NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-24-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: March 24, 2025

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Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts. Perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. For the first time in weeks, Venezuela has accepted a flight of migrants deported from the U.S. The Trump administration has pressured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to resume the deportation flights. NPR's Carrie Khan reports the first flight landed in Caracas early this morning.

The Venezuelan deportees were first sent to a US military base in Honduras, where a Venezuelan airline picked them up for the rest of the trip to Caracas. Direct deportation flights have yet to begin, but this was the first time in weeks that Venezuela has accepted the return of its citizens. Maduro had stopped receiving deportees after President Trump pulled a license allowing Chevron Oil to work in Venezuela. Trump then sent more than 200 Venezuelans to a maximum security prison in El Salvador. U.S. officials also threaten more sanctions against the South American country.

Maduro has accused Trump and El Salvador's president of kidnapping the Venezuelan deportees and demands their return. Carrie Cahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. U.S. and Russian officials are supposed to open fresh talks today in Saudi Arabia about ending Russia's war in Ukraine. A U.S. team met Ukrainian officials yesterday in Saudi Arabia. Both Ukraine and Russia have agreed in principle to a partial ceasefire, but NPR's Eleanor Beardsley says it's not clear when that might take effect.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wants to broaden the ceasefire to include other infrastructure. He spoke last night, here he is. He basically says, you know, everybody, the U.S., Europe, the world, needs to put more pressure on Russia to stop this terror. And Zelensky said after the last meetings in Saudi Arabia where Russian President Vladimir Putin would only agree to stop targeting energy infrastructure, that it should be clear to everyone that Russia is the only one who's dragging out this war. And here's Eleanor Beardsley reporting. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today over Louisiana's congressional map.

An issue is whether the map was unconstitutionally drawn to create the state's second majority black district. From the Gulf States newsroom, Stephen Besaha has more. States can consider race as they draw their maps. In fact, federal judges in recent years have ruled it necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act and give black voters more power in states like Alabama. That shift in congressional lines is part of the reason why the Republican majority in Congress is as narrow as it is right now.

Louisiana's governor approved its new congressional map in 2024 and created a second majority black district to better reflect the state's demographics. But a lower court ruled the consideration of race in drawing the map went too far and declared it unconstitutional and racial gerrymandering. If the Supreme Court agrees with the lower court, that could further weaken the Voting Rights Act and a new map would have to be drawn in Louisiana. For NPR News, I'm Stephen Basaha. On Wall Street in Stock Future Training, Dow futures are higher.

This is NPR. A media worker's union in Turkey claims authorities have detained more than a thousand people in recent protests, including journalists. The protests erupted after the ruling government arrested the mayor of Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, and accused him of corruption. He's denied this. The mayor is seen as the leading rival to Turkey's incumbent president. Former Utah Republican Congresswoman Mia Love died yesterday from a highly aggressive

brain cancer, according to her family. She was 49 years old. From member station KUER, Sean Higgins reports. Love was the first black person elected to Congress from Utah and the first African American Republican woman to serve in Congress when she was elected in 2014. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Love was born in New York and raised in Connecticut. She moved to Utah in the late 90s. In Congress, Love was a reliable conservative vote but did not shy away from criticizing President Trump during his first term after he

used offensive language to describe Haiti and developing countries in Africa. Love was in Congress for two terms until she was narrowly defeated by Democrat Ben McAdams in 2018. Love is survived by her husband, three children, and one grandchild. She was 49 years old. For NPR News, I'm Sean Higgins. Comedian Conan O'Brien received the Mark Twain Prize for American humor last night at the

Kennedy Center. He was lauded by other comedians such as Sarah Silverman and Tracy Morgan. Several made jokes about President Trump taking over the Kennedy Center and becoming chair. O'Brien's ceremony will stream later on Netflix. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News. On the embedded podcast. No, no. It's called, it's not even a speech. It's misinformation. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.