NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-17-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

NPR News: 03-17-2025 6PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

These days, there's so much news, it can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community. The Consider This podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and analysis that helps you make sense of the news. We get behind the headlines. We get to the truth. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Donald Trump says he'll speak with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, tomorrow. The Trump administration continues to pursue a ceasefire deal in Ukraine. Trump has said he's cautiously optimistic. NPR's Charles Main says that's despite a list of concerns Putin has raised about the plan.

President Putin is on record saying he supports Trump's ceasefire proposal in principle, but the Kremlin leader also laid out a laundry list of issues that he insists require further discussions. That includes how to keep Ukraine from using the ceasefire to rearm, who would monitor the agreement, and what penalties might exist for violating its terms. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accuses Russia of stalling for time to improve its battlefield position. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to demand what a senior Russian foreign ministry official called ironclad security guarantees, excluding Ukraine from NATO membership, and ruled out NATO-aligned European peacekeepers monitoring any ceasefire if and when it comes. Charles Maynes, NPR News.

After strong winds and dry air swept across Oklahoma, the State Emergency Operations Center there has responded to 130 fires, at least four people died. Grayson Wheeler of Member Station KOSU has more on recovery efforts as at least 40 fires still burn. Oklahomans are still working to get a handle on how much they lost, as official damage assessments began today. Preliminary numbers show hundreds of buildings were destroyed. Local churches, casinos, and community centers have opened their doors to feed and house people who lost their homes or found themselves otherwise displaced. As Oklahomans deal with the fallout from the

infernos, fire crews are preparing for the possibility of more. That's because critical fire weather is ramping up again. An Oklahoma Forestry Service spokesperson says today could be bad and Tuesday will likely be worse. For NPR News, I'm Grayson Wheeler in Oklahoma City. President Trump toured the Kennedy Center today after a shakeup in leadership. He also presided over a board meeting as the new chair of the Performing Arts Center. It bears Isabella Gomez Sarmiento as more. During his visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC,

President Trump criticized the cultural center as being in quote, tremendous disrepair. I'm so surprised because, you know, I know the person who was in charge of it and he's a good man. I never realized this was in such bad shape. I've been so busy, I haven't been able to be here in a long time. David Rubenstein was the longtime chair of the Kennedy Center until last month, when

he, the board of trustees, and Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter were ousted. President Trump appointed a new board, which elected him chair of the Kennedy Center. He has accused the Arts Center of being too woke and vows that under his leadership, that will change. Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento, NPR News. Stocks are starting the new trading week on a bit of an upswing. The Dow gained 353 points.

The NASDAQ was up 54 points. The S&P rose 36 points. This is NPR. After arriving over the weekend at the International Space Station with four astronauts on board, a SpaceX capsule is poised to return two astronauts to Earth later this week. What was supposed to be an eight-day mission for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams turned into a nine-month Odyssey after officials decided they did not want to use

Boeing's Problem Plague Starliner to bring them back home. The two astronauts are scheduled to begin their trip home tomorrow morning. German authorities are monitoring the treatment of citizens traveling to the US following the recent detention of several Germans on entry. Sesame Nicholson reports German tourists and a German green card holder have been detained. Germany's foreign ministry says it's consulting partners within the European Union to determine whether the recent detention and deportation of German citizens represents a change in US immigration policy or whether these are isolated cases.

The foreign ministry in Berlin confirmed that it is aware of three cases in which German citizens have recently been barred from entering the U.S. and detained in deportation centers. Last week, a 29-year-old woman from Berlin returned to Germany after being held for weeks in detention in California. She alleges being held in solitary confinement for eight days. For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin. Boston is one of the cities long known for St. Patrick's Day parades and celebrations in this year's parade over the weekend, weekend ended with no major incidents other than a few alcohol-related arrests.

Other events featuring the wearing of the green go on across America. In Chicago, they dye the Chicago River green for the annual event. Savannah, Georgia held its annual St. Patrick's Day parade this morning. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.