NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-18-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Cora Va-Coleman. A federal judge has uprated the Justice Department. That's for defying multiple court rulings, ordering that U.S. deportation flights be turned around last Saturday. The flights were carrying hundreds of migrants, whom the Trump administration says are Venezuelan criminals. NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran has more. The Trump administration has to explain why it did not comply with the judges' oral and

written orders to stop using the Alien Enemies Act to remove migrants to El Salvador. The White House says they include suspected members of Tren de Aragua, which the US recently designated a foreign terror group. The Justice Department argued that an oral ruling was not enough to stop them, but that they did not fly any more migrants once the written order was released. Judge James Boasper called that, quote, a heck of a stretch. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News. Israel says it's continuing its airstrikes in Gaza. Health authorities in Gaza say at least 400 Palestinians have been killed

and hundreds more have been wounded overnight. Some victims are young children. The Israeli government says it's attacking to pressure Hamas to release more Israeli hostages. But Hamas says it won't do so under a new ceasefire agreement that Israel, along with the U.S., have been pushing. And Piers Hadil Al-Shalji has more. Israel says it is conducting, quote, extensive strikes in Gaza. This is the first major round of Israeli strikes in Gaza since the initial phase of a ceasefire deal ended at the

beginning of the month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because Hamas has repeatedly refused to release all the hostages. The shaky first phase of the ceasefire deal saw 33 hostages held by Hamas released and about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails. The White House spokesperson said that it was, quote, consulted before the attacks. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Stocks opened lower this morning as the Commerce Department reported a rebound in home building activity last month.

NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Jones industrial average slipped about 230 points in early trading. Home building activity picked up last month after a cold and snowy January. Builders broke ground on more than 11% more homes than the month before. Building permits, however, were down in February, which suggests a possible slowdown in the months to come. A survey by the National Association of Home Builders finds builders are nervous about the rising cost of construction materials, which could be exacerbated by President Trump's tariffs. Industrial production revved up last month, led by a solid jump in auto manufacturing.

Output of factories that make products other than vehicles rose by four-tenths of a percent. Utility production was down in February, as warmer weather reduced demand for heat. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is now down nearly 250 points. The Nasdaq is down more than 300 or down almost 2 percent. It's NPR. The Defense Department says it has ordered a U.S. Navy destroyer to the southern U.S. border. The agency says this is part of President Trump's move to seal the border and crack down on immigration.

The USS Gravelly will sail in the Gulf of Mexico, which President Trump says he has renamed the Gulf of America. The destroyer will also participate in stopping drug trafficking. China's biggest electric vehicle maker saw its stock price jump today. That came a day after it announced the development of a new EV battery. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing it charges about as fast as it takes to pump gas into a conventional car. The new battery and charger are made by BYD, based in southern China's Shenzhen city. BYD claims their new battery and charger can

power a car for almost 250 miles on a five-minute charge. That's twice as fast as it takes to charge a Tesla. Some Tesla EVs use batteries made by BYD. Sales of EVs and hybrid vehicles in China jumped by 40% last year, with Chinese carmakers increasingly outselling their foreign rivals. BYD sells EVs in Europe and South America. In the U.S. it sells buses, but has no plans to sell passenger cars, due in part to tariffs and regulatory hurdles. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Beijing. President Trump has nominated an airline executive as his nominee to run the Federal Aviation Administration. He's tapping the CEO of Republic Airways, Brian Bedford.

Leaders of other airlines are praising Bedford's nomination. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.