NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-24-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. A dozen world leaders are in Ukraine's capital today to mark three years since Russia's full-scale invasion. NPR's Joanna Kikissis reports from Kyiv, Ukraine's president is seeking to unite European leaders as the Trump administration moves toward restoring U.S. ties with Russia. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Zelensky said he's planning a European summit related to ending the war. Zelensky says he wants a European representative at the negotiating table along with the U.S.,

Russia and Ukraine. He also said he is still working on a deal with the United States that could exchange hundreds of billions of dollars of critical raw materials for security guarantees. He rejected earlier versions of the deal because the terms would leave Ukraine deeply in debt. He said, I am not signing something that 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to repay. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kyiv. Germany held national elections over the weekend. The mainstream

conservative party won the largest share of votes. The party's leader Friedrich Merz says he'll quickly form a government. But Esme Nicholson reports in Berlin a far-right German party got the second largest share of the votes. Merz's Christian Democrats will be able to uphold what is often referred to as the firewall against the far-right, die Alternative für Deutschland party or AFD by partnering with just one party according to the provisional election result. AFD leader Alice Weidel says that Maatz must respect the will of the electorate and take up her offer to govern together. Maatz is expected to seek a coalition without going Chancellor

Olaf Scholz as social democrats. Metz told voters on Sunday night that the world is not waiting for Germany and that his top priority is to unify and strengthen Europe, calling Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk's support of the AFD as outrageous as interventions from Moscow. For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin. Jury selection starts today in North Dakota in a lawsuit filed against environmental activist group Greenpeace. The company, Energy Transfer, is suing Greenpeace for $300 million. This is over environmental protests led by Native Americans nearly a decade ago against

the Dakota Access pipeline. Officials at the company claim Greenpeace and other activists conspired to hurt the company. NPR's Jeff Brady reports Greenpeace says this lawsuit is intended to block free speech. Greenpeace calls this a SLAP suit and SLAP stands for strategic lawsuit against public participation. Essentially a wealthy company takes a less wealthy critic to court, forcing them to spend time and money defending themselves rather than protesting. Greenpeace says the goal here is to win and dissuade other companies from filing cases like this. NPR's Jeff Brady reporting.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Big tech company Apple has announced it will spend half a trillion dollars in the U.S. over the next four years. Apple says it will expand facilities and teams in several states, from Michigan to Iowa to North Carolina. The company says it intends to focus on artificial intelligence and skills development for students. President Trump has already praised Apple online. Pope Francis remains hospitalized in critical condition. The Vatican says he is still being treated for severe pneumonia, and doctors now see

signs of early kidney failure. They say that has been controlled. The Vatican says the pope continues to rest. Conclave won the big prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last night. That's where top performances in film and TV were honored. Steve Futterman reports from Los Angeles. On an evening where most of the winners were expected, there was one big surprise.

And the actor goes to Timothy Chalamet. Timothy Chalamet won the award for best male actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. I'm really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don't usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. The favorite had been Adrian Brody for The Brutalist. Many SAG members are also Oscar members, so we may have gotten hints about who could win

next week. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. The National Weather Service says an atmospheric river is pouring precipitation over the Pacific Northwest. There are winter storm warnings up for parts of central Washington state this morning. There is a risk of flooding. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.