NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-17-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

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Support for NPR and the following message come from American Jewish World Service committed to the fight for human rights supporting advocates and grassroots organizations worldwide working towards democracy equity and justice at ajws.org Live from NPR News in Washington on Corva Coleman the ACLU and other groups are suing the Trump administration President Trump invoked a rarely used wartime power to deport 250 migrants to El Salvador over the weekend. A federal judge had verbally told the administration to turn the deportation flights around. But that didn't happen.

The actions appear to move the Trump White House closer to a powerful decision moment with the federal judiciary. The U.S. judiciary is a separate and co-equal branch of government with the U.S. presidency. But President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, says he does not have to listen to federal judges about detaining migrants. We're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the left thinks.

We're coming. He spoke to Fox News. President Trump says he is likely to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow. They're expected to discuss a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has accepted a plan for a 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has set conditions. And as Eleanor Beardsley reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Putin is trying to steal another week of war. Zelensky says Ukraine will intensify its diplomatic efforts, but that it must also, quote, preserve

our independence, our state and our people. Fierce clashes took place over the weekend in the Kursk region, where Ukraine is trying to hang on to some of the Russian territory it captured last August. In Kiev, sunny weather brought out strollers, but people don't feel optimistic, says 34-year-old Konstantin Kosunotsky. There's a sense of anxiety and the latest developments are not giving us calm or hope, he says. Those latest developments, says Kosunotsky, are the Trump administration's seeming support for

Putin and the Russian invaders. Eleanor Beardsley in PR News, Kyiv. Fighting has erupted along the Lebanon-Syria border. Authorities say at least three Syrian soldiers and one Lebanese child have been killed and that Syrian troops are deploying in large numbers. And PR's Lauren Freyer reports from Beirut. This is a border area where Lebanese Hezbollah militants have long had a presence and where Lebanese and Syrian soldiers are also now deployed. The Syrian government accuses Hezbollah of crossing into Syria, kidnapping three Syrian soldiers and then killing them on Lebanese soil. Hezbollah denies that. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, says it believes

a smuggling gang affiliated with Hezbollah was to blame. A local mayor tells NPR a child was killed and homes damaged by subsequent shelling in his Lebanese village. The Lebanese army says it returned fire and has also been communicating with its Syrian counterparts to ease tensions and has recovered and returned to the Syrian soldiers' bodies. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, Beirut. On Wall Street, stocks are mixed. The Dow is up 160 points. The Nasdaq is down 90. It's NPR. Deadly storms across the Central and Southeastern U.S. killed at least 39 people

over the weekend. Sudden dust storms in Texas and Kansas turned deadly. A 71-car pileup in Kansas killed at least eight people when visibility plunged to near zero. Tornadoes killed more people in Missouri and Mississippi. One tornado in Arkansas had winds that peaked at 170 miles per hour. Hundreds of people have lost their homes, schools, and businesses. The Agriculture Department says the national average for the wholesale

price of eggs has been steadily declining over the past few weeks. NPR's Juliana Kim reports. The drop in wholesale egg prices is thanks to the absence of a major bird flu outbreak so far in March. That's allowed the nation's egg supply to start recovering. But economists say it'll likely take a few more days, or even weeks, until grocery store prices drop too. That's because eggs currently on store shelves reflect the wholesale price from a few weeks prior.

Grocery chains also tend to be cautious of slashing prices too drastically and too quickly. Economists say the biggest factor will be whether the bird flu virus stays under control. If another outbreak affects a big farm, egg prices could go up again. Juliana Kim, NPR News. Former New York Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey has died at the age of 87. Her family says she died at home in Harrison, New York of breast cancer. Loey rose to chair one of the most powerful committees in the House of Representatives, the Appropriations Committee.

She was the first woman to do so. This is NPR. 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.