NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-15-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: March 16, 2025

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Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. President Trump says the U.S. conducted aerial attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The move comes 11 days after Trump reinstated their designation as a foreign terrorist organization. And Piers Daniel Kurtzleben has more.

Trump said in a social media post, quote, we will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective. He also wrote that Iran's support of the Houthis must end immediately or the U.S. quote, will hold you fully accountable and we won't be nice about it. Three days ago the Houthis declared they would target Israeli vessels in the waterways around their country at a time when Israel has been blocking aid to Gaza. Houthis have also targeted merchant ships and U.S. military vessels in those waters. In November, the U.S. stopped an attempted attack on two warships. As a result of attacks on ships, former President Joe Biden also launched airstrikes on Houthis during his presidency. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, West Palm Beach, Florida.

President Trump called for the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It's part of a sweeping executive order issued yesterday targeting seven federal agencies. And here's Chloe Veltman has more. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal funding for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Its grants support programs like a children's art exhibition at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum and Indigenous language workshops in Hawaiian libraries. A fact sheet issued by the White House states that cutting this and six other governmental entities, including the United States Agency for Global Media and the United States Interagency

Council on Homelessness, will save taxpayer dollars, reduce unnecessary government spending and streamline government priorities. The IMLS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. More than two dozen tornadoes have been reported since last night across the Midwest and the South that left at least 18 people dead in Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. Today the storms moved to the deep south leaving at least four people dead in Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. Today the storms moved to the deep south, leaving at least four people dead in Mississippi, according to authorities.

The winds from the storms helped to spread deadly wildfires in Teklis and Oklahoma, where around 170,000 acres burned and hundreds of homes were destroyed. Anna Pope from member station KOSU has more. Many U. Has are returning to pick up homes after a firestorm s them was Governor Kevin S in central Oklahoma. In a he walked where his house says he will be rebuilding

of the state. You never t to your place and these w out of nowhere and can really take over. More than a dozen fires continue to burn into the weekend. For NPR News, I'm Anna Pope in Oklahoma City. This is NPR News. The Veterans Administration Friday reversed a policy that had protected gender-affirming health care for transgender veterans. N Imperial's Hu Jingnan has more. The policy stipulated not only what kind of gender-affirming care transgender veterans can receive,

but also directed health care providers to use their preferred pronouns and let veterans use the bathrooms they chose. Lindsay Church of Minority Veterans of America worries that the reversal of this policy means more veterans will forgo critical health care. Veterans now have to ask themselves, is it worth it for me to get my care at VA? Am I safe to do so? A VA memo says clinical care remains the same for now, but it is working to change that too.

Transgender veterans have higher rates of suicide than other veterans. Advocacy groups say transgender individuals serve in the military at a rate higher than the population overall. Huajing Nan, NPR News. It's nearly St. Patrick's Day, which this year falls on Monday, so celebrations with parades and parties are taking place across the country this weekend. In Chicago, the Chicago River is once again a vibrant kelly green. As thousands of people line the river and bridges today, cheering as members of the Chicago Journeyman Plumbers Union Local 130 sprayed green dye into the water from boats. That tradition started 63 years ago.

And officials say the dye is non-toxic. The majority of it disappears in hours with a green tint along the river that lasts for a few days. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.