NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-25-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

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There's a lot of news happening. You want to understand it better, but let's be honest, you don't want it to be your entire life either. Well, that's sort of like our show, Here and Now Anytime. Every weekday on our podcast, we talk to people all over the country about everything from political analysis to climate resilience, video games. We even talk about dumpster diving on this show. Check out Here and Now Anytime, a daily podcast from NPR and WBUR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. The Trump administration is challenging a judge's March 15th order to halt the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El

Salvador. Assistant Attorney General Juin said says the judge overstepped his authority. The district court's order represents an unprecedented and enormous intrusion upon the powers of the executive branch. It enjoins the president's exercise of his war and foreign affairs powers under the Alien Enemies Act and does so in a manner that purports to direct operations

outside the United States borders and in a manner that could intrude upon sensitive diplomatic negotiations. Appeals Court Judge Patricia Billets says that the administration used an 18th century law to justify deportations that were based on unsubstantiated claims. It's insane from their complaint that their clients, at least the ones that we have, the named plaintiffs and some of the other ones are not members of Juan de Raguá and had no chance to demonstrate that when they were rushed

onto airplanes. The Trump administration is invoking state secrets as reasoning for refusing a judge's order to submit more information on the deportation flights. The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to block a judge's order to reinstate some fired federal workers. More from NPR's Andrea Hsu. Andrea Hsu, NPR News Anchor The ruling in question came from U.S. District Judge William Alsop. He ordered six federal agencies to reinstate the probationary employees

they'd fired since mid-February after finding that the Office of Personnel Management unlawfully directed the agencies to carry out the firings. The Trump administration maintains that agencies carried out the firings on their own, a claim Judge Alsop says he doesn't believe. The government appealed Alsop's ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which declined the government's request for emergency relief. Now the government has asked the Supreme Court for relief, charging that Alsop's ruling, quote, inflicts intolerable harm on the functioning of the executive branch. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. U.S. and Russia are holding ceasefire talks in wake of deadly drone strikes in Ukraine. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley has more.

At the site of a building where a woman burned to death in her top floor apartment, young boys discuss whether it's better to be burned alive in a drone attack or ripped apart by a missile. Eighteen-year-old law student Yaroslav Timofeev says people cannot bear this anymore. I am really in a horrible situation because every night I'm thinking about it, that every night it can be explosion in my house. Russia says for any long-term peace deal, Ukraine must demilitarize and hand over four provinces that President Putin annexed in a referendum two years ago. Ukraine says before any real talks can begin,

Russia must stop the nighttime attacks on its cities. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv. This is NPR. Sierra Leone could become the second West African nation to decriminalize abortion. Health workers say it would significantly improve the safety of pregnant women and decrease the number of preventable deaths there. The country has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the world, and because of the cost and sigma, many women and girls resort to unsafe methods to end their pregnancies. French actor Gerard Depardieu arrived at a Paris courthouse Monday. He's facing trial

on multiple sex assault charges, which he denies. As Rebecca Rossman reports, two women say that the 76-year-old entertainer assaulted them on a film set in 2021. Desperdu walked into court without saying a word, but his silence won't last long. After years of sexual assault and rape allegations from over a dozen women, this marks the first time the famed French actor will take the witness stand, a moment many are calling pivotal for France's stalled MeToo movement. The trial was originally set to take place in October, but was delayed due to Depardieu's ill health. Depardieu's

accusers, whose names have not been made public, allege that he groped them on set of the 2022 film Les Vols Les Verts. If convicted, Depardieu could face up to five years in prison and an $80,000 fine. Rebecca Rossman, NPR News, Paris. Rebecca Rossman, NPR News, Paris. U.S. futures are flat and after hours trading on Wall Street following Monday's gains. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mostly higher, but down nearly 2% in Hong Kong and up a fraction in Shanghai. This is NPR News.