NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-27-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

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Lai from NPR News in Washington. I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump's threatening to impose 25 percent tariffs on the European Union, which he's described as a block created to undermine the United States. EU foreign policy chief, Kaia Khalis, says the EU was formed so there would not be any more wars in Europe and questioned Trump's remarks in light of the US's longstanding alliance with Europe. Kala spoke to the need of making Ukraine a member of NATO in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and threats officials have said Russia poses to democracies worldwide. If we don't get Russia right, we don't get China right either.

And it's clear that Iran, Russia, North Korea and more covertly China, working together to establish a new world order where might makes right. And that is dangerous to everybody, including United States. You, foreign policy chief, Kaya Kala, speaking to NPR's Morning Edition. Trump is due to meet with the prime minister of Britain soon on talks about Ukraine. A federal judge in California is slated to hear arguments today in a case challenging the administration's firing of thousands of federal workers. In Piers-Andrea, she reports labor unions want the court to

reinstate those who've been let go. The labor unions represent federal workers who have been fired over the last several weeks, including nurses at the VA and people who work for the Forest Service. They were among those told they were being fired for performance reasons even though many of them had received positive performance reviews. Attorneys for the unions argued that the agencies themselves had no plans to fire these employees and only did so at the direction of the Office of Personnel Management. In a court filing, that agency's acting director denied there was any kind of mass termination program and said agencies made their own decisions about whom to fire.

Andrea Hsu, NPR News. President Trump has suspended Peggy Carr, the head of the country's most extensive student testing programs, known as the nation's report card. We have details from NPR's Alissa Nett warning. It's considered the gold standard in assessment of student achievement. The data provide insights on how K-12 students are faring in core subjects, including math and reading. Peggy Carr was appointed by President Joe Biden and had worked at the National Center

for Education Statistics, which runs the test, for nearly three decades. The Education Department's press office confirmed her leave but did not provide any reason. The latest data released in January found some marginal improvements but showed U.S. fourth and eighth graders in 2024 still performing below pre-pandemic levels in reading and math. The Trump White House called those results unacceptable and a major cause for concern. Alyson Adwani, NPR News. Again, the Prime Minister of Britain is due to meet soon with President Trump at the White House. Ukraine is on the agenda, as are other issues between the U.S. and British allies.

Dow Jones Industrial Average up 296 points. It's NPR News. The president said on social media today the tariffs on Canada and Mexico would go into effect March 4th. He had originally planned for 25 percent tariffs to take effect February 1st but gave allies a month-long reprieve at the last minute. Yesterday Trump told reporters in the room for a cabinet meeting that the tariffs would take effect on April 2nd, though his commerce secretary suggested the delay would depend on Canada and Mexico's progress on slowing the flow of fentanyl traffic.

Foul play is not suspected in the deaths of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy. Authorities in New Mexico say their bodies were discovered at their house in Santa Fe yesterday along with their dog during a welfare check. Hackman was 95 years old. As Colin Dwyer reports, Hackman appeared in dozens of films over his long career. Gene Hackman's career didn't exactly begin promisingly. Famously, the actor even got voted least likely to succeed while at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Years later though, a trickle of gigs became a flood of famous roles. Hackman was Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, Lex Luthor in the first Superman movie, and more recently, Royal Tenenbaum himself. I've got six weeks to set things right with you, and I aim to do it.

Will you give me a chance? Hackman won two Oscars and earned a host of other awards. He retired after performing in dozens of films and proving the Pasadena playoffs quite wrong while he was at it. Colin Dwyer, NPR News. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.