NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-27-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Supreme Court is allowing the White House to continue withholding billions of dollars in foreign aid to the U.S. Agency for International Development. Last night, Chief Justice John Roberts paused a lower court order that called for the funding to be released. NPR's Frank Langford reports the Trump administration has eliminated nearly 5,800 foreign assistance grants and awards, effectively gutting the organization. Officials said USAID eliminated about 92 percent worth of agency grants while the State Department

eliminated 28 percent worth of its own grants. The government claimed a total savings of nearly $60 billion. Trump ordered all USAID funding paused pending a comprehensive review. He called the agency, quote, in many cases, antithetical to American values. That's NPR's Frank Lankford reporting. President Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division was on Capitol Hill Wednesday for her confirmation hearing. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports she's a California attorney who's been an outspoken supporter of President Trump

and a champion of conservative causes. The Republican majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee appears to be united in support of Harmeet Dhillon's nomination. At her confirmation hearing, Dhillon said that fighting anti-Semitism on college campuses would be a priority for her, as would tackling DEI efforts that she said have been used to apply racial quotas to deny people equal access to education and employment. So we'll certainly be taking a close look at all of those

and enforcing the law equally in favor of all Americans. Democrats and civil rights groups oppose her nomination. They say that in her previous work, Dillon has tried to restrict voting rights, transgender rights, and has opposed reproductive rights. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Hamas has returned the bodies of four Israeli hostages. In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian detainees. NPR's Hadil Al-Shoutchi reports it's part of the first phase of a fragile ceasefire deal that is set to expire soon. Hamas returned the bodies of Itkhak El-Gharat, Tzakhhi Edan, Ohad Yahalomi, and Shlomo Mansou,

all hostages taken by Hamas in the attacks of October 7, 2023. Unlike past hostage releases, Hamas did not hold a ceremony to showcase the coffins and instead returned the bodies to Israel in Red Cross ambulances. Israel delayed the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners last week, saying that Hamas had paraded the freed Israeli hostages in a humiliating manner.

Hamas called the delay a violation of the ceasefire, but an agreement for the exchange was struck earlier on Wednesday. Phase one of the ceasefire deal expires on Sunday. Talks for a second phase have not yet begun. Hadil Alshalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. This is NPR News. More than 20 people are hospitalized in West Texas amid an outbreak of measles that has left one child dead. The CDC says 124 confirmed cases of measles, mostly among teens and children, have been confirmed in the U.S. so far this year.

The uptake comes as vaccination rates continue to fall in the U.S. Legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. NPR's Mandelita Albarco reports the Oscar-winning actor's career spanned more than six decades. Sherif Adan Mendoza's office said deputies were dispatched to a home in Santa Fe's Hyde Park neighborhood. That's where they found the bodies of 95-year-old Gene Hackman and his 63-year-old wife Betsy Arakawa, a retired classical pianist. Their dog was also found

dead. Authorities say they're investigating exactly how and when they died, but that there was no immediate indication of foul play. Hackman had been living in New Mexico for years after a long career in TV and films, including the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. He won two Academy Awards for the French Connection and Unforgiven, and Hackman was memorable in a range of movies, from the Poseidon adventure to Young Frankenstein, Superman to the Royal Tenenbaums. Mandelit Del Barco, NPR News. The government predicts the cost of eggs will rise more than 40 percent this year. Egg prices are higher in the U.S. because of a shortage triggered by an outbreak of

bird flu. I'm Windsor Johnston and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.