NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-23-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: March 24, 2025

NPR News: 03-23-2025 11PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, D.C., I'm Dale Willman. Ceasefire negotiations got underway in Saudi Arabia Sunday between Ukrainian and American delegations. Talks will also be held between the U.S. and Russia on Monday. As MPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, President Trump says he wants to end the war, but Moscow

launched massive drone attacks on Kyiv this weekend that have killed at least seven people. Air defenses battled a massive drone attack Saturday night in Kyiv. On Sunday, the city mourned. People gathered at an apartment block that was struck and where people died. 19-year-old Tatiana, who doesn't want to give her last name, says it could happen to any of us. Last three months, it's everyday bombing. It's every day, like every night. It's a terrible sound.

You're just laying in your bed and thinking, oh my god, this bomb going to my house or near. In his nightly speech Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it should be clear to everyone that Russia is the one who is dragging this war out. He called on Ukraine's allies to put more pressure on Russia to end the war. Eleanor Beardsley in PR News, Keefe. Canadians are going to the polls on April 28th for a national election, as Dan Karpenshuk reports.

Prime Minister Mark Carney triggered the election call this morning with the dissolution of parliaments. Recent polls suggest Carney's Liberals are in a tight race with the opposition Conservatives. And this election campaign, only five weeks long, will focus on the main issue of tariffs and annexation talk from President Donald Trump. Carney says in the past 10 days since he's become Prime Minister, he's initiated several major changes, including getting rid of the unpopular carbon tax and expanding dental care to more than four million Canadians.

So Carney has asked for a strong mandate from voters in what he described as the most consequential election in a lifetime. The Conservatives, led by Pierre Poliev continue to say Carney still represents the old liberals and their policies, and it's time for a change. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpinchuk in Toronto. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin attended a recreation of Patrick Henry's Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech

on Sunday. The event took place 250 years to the day when it was first given in the same church in Richmond, Virginia Radio IQ is Brad Kuttner reports that outside the church demonstrators held signs criticizing the governor and President Donald Trump Protesters sang patriotic songs as they surrounded st. John's Church in Richmond's East End inside the chapel St. John's Church in Richmond's East End, inside the chapel, Give me liberty or give me death! Patrick Henry's fifth great-grandson, Patrick Henry Jolly, reenacted the famous speech,

and Governor Glenn Youngkin spoke of the importance of the spirit of America, but he also acknowledged those outside criticizing him. I am happy to do whatever it takes to get someone to church on Sunday. Youngkin smiled and waved as he passed protesters when he left the event. For NPR News, I'm Brad Kutner in Richmond. And you're listening to NPR News. Disney's Snow White is dominating the box office this weekend, but that may not mean she's turning a profit, as NPR's Bob Mandello tells us.

Snow White easily dwarfed the competition at cinemas. The rest of the Box Office Top Ten combined made barely half as much as Snow White did but this live-action remake of Disney's first animated feature only took in $87 million worldwide and that means making back its $270 million production cost is going to be difficult. Disney has had a lot of success with live remakes of its animated classics, and even when they don't cast a spell at the box office, they feed the company's other revenue streams — Disney Plus, sales of merchandise, theme park rides, even shows on Broadway.

Still, for Hollywood, it's a disappointing start in a year that has yet to have a smash hit. Bob Mandelo, NPR News. Pakistan officials say security forces killed 16 militants Sunday in a remote northwestern border area. They say the militants were trying to enter the country from neighboring Afghanistan. The military said those who were killed were part of the Pakistani Taliban. During the first Trump administration, many journalists worried most about being called fake news. They now face a more assertive President Donald Trump in his second term as a blitz of action by his new administration. As journalists on their heels, media outlets are facing lawsuits and investigations and threats to their business. Supporters of the

president suggest that an overdue correction is in order to reflect new ways that Americans get their information. I'm Dale Willman, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.