept a deferred resignation offer.

Some Democratic lawmakers are slamming the offer as illegal or a scam. Randy Erwin is the president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents some U.S. government workers. The kind of things that they have said they wanted, some 75 percent reduction in the federal workforce, cutting two trillion dollars from the federal budget. Those things are absolutely irresponsible, impossible. The deferred resignation offer is seen as a step toward removing many of the 2.3 million government employees in a White House effort to overhaul federal agencies.

Stocks on Wall Street opened lower this morning as the U.S. Postal Service backtracks on plans to block small package shipments from China. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow fell about 82 points in early trading. The Postal Service says it will continue to deliver packages from China to addresses in the United States, lifting a hold that was imposed a day earlier. The goods in those packages may cost more, however. The Trump administration ordered a new 10 percent tariff on imports from China this week, and says it will no longer exempt small dollar deliveries to individual customers, a loophole that had been exploited

by some e-commerce companies in China. The Postal Service says it's working with customs officials on a way to collect those import taxes. Talks on a possible merger between Honda and Nissan appear to be stalled. The two Japanese automakers say they're exploring their options. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News. Earthquakes are continuing to shake the Greek island of Santorini. Authorities are stepping up their emergency plans in the event that the tremors lead to a larger quake in the coming days.

Coast Guard vessels and a military landing craft have been dispatched in a wider region in the event that evacuations are ordered. Police in Sweden say 10 people were killed and at least five others were injured in a shooting on Tuesday. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports a gunman opened fire at an education center in the central part of the country. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersen described the attack at an adult education center in the city of Orobro as the worst mass shooting in Swedish

history. Police say the suspect is also dead and is believed to have acted alone. Police have warned the death toll could continue to rise as several people had been shot. The shooting occurred at a school for adult education which is located on a campus where other schools including those for children are based. Scandinavian authorities have worked to crack down on gun violence over recent years following an uptick in deadly gang related shootings. Rob Schmitz and Peer News, Copenhagen. Nearly 50 million Americans from the Midwest to the Northeast could be in the path of a severe winter storm starting later tonight. Forecasters say the weather system is expected to bring ice and freezing rain that could make travel conditions dangerous

in many regions. Stocks on Wall Street are continuing to trade lower at this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial averages down 161 points, the Nasdaq down 132. This is NPR News in Washington.