NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-18-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

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Neuroscientist Ethan Cross says you may think it's healthy to vent about what's bothering you, but... The problem is you often leave that conversation feeling really good about the person you just communicated with, but all the negative feelings are still there. Sometimes they're even more activated. Tools for managing our emotions. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear.

A call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin resulted in some progress towards a resolution of the war in Ukraine. NPR's Asma Khalid says while the discussion did not yield a concrete peace agreement, Putin has agreed to Trump's proposal for a 30-day halt to strikes on energy infrastructure by both Russia and Ukraine. We know that last week, Ukraine had agreed to a broad month-long ceasefire, and today's phone call was now an effort to convince Russia to agree to that same pause as well. Trump didn't really get there, but the White House is continuing the talks because Trump really wants to end this war.

Putin, meanwhile, has maintained a broader ceasefire and resolution of the war hinges on a complete cessation of Western military aid and intelligence support to Ukraine, something which is unlikely. The White House says negotiations on that will begin in the Mideast. A federal judge in San Francisco is questioning whether the Trump administration is complying with his order to bring fired federal workers back. As NPR's Andrea Shue reports, six federal agencies are covered by his order. U.S. District Judge William Alsop said he'd seen media reports that federal agencies had rehired probationary employees fired last month,

but immediately put them on paid administrative leave. He said that was not allowed under his preliminary injunction because government services wouldn't be restored if people aren't working. Attorneys for the government did not deny that agencies have placed reinstated employees on leave but called it an intermediate measure, a first step to getting people fully reinstated. They did not say what the next steps would be or if they'd be carried out while the government appeals the judges ruling. Several federal employees told NPR they are getting paid but have gotten no news about going back to work. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. President Trump says his administration is releasing 80,000 files related to the assassination

of President John F. Kennedy. Trump ordered the release of the remaining classified files from the 1963 case, which has spawned countless conspiracy theories where most historians do not expect too many bombshells. Instead, they'll be looking for interesting historical tidbits about U.S. international relations and intelligence from the era. Federal Reserve policymakers are meeting in Washington. NPR's Scott Hoesle reports they're expected to hold interest rates steady when their meeting concludes tomorrow.

The Fed cut interest rates by a full percentage point last year but policymakers want to see more progress on inflation before they go any further. Inflation did come down a bit in February but prices are still climbing faster than the central bank would like and President Trump's tariffs could make it harder to bring prices under control. Markets will be watching for updated forecasts from Fed policy makers about where they think inflation and the job market are going in the months ahead. Stocks today took another downward swing. The Dow fell 260 points.

The Nasdaq dropped nearly one and three-quarters percent, down 304 points. This is NPR. Major League Baseball's regular season is underway with an opening series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs held in Tokyo. The Dodgers are defending champions and the World Series favorites, and they took the first victory of the season, four runs to one. More from NPR's Becky Sullivan. Coming home to Japan to play in front of 42,000 noisy fans at the Tokyo Dome was a big deal even for superstar Shohei Otani. He spoke to MLB network with his interpreter. I was actually

pretty nervous. It's been a while since I was nervous but today definitely felt it. Otani is a huge celebrity in Japan where an average of 12 million people watched the five games of last year's World Series. Japanese players are more prominent than ever in Major League Baseball. Chicago and LA between them roster five including both starting pitchers in game one and Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki will make his MLB debut in game two. For the rest of the league baseball's official opening day is next week. Becky Sullivan in Pure News. First in the US we're up slightly last year the most experts say it's not being seen as a sign the long-term decline in babies being born in the US is reversing. They say slightly over

3.6 million births were reported last year, about 22,500 more than the previous year. Numbers also appear to show just one group of Hispanic women had rising birth rates. Primary numbers were released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile the average age for first-time mothers continues to rise, reaching 27.5 last year. Critical futures prices eased slightly today following talks between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin oiled down 68 cents a barrel to 66.90 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.

This message comes from NYU Langone. York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.