NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-03-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: March 3, 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. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed

that he's cut off all aid supplies to Gaza. He accuses, without proof, that Hamas is stealing the aid. The UN is calling the decision a violation of international law. Hamas says Israel is using the aid as leverage to have the militant group agree to an extension of phase one of the ceasefire rather than immediately negotiating a phase two as the original deal required. But Netanyahu is insisting on the extension. During that time, we can discuss the conditions for a permanent ceasefire that will end the war in Gaza. In Witkoff's plan, half of the hostages would be released right away, and the remaining

half would be released if we reach an agreement on a permanent ceasefire. Friday's Oval Office meeting that turned into a shouting match between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raises questions about a possible end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Now, in a break from other Republicans, one lawmaker is criticizing both Trump and Zelensky and calls the meeting a missed opportunity. NPR's Luke Garrett has this story. Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York tells NPR no one at that Oval Office

meeting left victorious. The only winner the other day was Vladimir Putin because this deal did not happen. Lawler, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, remains hopeful that Trump and Zelensky will eventually sign a proposed mineral deal, one that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's critical raw materials in exchange for possible aid. When there is a final agreement, it's going to be a lot harder for Vladimir Putin to renege on it and invade Ukraine again with U.S. investment on the ground. Meanwhile, Republican House

Speaker Mike Johnson defended Trump's approach to the Oval Office meeting and suggested Ukraine might need another leader. Despite his criticism of the meeting, Lawler says he hasn't received GOP blowback. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. House Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, has called Putin a thug who cannot be trusted. Elon Musk's Doge initiative is being felt in national parks all across the country, including one in San Antonio. Texas Public Radio's Jack Morgan has more.

San Antonio's Missions National Park features four missions, the oldest dating back to the 1700s. Ranger Sonia Marin was hired there last April, but on Valentine's Day got a cryptic email. I received an email basically saying that I was terminated because I was a probationary employee. Doge terminated National Parks employees still on probation and since Marin hadn't been there a year she was still probationary. She says her evaluations have been quite positive. I've received nothing but positive remarks and I was actually checked off as what's known as fully successful. The National Park

Service hasn't responded to a request for comment and Marine is looking for work. I'm Jack Morgan in San Antonio. And you're listening to NPR News. Enora was named Best Picture Sunday night at the 97th Academy Awards. The movie is a strip club Cinderella story without a fairy tale ending. Adrian Brody won Best Actor for his performance in The Brutalist and Mikey Madison won Best Actress for her role in Enora. A Texas-based company has landed a spacecraft on the moon. It's a new step for U.S. space exploration, as NPR's Joe Hernandez reports.

The lunar lander carried a number of NASA science experiments on board. The Blue Ghost lunar lander by the American company Firefly Aerospace touched down on the Moon early Sunday morning. The mission is part of a NASA program to contract with private space companies to deliver scientific instruments and other payloads to the moon. Included on the Blue Ghost lander are a device to collect rock samples from the lunar surface and an X-ray imager to study Earth's magnetic field. The successful touchdown came after several attempts by other private companies to land on the moon in recent years.

Blue Ghost's landing capped a 45-day journey covering more than 2.8 million miles. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. The city of Houston is trying to avoid a health problem after a measles outbreak hit the state last month. There are currently 146 cases, which is the highest confirmed number in 30 years. And Texas Health Commissioner Dr. Jennifer Shuford says some cases may have not yet been identified. There's other suspect cases, cases that we're still trying to test and cases that we know have not been tested and are going uncounted. Health officials in Houston are now offering a free measles vaccine clinic in hopes of

avoiding a problem there. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. Bella DiPaolo is glad if you're happily married, but she is perfectly happy being single. I would love to have someone who took care of my car or someone who cleaned up the dishes after dinner, but then I'd want them to leave. From yourself to your dog to your spouse are significant others. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR.