NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-22-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: March 22, 2025

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These days, there's so much news, it can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community. The Consider This podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and analysis that helps you make sense of the news. We get behind the headlines. We get to the truth. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. truth. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. Venezuela's government says beginning tomorrow it will again accept flights of its citizens deported from the U.S. Repatriation flights have been halted by Venezuela's leader. The Trump administration had threatened to

slap more sanctions on the country if the flights did not resume. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports. The president of Venezuela's national assembly Jorge Rodriguez announced the resumption of flights in a statement on Instagram. Rodriguez, who has been negotiating with the U.S., stated, migration is not a crime and Venezuela will not rest until it secures the return of all those who require it. A week ago the US sent more than 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador claiming most were members of a violent gang. President Maduro says the deportations are a kidnapping and demands the migrants return. Maduro's capitulation on accepting repatriation

flights come as Trump is considering extending the Chevron oil company's license to operate in Venezuela, which provides vital revenue for the country. Carrie Cahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. After a policy adjustment at the Department of Veterans Affairs left 40,000 veterans facing foreclosure on their homes, many of them have now been put into new affordable mortgages through a VA rescue program. them have now been put into new affordable mortgages through a VA rescue program. But as NPR's Chris Arnold reports, some in Congress want to eliminate that rescue program. 15,000 vets and their families now have new low-interest rate loans from the VA. Many were on what's called a COVID mortgage forbearance. That let struggling homeowners

skip payments till they recovered financially. It was also supposed to give them an affordable way to get current on their loans again. But then the VA pulled the plug on a key part of the program, stranding all these vets with no way to catch up. The new rescue program fixes that problem, but some Republicans in Congress want to basically kill it because they say it puts taxpayer money at risk. Industry and housing groups warn scrapping the program without replacing it with something else would mean foreclosures for a lot of veterans. Chris Arnold and PR News. After an extensive hospitalization at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican says that Pope

Francis will be released tomorrow, and PR's Ruth Sherlock has details. For weeks, doctors maintained their prognosis for Pope Francis' recovery as reserved, meaning his battle with pneumonia in both lungs remained potentially life-threatening. The 88-year-old pope suffered breathing crises that saw him placed at times on a non-invasive mechanical ventilator. Now, after two weeks of his condition remaining stable, doctors say he can return to the Vatican, but that he will need to continue his rest, rehabilitation and convalescence at the Vatican for a further two months. The Vatican says before being discharged, the Pope will appear to bless the faithful from his 10th floor suite at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome. This is NPR. With egg prices soaring, some people are investigating whether to develop their own source by raising their own chickens. Northwest Public Broadcasting's Susan Shane reports from the southeastern part of the state of Washington amidst one run on chicks by those hoping for homegrown eggs. This tractor supply store just opened, but there's already more than a dozen people huddled around silver tubs of baby chicks.

Tina Doerr, the store manager, says the crowds are double what they've been in years past. Hundreds of chicks are selling out in under 30 minutes. It has been craziness. We have lines at the door. On average, the American Farm Bureau Federation says that avian flu has wiped out more than 10 percent of the country's laying flock each year since 2022.

That includes breeder hens and chicks. That's helped lead to a surge in egg prices and a shortage of chicks. Some online hatcheries say they're sold out until fall. For NPR News, I'm Susan Shane in Walla Walla, Washington. At London's Heathrow Airport, British Airways says it was able to deliver 90 percent of its Saturday schedule after an electrical substation fire shut down flights for almost a full day. In general, airlines operating in the major hubs say they expect disruptions to last for

days. The British government has ordered a probe of UK's energy resilience. The Heathrow disruption is among the worst since an Iceland volcano erupted in 2010. Back then, airspace over northern Europe was shut down for several days. More than 100,000 flights were canceled then because of concerns the ash could damage jet engines. I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.