NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-01-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: March 1, 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 up-first podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in London. He touched down there today telling reporters that he hopes for strong relations with the U.S. Zelensky is to meet with British Prime Minister

Keir Starmer ahead of tomorrow's summit of European leaders who've been rallying around him after yesterday's Oval Office blow-up at Zimpierre's Osmocalli reports. Trump accused Zelensky of being unthankful for American support. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that's back to you far more than a lot of people said they should have. Zelensky has been pushing for security guarantees from the United States, and he was in Washington to finalize a deal that would give the U.S. access to critical minerals in Ukraine. But a White House spokesperson says the deal was not signed.

In a social media post after the heated meeting, Trump said he has, quote, determined that President Zelensky is not ready for peace. Asma Khalid, NPR News, The White House. 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 email hit inboxes late last night and said that similar lists of accomplishments will be due weekly. The demands facing legal scrutiny. Group of senators calling on EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to reinstate some 200 workers at the Office of Environmental

Justice and External Civil Rights. They were put on leave earlier this month, as NPR's Nate Perez reports. Nate Perez The Office of Environmental Justice is tasked with ensuring that communities have equal protections from environmental harms. In the letter to the head of the EPA, 17 Democratic senators say there is nobody left to do that now that the office is, quote, on life support. The Senate's Environmental Justice Caucus co-chair, Tammy Duckworth, spearheaded the letter.

She says if the letter doesn't get the attention of the administration, she plans to find funding to bring employees back. I'm going to work very hard to make sure that, you know, my colleagues, who I would assume care if their constituents breathe safe air and drink clean water, will join on board and work with me on this. An EPA spokesperson says the agency is reviewing the letter.

Nate Perez, NPR News. Hours after that Oval Office blow up with Ukraine's president, President Trump turned to baseball, saying he will sign a full posthumous pardon of a player whose legacy was tarnished by gambling. Here's in Piers Hamey, Held reporting. In the history of baseball, nobody has had more hits than Pete Rose. He died last September at age 83, banned by the major leagues since 1989 because of gambling. Rose maintained he never bet against the Cincinnati Reds, the team he managed. He spent several months in prison for tax evasion. In a social media post, Trump did not say what he plans to pardon Rose for.

Using an expletive, he said Rose should be allowed in the Baseball Hall of Fame, an entity outside presidential powers. And you're listening to NPR News. Nat. And you're listening to NPR News. The Trump administration has approved a nearly $3 billion arms sale to Israel using emergency powers to bypass a congressional review. The State Department notified Congress late yesterday. The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal ends today, but under the terms of the initial deal fighting is not to resume while talks are being held on the second phase. A militant Kurdish party that's been at war with Turkey for four decades says it has agreed to a call by its founder to disarm and dissolve the party.

The move potentially ends one of the world's largest running conflicts, and Piers Jane Arraff has details. Piers Jane Arraff The PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, has declared a ceasefire with Turkey after a call by its founder Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan has been in solitary confinement for 26 years in a Turkish prison. This week, he told Turkish politicians, it was time for his followers to abandon armed struggle. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the

US, as guerrilla fighters have battled the Turkish military from mountain bases on the border with Iraq. The group has come under increasing pressure in Syria where Turkish-backed militias are playing an increasing role since the fall of the Syrian regime. Jane Araf and Pure News, Damascus. The Alaska's Iditarod sled dog race gets underway today with the usual ceremonial start in Anchorage. However, the official start has been delayed until Monday to give mushers and fans time to make it to Fairbanks where this year's race begins. Organizers moved the start to Fairbanks because of a lack of snow on a dangerous part of the

trail. This is NPR News. On the embeddededded Podcast. No, no. It's called denying us 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.