NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-24-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Federal agencies are pushing back against the Trump administration's request that federal workers report back before midnight tonight on what they did last week. As NPR's Andrea Hsu reports, numerous agencies have told their employees not to respond. The email over the weekend from the Office of Personnel Management told federal employees to reply with approximately five bullet points, listing what they accomplished last weekend, copying their managers. On Saturday, billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to President Trump, suggested in a post on

X that workers could lose their jobs if they didn't comply. Since then, leaders of federal agencies, including the FBI, the Energy Department, the Department of Defense and many others have instructed their employees not to respond to the email. They note that departments are responsible for reviewing the performance of their personnel and will coordinate any response when and if required. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. The US and key European allies were on opposite sides on UN votes today on Russia's war against Ukraine. The Trump administration rejecting Ukraine's version of a resolution and drafting its own,

which garnered support from Russia and China, but not US allies. Here's NPR's Michelle Kellerman. The Trump administration says its resolution had a simple message. It implores a swift end to the conflict and urges lasting peace without calling Russia the aggressor or even calling for a just peace based on the UN Charter. The UK and France tried but failed to change that and ended up abstaining in the vote. Russia and China supported the US resolution, which passed in a 10-0 vote. Earlier in the day in the General Assembly, 93 countries backed a Ukrainian and European

resolution to mark three years since the start of Russia's aggression. The U.S., Russia, and Belarus were among 18 countries that opposed that text. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. Finally, some good news about this year's flu season. It looks like this winter's flu surge may finally be waning. That's according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NPR's Rob Stein is more. According to the CDC data the rate at which people are getting treated by a doctor for the flu or ending up in the hospital looks like it has finally started to decrease after

rising sharply for weeks. But lots of people are still getting hit by the flu in the worst flu season in seven years. In fact, doctors around the country are reporting that kids may be developing neurological complications from the flu more than usual this year. Experts say it's still not too late to get a flu shot. Rob Stein, NPR News. The founder of an out-of-fuck blood testing company has lost her appeal to overturn her conviction on charges she defrauded investors. The most founder, Elizabeth Holmes, is currently serving an 11-year sentence at a women's prison in Texas. On Wall Street, the Dow is up 33 points. This is NPR. Device maker Apple has announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S.

over the next four years. Company also is saying DeDe intends to hire 20,000 additional people and will build a new 250,000 square foot server factory in Texas. For much of the plan appears to have already been underway. For example, the plant being built with partners in Houston is scheduled to open next year. A new study finds limiting time spent on smartphones can help improve moods and reduce symptoms of depression. Here's Allison Arby reports on how long it takes to measure a difference. At a time when more than 90% of Americans have a smartphone, we forget that having a

supercomputer at our fingertips is a new phenomenon. Adrian Ward, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, and his collaborators recruited 467 participants who agreed to block the internet from their smartphones for two weeks. What we found was that people had better mental health, better subjective well-being, and better sustained attention. It's not feasible for most people to disconnect for two weeks. So researchers advise starting with small steps such as taking 30-minute breaks or powering down

phones after dinner or setting aside a day a week for a digital detox. Alice Naubury, NPR News. The Vatican says Pope Francis remains in critical condition at a Rome hospital, though officials say there has been slight improvement in lab tests and they say the pontiff has resumed some work activities. Vatican says while the pope continues to suffer from pneumonia in both lungs, they have not experienced any major respiratory crises. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News, in Washington.