NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-16-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: March 16, 2025

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There's no place like the garden, and this season Garden Variety wants to help you flourish. Each week, the Heartland's top horticulturists, insect experts, foresters, and others drop by with fresh tips about everything you want to grow or grow better. Dig in to Garden Variety from Iowa Public Radio, part of the NPR network. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. A federal judge has blocked President Trump from deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the U.S. to quickly remove foreigners during a war. Despite the order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said hundreds of gang members have been

sent to El Salvador and posted a video. It's not clear if the plane landed after the judge's order. Secretary Rubio says airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen will continue as long as necessary. President Trump said he ordered the strikes yesterday to stop the Houthis from attacking ships in the Red Sea. Rubio says the U.S. must deny the Houthis the ability to constrict and control shipping. Rubio says it's also important that the U.S. warned Iran to stop supporting the group. What we can't ignore, and the reason why the president mentioned Iran, is because the Iranians

have supported the Houthis. They provided them intelligence, they provided them guidance, they provided them weaponry. I mean, there's no way the Houthis, okay, the Houthis would have the ability to do this kind of thing unless they had support from Iran. He appeared on CBS's Face the Nation. The Trump administration is making severe cuts to the voice of America and other international networks funded by the U.S. government. As NPR's David Falkenfleck reports, the move follows a decree by President Trump to eliminate

all activity at the organizations that is not required by law. Journalists found themselves locked out of their studios Saturday morning. Within a few hours, more than a thousand journalists at Voice of America were told they were on immediate, indefinite paid leave. Similar moves would strip its sister networks of all federal funding, including Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty. These networks were set up first in the World War II and the Cold War to offer uncensored news

that also modeled American democracy, including bad news and dissent from official positions. Trump officials took aim at Voice of America at the end of his first term. Some of their actions were later found to be abuses of power. It's unclear whether there will be legal challenges this time. David Folkenflick, NPR News.

A huge weekend storm has left more than 30 people dead from the Midwest to the deep South. Officials are blaming dust storms and tornadoes for the fatalities. Residents in Alabama are cleaning up from significant damage. Pat Duggan's of Alabama Public Radio reports. Alabama declared an emergency ahead of the storm's arrival,

but appears to have been spared some of the worst. Nevertheless, tornado sightings were reported northwest of Tuscaloosa and southeast of the state capital of Montgomery, and damage was widespread. Near Birmingham, a school bus was tossed onto a local high school. Elsewhere, a gas station was flipped onto its roof.

Roads remained impassable Sunday due to downed trees and power lines, and thousands of outages were reported. Investigators with the National Weather Service are working to establish the intensity of tornadoes reported across the southern U.S. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggan in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This is NPR News in Washington.

The Vatican released a photograph of the Pope today, the first in more than a month when he was hospitalized with respiratory problems. It shows Pope Francis sitting in a wheelchair in front of an altar in the hospital chapel. The Vatican says it was taken today while he was celebrating mass with other priests. It appeared the 88-year-old pontiff was breathing unaided. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has received $50 million for dance initiatives. The The goal? Transform Lincoln Center's contemporary dance programming. In a statement, Lincoln Center says the money will support contemporary dance performances from across the globe and the next generation of dance artists. The Center's president and CEO, Mariko Silver, notes,

these are challenging times for the contemporary dance community as we continue recovering from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lincoln Center is home to Juilliard, the renowned New York City Ballet, and the School of American Ballet, both co-founded by George Balanchine. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News. A SpaceX capsule arrived at the International Space Station early this morning, delivering a replacement crew for Butch Willmore and Sonny Williams. They've spent nine months in space on what was supposed to be a week-long mission. They had arrived on a Boeing Starliner

that eventually returned to Earth empty because of problems. They're now expected to return home sometime this week. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from NYU Langone. The NYU Langone Health App gives you access to your electronic health record. Keep track of your visits, lab results, and images all in one place. Better health starts with a better health system.