NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-04-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

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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. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. President Trump is pausing U.S. military aid to Ukraine while pressing Ukraine's leader to move toward a deal to end Russia's war in his country. A senior White House official says the suspension will allow for a review to determine if the aid is contributing to a solution to the conflict.

NPR's Tom Bowman explains what's at stake. We're talking about tens of billions of dollars again from late in the Biden administration, the latest tranche of aid that includes defensive missiles and munitions. Now, those missiles are key in preventing Russian missiles from, and drones from striking targets in Kiev and elsewhere. And this war, let's face it, has been a stalemate for some time. Russia has been bloody, but so too has Ukraine.

Neither side can win. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting. Vice President J.D. Vance has some ideas on the best way to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine once again. NPR's Franco Ordonius reports. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that Ukraine needs security guarantees before entering into any peace talks with Russia. President Trump has said that Europe will provide Ukraine security against any future

invasion. But Vance told Fox News that giving the U.S. an economic interest in the future of Ukraine would be even better. If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine. Vance added that it's a much better security guarantee than, quote, 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years.

Franco Ordonez, NPR News. Twenty-five percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 percent levy on goods from China went to an effect at 12.01 Eastern Time. The new levies have sparked fears of a North American trade war and higher prices for U.S. consumers. Some 800,000 civilian staffers at the Pentagon are being asked once again to name five things they did last week. More from NPR's Quill Lawrence. Quill Lawrence, NPR News Anchor When the Office of Personnel Management, OPM,

first sent a government-wide email asking federal employees to justify their jobs by naming five things they did last week, billionaire Elon Musk had said on social media that failure to reply would amount to a resignation. Some large agencies like the FBI and the Pentagon seemed to push back, telling staff not to respond. Now, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has instructed the hundreds of thousands of Defense Department civilian workers to respond to a new edition of the email and copy their supervisors within 48 hours. A federal judge in California ruled last week that the OPM lacks any authority to fire federal workers. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.

You're listening to NPR. Millionaire former wrestling executive Linda McMahon has been confirmed as the next secretary of education. McMahon will face the task of eliminating diversity programs in the nation's schools while also dismantling the education department. President Trump has said that individual states should control their own public education systems. The president says a Taiwanese chipmaker has promised to invest $100 billion in the United

States over the next four years. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, had already announced plans to invest over $65 billion under a Biden administration program to encourage domestic chip production. About 18 million viewers watched Sunday's 97th Academy Awards ceremony, that's a slight decline from last year, and Paris-Erik Devens has more on the Nielsen ratings for this year's Oscars. ABC touted figures noting slight gains in younger viewers and on social media for the Oscars, which featured first-time host Conan O'Brien, who has a popular podcast and online presence.

Overall, the 18 million people who watched Sunday marked a decline of about 1.5 million viewers from last year. ABC says the show was still the number one primetime entertainment broadcast for this TV season, excluding sports events like the Super Bowl. Eric Deggans, NPR News. Tennis legend Serena Williams has announced she's joining a WNBA ownership group. Williams plans to partner with the owners of the Toronto Tempo next year and also play an active role in what team members will wear inside the court.

This is NPR News. When she teaches her students how to write a song, This is NPR News.