NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-18-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

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On Thru Line from NPR. The consequences for the country would have been enormous. It would have been a crisis. The man who saw a dangerous omission in the U.S. Constitution and took it upon himself to fix it. Find NPR's Thru Line wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. President Trump and Russian President Putin plan to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine during a phone call on Tuesday.

NPR's Charles Maynes reports on what might be included in a possible truce. Would place a 30-day ban on all attacks by both Moscow and Kiev, the idea being here that if it works, renew it and keep doing so as a path to eventual peace. Now, Ukraine signed on to the ceasefire plan following negotiations with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia last week. In doing so, Kiev appeared to smooth over differences stemming from that combative Oval Office meeting last month.

Of course, when President Trump and Vice President Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before the press, in the aftermath, Trump put a hold on all American military and intelligence support to Ukraine, a penalty he then lifted as soon as Kiev signed on to the US proposal. But the idea is that the deal has been always contingent on Russia doing the same, you know, will Putin reciprocate or not. NPR's Charles Mains reporting. The White House Office Doge has taken over the U.S. Institute of Peace.

As NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports, officials with the nonprofit say Doge workers forced their way into the building Tuesday with the help of police. In a brief statement, USIP acting president George Moose writes, quote, Doge has broken into our building. They came with someone that the Trump administration has tried to put in charge. An attorney for USIP, George Foote, has been fighting this in court. We're very confident that what's happened here under the guise of a change of control is wrong and will be upheld in court. But we were having civil discussions about that and then suddenly

muscle arise with guns and we're kicked out of the building. The U.S. Institute of Peace is a think tank funded by Congress. It is not a government agency and the president can only fire board members for cause. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. More files on the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy are expected to be released on Tuesday. More from NPR's Jial Snyder. President Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC that people have been waiting for this for decades. He said some 80,000 pages linked to President Kennedy's assassination will be released, although it's unclear how many

are already public. The National Archives says a vast majority of more than 6 million pages in its collection have been declassified. After he was sworn in in January, Trump signed an executive order directing the release of the documents, as well as those related to the assassinations of Kennedy's brother, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. Trump was at the Kennedy Center for a board meeting. He was elected board chair last month after he led a purge of Kennedy Center leadership. Trial Snyder, NPR News. You're listening to NPR.

Palestinian health officials say at least 200 people were killed and dozens more are wounded following a series of Israeli airstrikes across Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says he ordered the attacks because of lack of progress and talks to extend a ceasefire and release more hostages. He says Hamas has rejected all offers, including a proposal for permanent troops. Syria and Lebanon have declared a ceasefire after their most serious border clashes since the ousting of Syrian dictator Assad. NPR's Lauren Freyer reports. It started with what some Lebanese officials say were smugglers or a tribal dispute. The Syrian government

called it a kidnapping of Syrian soldiers by Hezbollah militants who have operated in the area but denied any involvement. Lebanese villages came under shelling, the country's president says he ordered his army to return fire. Four journalists embedded on the Syrian side were among those lightly wounded. As things escalated, Lebanon's president says he also phoned his foreign minister at a Syrian aid conference in Brussels and asked him to reach out to Syrian officials there to defuse tension. Lebanon's army says it has returned the bodies of Syrian soldiers and is communicating with its Syrian counterparts.

Lauren Freire and PR News Beirut. Harvard College is waiving tuition for undergraduates from families earning less than $200,000 a year if they meet admission standards. Qualified applicants from homes with annual incomes under $100,000 will also receive free meals, housing, healthcare, and free travel. This is NPR News.

Shortwave thinks of science as an invisible force, free travel. This is NPR News.