NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-25-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

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Hey, it's Amartines. I work on a news show. And yeah, the news can feel like a lot on any given day. But you just can't ignore las noticias when important world-changing events are happening. So that is where the Up First podcast comes in. Every single morning in under 15 minutes, we take the news and boil it down to three essential stories so you can keep up without feeling stressed out. Listen to the Upfirst podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. There's more confusion this morning among federal employees over a directive released last weekend. It told staffers to email five of their accomplishments last week. Some agencies told staffers

not to respond. The Trump administration seemed to back down yesterday, but last night it released more guidance, suggesting managers should now evaluate staffers who don't respond. Doge leader Elon Musk says federal workers who fail to comply will be fired. President Trump received French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday at the White House. A leading topic of discussion was Russia's war in Ukraine. The visit came as there was a dramatic development at the UN. The United States and its European allies took opposite sides on UN votes. The Trump administration

rejected Ukraine's version of a Security Council resolution and drafted its own. That called for a quick end to the war. But NPR's Michelle Kellerman says it doesn't specify that Russia launched a full-scale invasion. While the U.S. said this is just a first step to support a peace process that will eventually include everyone, there's just a lot of concern about how the Trump administration is going about this. President Trump himself doesn't seem to agree to the reality that Putin started this war and is the aggressor. And Pierre's Michelle Kellerman reporting.

A federal judge says that immigration agents cannot conduct enforcement operations in certain houses of worship. And Pierre Sereventri reports this follows a lawsuit filed by a handful of religious groups. The lawsuit was filed last month by a number of Quaker groups known as the Religious Society of Friends, as well as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Sikh Temple Sacramento. They argued that a new directive from the Department of Homeland Security, which would allow immigration enforcement action to take place at sensitive locations like churches, infringes on their religious freedom by making congregants fearful to attend services.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chang issued a preliminary injunction which would prevent these actions from taking place in the plaintiff's congregations while the lawsuit plays out. Sarah Ventry, NPR News. Stocks opened lower this morning as Home Depot reported an uptick in sales. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 20 points in early trading. Home Depot has been hammered in recent years by a slumping housing market and high interest rates. But the home improvement chain saw a modest rebound in the most recent quarter.

Sales at existing stores rose for the first time in more than two years. Home Depot expects sales to keep growing, albeit slowly, in 2025. Apple holds its annual meeting today, and shareholders are expected to reject a call to scrap the company's diversity efforts. A conservative think tank called for the vote. A similar measure was rejected by Costco shareholders last month. Asian stocks were lower overnight. South Korea's Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the third time in four meetings. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News.

The U.S. House of Representatives meets this morning, and members are scheduled to take up a budget bill that is favored by President Trump. That's because it includes spending on all his priorities in a single bill. Last week, the Senate passed a different version of a budget measure, but the Senate's version splits Trump's priorities into more than one version. Republicans in the House have a very tight margin, and if they lose just a few votes,

they could also lose the bill. A new study from a team of scientists in California offers new evidence of a possible lost ocean on Mars. From member station KQED, Anna Guth has more. Billions of years ago, when Mars had a thicker atmosphere and a warmer climate, abundant water likely blanketed the planet. A new study found signs of waves, sand,

and shoreline on the red planet, suggesting that the water there was an ancient ocean. UC Berkeley's Michael Manga and his colleagues analyzed data from a Chinese rover on Mars, probing below the surface with the radar. This is the first time we've really looked underground with this resolution. We identified old beaches beneath the surface of Mars that record the past existence of a huge ocean. The researchers say their new study strengthens the case for past life on Mars.

For NPR News, I'm Anna Guth in San Francisco. The private space company Blue Origin is set to launch a spacecraft today from West Texas. It's the company's 10th time to launch a crewed mission. There are several tourists aboard, including a Spanish TV host and a hedge fund partner. I'm Corvina Coleman, NPR News from Washington. On the embedded podcast. No, no. It's called denying a sweetened speech. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News from Washington.