NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-05-2025 4AM 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 Shea Stevens. President Trump is proposing a U.S. takeover of war-torn Gaza and the resettlement of displaced Palestinians. At a press conference alongside Israel's prime minister, Trump said past Middle East policies

have failed and that it's time to try something new. As NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports, he called Gaza a demolition site that could become the Riviera of the Middle East. Trump announced this plan or idea for the first time at the press conference. He said he would be putting out more information in the next couple of weeks. But just to be clear here, the president is talking about taking over a sovereign territory. And I say territory, not country, because the United States doesn't recognize Palestine as a country. It's referred to as a territory.

And P. R. Steve Shiveram. Earlier Tuesday, Trump announced that the U.S. would no longer fund the U.S. agency that helps Palestinian refugees. The United States has flown a group of deported migrants to a holding facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Trump administration says it can house up to 30,000 migrants there under the supervision of several hundred military service members. Police in New York's Nassau County are being embedded with federal immigration agents to arrest criminal suspects who do not have legal status. County officials say they are prepared to detain people

for up to three days until ICE removes them. Bahar Ostadon has details. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is embedding 10 local police detectives with ICE, which critics are calling an overreach of authority. New York state law says local police can't arrest or detain people solely for having no legal status. That's a civil, not criminal, matter.

Officers must have probable cause that a person has committed a crime. But police say now, when they arrest someone even for a low-level crime, one they'd normally say just issue a ticket for, they'll check the person's immigration status. If they have no legal status, they'll call ICE. The details of Nassau County's agreement with ICE have not been made public. Experts say they expect legal challenges. For NPR News, I'm Bahar Ostadhan in New York. Police in the central Ohio city of New Albany are seeking a motive and suspect for a deadly

workplace shooting. Police Chief Greg Jones says it occurred shortly before 11 p.m. at a warehouse that makes beauty products and toiletries. To give you a little bit of background, it's a large building and at this point we have one confirmed fatality. We have five that were transported to the hospital. Their conditions, I'm not able to comment on their conditions at this point. We have a person of interest and we are working to locate them and bring them into custody.

Jones says there were about 150 people inside of the warehouse when the shooting occurred. You're listening to NPR News. The U.S. Postal Service says it will temporarily stop accepting packages shipped from China. Letters and large envelopes are not affected by the move, which comes as U.S. tariffs on certain Chinese imports take effect. China plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products beginning next week. The FBI has released posters seeking information on two senior Iranian intelligence officers. As NPR's Ryan Lucas reports, the bureau alleges the Iranians were involved in the abduction

of retired Special Agent Robert Levinson nearly 20 years ago. Posters identify the Iranian intelligence officers as Mohammed Basri and Ahmed Kazai. The FBI alleges the two men were involved in Levinson's disappearance in March 2007 from Kish Island in Iran. The bureau says Levinson was abducted by Iranian government agents and then held captive. Iran has denied knowledge of Levinson's whereabouts. Levinson is presumed to have died in detention. More than four years ago the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Basri and Kazai for what it says is their role in Levenson's abduction. The FBI, meanwhile, continues to offer a reward of up to $5 million for information leading

to Levenson's location and recovery. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Greenland's parliament has voted to ban its political parties from accepting donations from foreign or anonymous contributors. The move comes after President Trump insisted the U.S. needs to buy Greenland to protect its national security. Greenland's prime minister has proposed holding a general election in March. The campaign is expected to focus on the island's independence. This is NPR News. Matt Wilson spent years doing rounds at children's hospitals in New York City. I had a clip on tie. I wore Heelys, size 11. NPR News.