NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-05-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

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This message comes from Wondery. At 24 years old, Monika Lewinsky was in a scandal that defined who she was for the entire world. And now she's ready to draw from her own experience on what it means to redefine yourself on her new podcast, Reclaiming with Monika Lewinsky. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A top advisor to Ukraine's presidents has another round of talks with the White House as planned as the Trump administration has frozen military aid to Ukraine. NPR's Shuanika Kissel supports that pause in weapons on unsettled Ukrainians on the front lines.

The northeastern region of Kharkiv borders Russia. Part of the front line is there as Ukrainian soldiers try to hold back invading Russian troops. Kharkiv's governor Oleg Sinohubov told NPR that Russia strikes towns and the city of Kharkiv constantly with drones and highly destructive glide bombs. Sinohubov says Kharkiv relies on air defense systems supplied by the U.S. to save people's lives. Joanna Kekises, NPR News, Kyiv. The National Endowment for Democracy is suing the Trump administration for denying it access to nearly $240 million in approved funding, as NPR's Frank Langford explained it's the latest suit against the government over its refusal to pay out congressionally approved money.

Congress created the National Endowment for Democracy, known as the NED, in 1983 to support democracy around the world and counter-authoritarianism. And every year, Congress appropriates money to fund its efforts. That includes everything from supporting democracy activists in Hong Kong to independent press coverage of Iran. But the NED says the government has blocked it from accessing its money for the past five weeks and won't explain why. The NED says it's had to furlough 75 percent of its staff.

The government has not responded to the lawsuit yet. But the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank with close ties to Trump, has complained that the National Endowment for Democracy is a progressive organization that criticizes populist leaders overseas. Frank Lankford, NPR News, Washington. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has removed Hampton Dellinger from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. On Saturday, a U.S. district judge ruled Trump Administration's firing of Dellinger. The leader of an independent federal ethics agency was unlawful, prompting a Trump Administration

appeal. The owner requested a broad stay for 6,000 fired USDA employees last week. Pharmaceutical companies are selling their blockbuster obesity drugs directly to patients online at a discount. NPR's City Lepkin is more. Eli Lilly started selling cheaper vials of its obesity medicine Zep-bound online last summer. Now, roughly 100,000 people get them every month, says CEO David Ricks.

It's not a panacea. We think actually a better way would be to have the normal health care system. Doctors and patients connect and then use the insurance they've already paid the premium to reimburse them for a chronic disease like obesity. That's not working perfectly right now. Here, we'll do what we can. Many insurance plans don't cover the drug. And with a sticker price over $1,000 a month, people can't afford it without insurance. The trouble is, many people can't afford the discounted vials either. Sydney Lepkin, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. Searchers in Alaska are still trying to recover three skiers who were feared dead after being

caught in an avalanche Tuesday south of Anchorage in a remote mountainous area near the ski resort town of Girdwood. Alaska Public Media's Casey Grove reports initial efforts to recover them were unsuccessful. Searchers were trying to reach the site Wednesday where Alaska state troopers say the avalanche caught the skiers a day before. Attempts by their guides to dig them up from under more than 40 feet of snow were unsuccessful. Avalanche forecasters reported considerable avalanche danger in the area Tuesday and were concerned about additional heavy snow Wednesday. Andrew Schauer is the Chugach National Forest's lead avalanche specialist. You know as I look out the window it's snowing hard in Girdwood right now.

So we're just adding more snow and more weight on top of this weak snowpack. Schauer described the local ski community as tight-knit and gave his condolences to the friends and family of the skiers. For NPR News, I'm Casey Grove in Anchorage. NASA's two Voyager spacecraft have been added a long time. The twin spacecraft launched in 1977 but even as both are now more than 13 million miles

from home they still have some life left. NASA says it's switching off two instruments on the spacecraft to save power. One on Voyager 2 that measures charged particles and cosmic rays. An instrument on Voyager 1 designed to study cosmic rays. Each spacecraft still has three instruments to study the Sun's protective bubble in space beyond, both are in an area known as interstellar space, the space between stars. Oil fell a dollar and 95 cents a barrel to 66.31 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.