NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-21-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

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Man, I mean, that might have been the only time I've really faced myself. I'm Jesse Thorne on Bullseye, George Lopez on the time that he swung a bat at a pinata of George Lopez. You know, like I wasn't supposed to hit it that many times that hard. Getting very real with George Lopez on Bullseye from MaximumFun.org and NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump is directing the Small Business Administration to take over the Department of Education's federal student loans program. The administration's begun the process of dismantling the Education Department, though its abolishment would require congressional approval.

President Trump has again aired his displeasure with one of the U.S.'s biggest trade partners, Canada. We don't need their cars, we don't need their lumber, we don't need their energy, we don't need anything from Canada. And yet it costs us $200 billion a year in subsidy to keep Canada afloat. So when I say they should be a state, I mean that. I really mean that. Trump at the White House today. This weekend, Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney is

expected to trigger the process for an early parliamentary election next month. Carney has said he is ready to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. The White House confirms Johnson & Johnson's plan to spend more than $55 billion to build four plants in the U.S. The drug companies promise to boost domestic investments in manufacturing, research and development. President Trump's threat of tariffs has compelled a number of companies to expand their manufacturing operations on U.S. soil.

Two progressive members of Congress, a Democrat and an Independent, are calling for the Democratic Party to be more forceful in its pushback against President Trump's agenda. Here's NPR's Stephen Fowler. At a packed hockey arena on Arizona State University's campus, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders denounced Trump. Sanders painted Trump's Department of Government efficiency effort to fire federal workers and slash government agencies as morally wrong and illegal. Every single day, Trump and his friends are ignoring the Constitution of the United States of America. But the pair also join the growing chorus of voters who say the Democratic Party needs

to do more to defend those institutions and have stronger plans to counter Trump's agenda. Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Tempe, Arizona. Ukraine and Russia are accusing each other of continuing to attack energy infrastructure. This comes ahead of ceasefire talks that are supposed to take place soon in Saudi Arabia. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports Ukraine says Russia also shelled civilian areas in two regions overnight. Ukraine says Moscow's airstrikes destroyed residential neighborhoods in Zaporizhzhia and Odessa provinces Friday, smashing civilian homes and injuring at least six people, including a child.

Zaporizhzhia is one of the four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian forces that President Vladimir Putin annexed in a referendum two years ago. He says Russia must have these provinces in any peace deal even though it doesn't fully control three of them. Ukraine says it will never cede these territories to Russia. Experts say any peace deal would likely mean freezing the front line where it is and creating a Korean peninsula type situation in Europe. Eleanor Beardsley in Peer News, Keefe. This is NPR News. The federal government says that Maryland authorities failed to conduct

critical tests on the Francis Scott Key Bridge before it collapsed last year. It was struck by a ship. The National Transportation Safety Board is warning that other U.S. bridges need to be checked for vulnerability. As mortgage rates ease, more people sold their homes in February. The National Association of Realtors is reporting a more than 4% increase in existing home sales from January. Compared to a year ago, sales fell by more than 1%. Scientists say new research hints at how the universe could end and it involves dark energy. NPR's Chandel-Duster reports. Scientists with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Group say when the universe formed, dark energy,

the mysterious force behind its rapid expansion, was very strong. But scientists say dark energy is weakening, and that will continue. Mustafa Ishak, co-chair of the group and astrophysics professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, says this could allow matter to get stronger, which could be the force that causes the universe

to ultimately collapse. We thought before that the universe will keep just expanding and expanding faster and faster and faster and faster. Almost it becomes empty. It is back to the table. The universe now also has the possibility that it will stop and re-collapse. He and other scientists also say there is no current evidence that the universe has stopped expanding. Chandelis Duster, NPR News. The Dow is down nearly 100 points at 41,856. This is NPR.

When you take a shower or get ready in the morning, how many products are you using? Everything from your shampoo to your lotion. In our study, we found that the average woman used about 19 products every day and the average man used about seven. These products might come at a cost. The ingredients they contain can be harmful to our health. Listen to the Life Kit podcast from NPR to learn more about the risks of personal care products.