NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-01-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: March 1, 2025

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When she teaches her students how to write a song, musician Scarlett Keys says they need to ask themselves certain questions. What is the thing that keeps you up at night? What's the thing you can't stop thinking about? As songwriters, we are repurposing human tropes and a new viewpoint with new words, with new music. The people and technology behind the soundtracks of our lives. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR.

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. European leaders have come to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's defense after his clash Friday in the Oval Office with President Trump and Vice President Vance. As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, Europe is pushing back against Washington's increasing alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There's an aggressor which is Russia and a people attacked which is Ukraine, said French President Emmanuel Macron speaking shortly after Zelensky left the White House. In a statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says his nation retains unwavering support for Ukraine and a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine and Europe.

Both Stammer and McCroll met with Trump this week to try to hammer home that point and to keep the US aligned with Europe. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbach called Ukraine's defense of democracy our fight. EU foreign policy chief and former Estonian President Kaya Callas went further, saying, "'It became clear today that the free world needs a new leader.

It's up to us Europeans to take this challenge. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. Federal employees have received a second email from the Office of Personnel Management asking them to detail what they did in the previous week. The demands are currently facing legal scrutiny as NPR's Jenna McLaughlin tells us. Late Friday night, federal employees received another email asking them to share five bullet points on their accomplishments in the previous week. It's the latest in an effort led by Trump advisor Elon Musk, who has said his goal is

to monitor productivity while searching for fake government employees, a claim in which he has presented no evidence. Employees were also told that going forward, they were expected to submit similar lists before midnight every Monday. Multiple government sources including from the Department of the Interior shared a copy of the email with NPR on the condition of anonymity. The OPM's demands, which are being challenged in court, are inspiring fear across agencies that responses might be mined with artificial intelligence or used as justification for firings. Jen McLaughlin, NPR News.

The measles outbreak in Texas continues to grow with at least 146 cases now confirmed along with one death. Until now, all of the cases were clustered in the western part of the state, but now Austin has reported one case involving an unvaccinated toddler. The rest of the family has been vaccinated, which is something that Austin Mayor Kirk Watson says everyone should do.

I want to emphasize to everyone listening that vaccination remains the best defense against this highly contagious and deadly disease. The affected family had recently traveled internationally. disease. The affected family had recently traveled internationally. President Trump said late Friday he'll sign a complete pardon for baseball player Pete Rose in the coming weeks. Rose was convicted of income tax evasion after illegally betting on baseball. He has not been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. You're listening to NPR News. Two Mexican cartel leaders have entered not guilty pleas in federal court in New York.

Their arraignments took place a day after the drug lords were among 29 high-level cartel figures transferred to the U.S. by the Mexican government. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports. Rafael Caro-Quintero and Vicente Carillo-Fuentes face charges in separate cases related to their alleged roles in smuggling huge quantities of drugs into the United States. Carro Quintero has been a target for U.S. law enforcement for decades. He was convicted in Mexico in the 1980s for the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. Carro Quintero was released from a Mexican prison more than a decade ago and went into

hiding before eventually being taken back into custody. Here's the acting US attorney in Brooklyn, John Durham. You can never kill a DE agent and you will never get away with it. Both defendants are expected back in court next month. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. UN officials say they're investigating the deaths of at least 60 people in northwestern Congo. They say the deaths may have come from drinking contaminated water, but that investigation is in its early stages. More than 1,000 illnesses have been identified since late January in five villages in the country's Ecuador province. High rates of malaria there are

making it difficult to diagnose the cases. Police in northwestern Pakistan say a suicide bomb attack in a mosque at a pro-Taliban seminary has killed a senior cleric and five other worshippers. Many other people were injured in the blast. The attack occurred just ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Sending or spending money abroad, hidden

fees may be taking a cut. With WISE, you can convert between up to 40 currencies at the mid-market exchange rate. Visit WISE.com. T&Cs apply.