NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-06-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

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Are you the greatest musician the world has never heard? Unsigned artists, now's your opportunity to play the Tiny Desk. Enter the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest, our nationwide search for the next undiscovered star. The winner will play a Tiny Desk concert and a U.S. tour. To learn more, visit npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Former officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID, and others rallied in Washington Wednesday to protest efforts to halt U.S. humanitarian and development

assistance overseas. NPR's Luke Gehrig was there and filed this report. Here in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, Democratic lawmakers and scores of federal workers and citizens are protesting the shutting down of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Tech billionaire turned special government employee Elon Musk called USAID a, quote, ball of worms and is leading the effort to shut it down. As you can hear, scores of citizens and protesters are calling for Elon Musk to leave the federal government.

Musk, along with his allies on Capitol Hill, like Senator Joni Ernst, say USAID is spending too much money. But protesters here call USAID a core function of the federal government and important to the United States standing around the world. NPR's Luke Garrett in Washington. The White House is offering few details on President Trump's proposed U.S. takeover of war-torn Gaza and the resettlement of displaced Palestinians.

NPR's Deepa Shivaram has more. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt called the idea, quote, out of the box, but didn't answer reporters' questions in the briefing on how the U.S. would go about owning Gaza when the president came up with the plan and if he's discussed it with any leaders of Arab countries. She did not directly answer when asked if Palestinians would be forcibly removed and said the president has not committed to U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza. Levitt also reiterated that the U.S. would not be paying for the rebuilding of Gaza and that Trump wants leaders of other Arab nations to step up to do that, in addition to taking

in Palestinians who Trump says can't live in Gaza as it gets rebuilt. But Trump's ideas have been opposed by Arab leaders, including the King of Jordan, who is set to visit the White House next week. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News, The White House. For a second time, a federal judge has blocked President Trump's order to end birthright citizenship. NPR's Sergio Martinez-Bertran has this report. The nationwide preliminary injunction was issued by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman.

According to news reports, Boardman said Trump's order to end birthright citizenship quote runs counter to our nation's 250 years history of citizenship by birth. She also said no other court has endorsed President Trump's argument that the 14th Amendment does not apply to children born to immigrants who are in the US without legal status. The plaintiffs in this particular case include five pregnant women without legal status. George Boardman's ruling solidifies a similar decision issued by a federal court in Seattle. The case is likely to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Austin. U.S. futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

This is NPR. Mexico has deployed thousands of troops to its northern border with the United States. The move comes after President Trump agreed to delay his threatened U.S. tariffs if Mexico increased its border security and efforts to crack down on fentanyl trafficking. Ukraine and Russia have released more prisoners of war. With the support of the United Arab Emirates, NPR's Hanna Palomarenko reports that 150 Ukrainian soldiers have been returned home. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video from the first minutes of the meeting

of the exchanged Ukrainian soldiers. In his evening address, Zelenskyy commented on the exchange, calling it a happy day. He added that some of the soldiers had been in captivity for more than two years. It is very, very difficult to return our people, but we are doing it, and we will continue to do it. We have to return everyone, he said. This was the 61st prisoner exchange since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion. In total, more than 4,000 Ukrainians have been returned from Russian captivity.

Hanna Palamarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. India's largest news outlets are suing chat GPT's OpenAI. They allege the startup is using their content without permission. OpenAI denies the allegations, saying that it uses data that is already available to the general public. The lawsuit comes as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman prepares to visit India this week. This is NPR News. 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.