NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-05-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

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This is Ira Glass with This American Life. Each week on our show, we choose a theme, tell different stories on that theme. All right, I'm just going to stop right there. You're listening to an NPR podcast. Chances are you know our show. So instead, I'm going to tell you we've just been on a run of really good shows lately. Some big epic emotional stories, some weird funny stuff, too. Download us. This American Life.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. weird, funny stuff, too. Down with us, this American life. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. House Republicans are reacting to President Trump's idea of the U.S. taking ownership of the Gaza Strip. As NPR's Barbara Spahn explains, Trump suggested relocating some 1.8 million Palestinians. House Speaker Mike Johnson said House Republicans will stand with Trump on his initiative. This is a bold, decisive move and I think you have to do something to eradicate the threat to Israel. Other House Republicans like Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma said they're waiting to see

exactly what this proposal entails, including whether it would mean American boots on the ground. I'm always interested in what the president has to say, but count me as reluctant to send a single American into Gaza. The speaker said he'll discuss Gaza with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coming days. Barbara Sprint and Peer News, The Capital. Employees of the US Agency for International Development

are scrambling after the Trump administration pulled many of them off the job. USAID was told the agency's entire direct hire workforce, about 3,000 people, were being placed on indefinite administrative leave. Overseas staff have been told to return to the US within 30 days. According to people familiar with the matter, it's likely to have major effects on humanitarian assistance programs in areas including Somalia, Bangladesh and South Sudan. Meanwhile, some Latin American leaders though are praising the decision to shut down USAID. Here's NPR's Adr Peralta. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the United States should provide aid to the world,

but she said USAID is too opaque. USAID involves so many things, she said, that it's better that they close it. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said ending USAID is a big win for the world. He said USAID money is funneled toward opposition groups and NGOs with political agendas. Both Bukele and the Mexican government have in the past criticized groups funded by USAID. In Mexico, the government took aim at a watchdog that uncovered government corruption. Bukele has criticized one organization that used USAID money to uncover human rights abuses by his government.

Eder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City. A Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board fired by President Trump is suing to get her job back in Paris Andrea Andrea Shuesmore. Gwen Wilcox learned she was being removed from her job in a late-night email last week. She's the first member of the Independent Labor Board to be ousted in its 90-year history. Her attorneys say her firing is a blatant violation of the National Labor Relations Act, which allows presidents to remove board members only in cases of neglect of duty or malfeasance. The lawsuit seeks to have her reinstated. Without Wilcox, the Labor Board

lacks a quorum, halting much of its work adjudicating labor disputes. Under former President Biden, the board issued a number of decisions favorable to workers and unions. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. This is NPR. A day after the U.S. Postal Service said it's placing a ban on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong, a reversal. The Post Office announcing it plans to no longer accept parcels from China and Hong Kong on Tuesday after the imposition of tariffs, and it threatened to end a customs exception that allowed small value parcels to enter the U.S. without paying tax. However, the Post Office has now reversed that decision.

In the Philippines, the House of Representatives has voted to impeach Vice President Duarte, where removal still requires approval from the country's Senate, more from Michael Sullivan. More than two-thirds of House lawmakers in the Philippines supported the resolution after several complaints were brought against the Vice President, who's the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte. The resolution accuses her of violating the Constitution, including allegations she misused public funds and threatened to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assassinated. Marcos has said publicly he's not in favor of impeachment.

It's the latest twist in the drama between the Philippines' two most prominent political families, who formed an alliance to win election in a landslide in 2022. It's not clear when the Senate will begin Duterte's impeachment trial. For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai. Well, not necessarily as pricey as last year's game. It is still going to cost you quite a bit of money if you want tickets to this Sunday's Big Super Bowl game

between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans. Average ticket price as of this week totaling just over $6,500. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. Valentine's Day is on the horizon, and NPR News in Washington.