NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-06-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 6, 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. NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Many Arab and Muslim Americans are expressing anger over President Trump pushing for the U.S. to take over Gaza and relocate displaced Palestinians. And Piers Donganya has more from Dearborn, Michigan, home to a large concentration of Arab and Muslim Americans. Sam Ali is a business consultant in Dearborn, a third generation Arab American. He sat out the

2024 presidential election in protest of the Biden administration's handling of the war in Gaza. But he is also very critical of Muslim Americans who decided the answer was to support Donald Trump. They all got made fools of. All were given empty promises. He said Trump's plans for Gaza would never have been fair or workable for the Palestinian people who call Gaza home. Others expressed concerns that Trump's proposal came with no consultation with those it will affect the most. Don Gagne, NPR News, Dearborn. The Trump administration is giving out resignation offers to some in the intelligence community. And Pierce Jenna McLaughlin reports it's the latest move by the White House to shrink the

size of the federal government, raising concerns about the potential impact to national security. Employees at the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence received deferred resignation offers in recent days. That's according to sources who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity. The move is part of an effort to realign the intelligence community with President Trump's agenda. A CIA spokesperson said Director John Ratcliffe is, quote, moving swiftly to ensure the CIA

workforce is responsive to the administration's national security priorities. The offers were sent to all employees of the agencies. Those sources cautioned there will likely be exceptions for highly sensitive or senior roles. Jenna McLaughlin, NPR News. The Trump administration has put most of the U.S. agency for international development, USAID, workforce around the world on administrative leave and froze its budget. Trump adviser Elon Musk says the agency is full of corruption and waste. And here's Gabriella Emanuel says Ukraine

is a big recipient of U.S. aid after Russia invaded the country. Ukraine is among the top recipients of U.S. aid. It goes to things like rebuilding infrastructure after it's attacked by Russia or seeds and fertilizer to build up the agriculture sector to get more exports. The Trump administration has issued some narrow waivers, but most things have stopped. For example, NPR's Ukraine Bureau has confirmed disruptions in the delivery of HIV AIDS medication. NPR's Gabriella Emanuel reporting total foreign assistance in 2023 was 66 billion dollars. You're listening to NPR News.

Google is the latest company to end some of its diversity hiring to comply with President Trump's new government contractor rules in an effort to remove all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government. Google, like several other major tech companies, sells some of its technology and services to the federal government. And that includes its rapidly growing cloud division that's a key piece of its push into artificial intelligence. McDonald's, Target, Meta, and Walmart are among several companies that have also cut back on their DEI programs.

In Southern California, the former interpreter for Shohei Otani is set to be sentenced later today for stealing millions of dollars from the baseball superstar. Steve Futterman has more. Last June, Ipe Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud. Prosecutors estimate the interpreter stole around 17 million dollars from Shohei Otani. At the time of the guilty plea, then US Attorney Martín Estrada said Mizuhara deserved time behind bars. This defendant stole money from Shohei Otani and did so by abusing his position of trust? The alleged abuse included Mizuhara even calling the bank, pretending to be Otani. Prosecutors are asking for a prison sentence of over four and a half years.

Defense attorneys are urging the judge to sentence the former interpreter to 18 months. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman. Wall Street is trading in mixed territory at this hour. The Dow is down 116 points. The Nasdaq is up 14, the S&P 500 up 6. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Our long national nightmare is over. Beyonce has finally won the Grammy for NPR News in Washington.