NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-22-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: March 22, 2025

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Making time for the news is important, but when you need a break, we've got you covered on All Songs Considered, NPR's music podcast. Think of it like a music discovery show, a well-deserved escape with friends, and yeah, some serious music insight. I'm going to keep it real. I have no idea what this story is about. Hear new episodes of All Songs Considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, D.C., I'm Dale Willman.

President Trump announced Friday his next steps aimed at dismantling the Department of Education. NPR's Corey Turner says the department's student loan portfolio will be turned over to the Small Business Administration. It is very difficult to imagine any other agency just picking up the federal student loan portfolio and doing any better with it than the education department has done. But I also want to be very clear here. The student loan portfolio is a mess. Some 8 million borrowers are still in legal limbo right now, not making payments because their Biden-era repayment plan was frozen by a judge for being potentially illegal.

Borrowers can't currently enroll in any income-driven repayment plan. We expect that to change in the coming days. Trump also said the Education Department's programs for students with special needs will be moved to the Department of Health and Human Services. Employees of the state broadcaster Voice of America and various unions representing federal workers and journalists

are suing the federal government. They claim it acted unconstitutionally in journalists are suing the federal government. They claim it acted unconstitutionally in trying to shut down the broadcaster. And Piers Emily Fang has more on that story. Since World War II, Voice of America, or VOA, has been broadcasting to foreign audiences, mostly in countries the U.S. considers repressive or authoritarian. It's had particular resonance in China, where for decades the broadcaster was seen as a reliable, uncensored source of news about China. But under the Trump administration and its federal cost-cutting drive, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA,

has taken it off air. The lawsuit filed in New York State Court this week says the agency overstepped and violated the First Amendment right to free speech and suspending VOA's operations. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, another broadcaster the agency oversees, has filed a separate, similar lawsuit. Emily Fang, NPR News, Washington. Russia and Ukraine are trading blame over the destruction of a gas transit station in Russia's contested Kursk region. As NPR's Charles Maynes reports, the dispute comes after both sides agreed to a U.S. negotiated deal to pause attacks on energy infrastructure. The apparent attack took place at an inactive gas metering station in the Russian city of

Suja near the Ukrainian border, causing a large fire to break out. Russia's defense ministry accused retreating Ukrainian troops in the area of sabotage and trying to discredit President Trump's partial ceasefire initiative. Meanwhile, Ukraine said Russia had targeted its own gas infrastructure in a bid to pin blame on Kiev. The 30-day pause on attacks on energy infrastructure was the key outcome of Trump's negotiations with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Following lengthy phone calls this week, Trump had sought a full-month-long ceasefire, but Putin rejected the deal.

Charles Mayne's NPR News, Moscow. Stocks finished the week higher on Wall Street after being down for most of the day. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. President Trump says Boeing will be building the next fighter jet for the Air Force. The Pentagon says the new jet will have stealth and other capabilities that far exceed its current fleet of fighters.

And it says the jet is essential in case of a possible future conflict with China. Among its features is the ability to act as a command center for future drone aircraft. During the first year of college, students often experience a decline in their mental health. From Northwest Public Broadcasting, Lauren Patterson explains how new research

shows spending time with therapy dogs might help. Rather than petting a dog right before a test, students at Washington State University spent time with therapy dogs for longer sessions over their first semester. New research showed students who spent time with therapy dogs were less stressed and depressed than students who didn't. Patricia Pendry is a WSU professor who worked on the study.

We find that giving them the opportunity to engage with registered therapy animals is actually a wonderful way to help them adjust to that first semester. Students who met and spent time with dogs over their first semester also had marked improvements in self-compassion, she says. It's also a relatively inexpensive way to offer students who might be missing their pets from home more support, Pendry says. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Patterson in Pullman, Washington. London's Heathrow Airport is

back in operation. A fire in a nearby electrical substation Thursday night knocked out power to the airport for about 18 hours. Some 200,000 passengers were stranded and the closing caused massive flight cancellations. The effect of that closing is expected to be felt for several more days. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News in Washington.