NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-25-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

NPR News: 02-25-2025 11AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On the embedded podcast. No, no. It's called denying a freedom of speech. It's misinformation. Like so many Americans, my dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. These are not conspiracy theories. These are reality. I spent the year following him down the rabbit hole, trying to get him back. Listen to alternate realities on the embedded podcast from NPR.

All episodes available now. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The House is expected to take up a budget resolution tonight as lawmakers scramble to finalize a government spending plan to avoid a shutdown next month. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the bill outlines broad spending priorities for the next fiscal year. The budget resolution lays out a 1.5 trillion dollar spending floor with cuts across committees that target about $2 trillion. The bill contains a number of provisions, including funding to boost security at the

southern border, new spending on defense, and extending tax cuts. Lawmakers on both sides have voiced concerns. Some Republicans argue the plan doesn't go far enough in cutting government spending. Democrats criticize proposed reductions to safety net programs. With Republicans holding a razor-slim majority in the House, for passage, they can afford to lose just one vote

if all Democrats vote against the measure. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. There's confusing guidance from the Office of Personnel Management Democrats vote against the measure. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. There's confusing guidance from the Office of Personnel Management on a memo sent over the weekend to federal employees. It told workers to list five things they accomplished in the prior week. Several agencies told their staff not to reply. But Doge Leader Elon Musk warned people who failed to respond could be fired.

And last night, the administration said managers should now evaluate non-responses to their instructions. The aid organization Doctors Without Borders has halted operations in the largest refugee camp in Sudan. It's been attacked for months by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. It has been fighting Sudan's army for nearly two years. NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu reports. Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, says it's closed its operations and medical facilities

in Zamzam refugee camp, which hosts at least half a million people. According to the Food Security Initiative, IPC, tens of thousands of people in the camp are suffering from famine. MSF blamed intense fighting between the RSF and forces aligned with Sudan's army. The aid group says the RSF had launched attacks and artillery shelling on the camp over the last 10 months. Zamzam camp lies on the outskirts of the city of Al-Fasher, one of the last parts of the western region of Darfur that the RSF do not control. Emanuel Akimuotu, NPR News, Lagos.

Pope Francis remains in critical condition in a Rome hospital. NPR's Fatima Al-Khassab reports the Vatican says he has shown slight improvement. The Vatican said the Pontiff had, quote, rested well the whole night and was now sufficiently recovered to resume some work following the severe respiratory difficulties

he suffered over the weekend. The 88-year-old has been in hospital for more than 10 days now, battling pneumonia in both lungs, as well as more recently mild kidney failure, which doctors now say appears to be under control. NPR's Fatima Al-Khassam reporting. On Wall Street, the Dow's down 80 points. This is NPR. The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction and death sentence for an Oklahoma man. Richard Glossop has consistently maintained his innocence. His lawyers and lawyers for the state of Oklahoma teamed up to argue together for a new trial

for Glossop. That's because Oklahoma courts repeatedly upheld his conviction. Oklahoma's Republican Attorney General said that prosecutors wrongly held back information that might have cleared gossip. Ukrainians are marking three years since Russia's full-scale invasion, and Piershana Polymarenko reports from Kyiv. Across Ukraine there were events honoring fallen soldiers and peaceful demonstration to remind the world

that this war is still raging and there are many Ukrainian soldiers in Russian captivity. On social media, Ukrainians are sharing memories and photos of life before the war. Natalia Snitkina travelled to Kiev from the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia. She walked through a central square where there is a makeshift memorial of thousands of blue and yellow national flags. Each symbolizes a soldier killed on the front line. It's been a hard year for me, Snitkina says. A lot of losses, a lot of deaths of innocent people in my city. Hanna Palomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. The new rulers of Syria have opened a conference that's billed as a national dialogue.

Hundreds of people are meeting in Damascus to talk about rebuilding their country. But a major player is not there. The Kurdish-led militia that controls much of Syria's northeast was not invited. This is NPR.