NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-25-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

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Hey, I'm Scott Schaeffer. And I'm Marisa Lagos. We host Political Breakdown. With the 2024 election over and President Trump in the White House, there's going to be a lot to keep up with this year. Political Breakdown has got you covered. We'll bring smart analysis, a wide range of voices, and even some laughs. Join us for Political Breakdown every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from KQED, part of the

NPR Network. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. U.S. negotiators say Ukraine and Russia have come to terms on a ceasefire in the Black Sea. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports Kyiv and Moscow agree to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels in the Black Sea for military purposes.

The development comes after days of talks in Saudi Arabia between the U.S. and the two adversaries. Ukraine successfully used air and sea drones early on in the war to drive Russia from the Black Sea and block Moscow's access to world markets for agricultural and fertilizer exports. Speaking after the agreement, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is doing everything to end the war. We now need results from Russia, he said. The agreement did not involve any direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials.

Ukraine had previously agreed to a full ceasefire, but so far Russia has rejected it. Moscow has continued to attack Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones. Eleanor Beardsley in Pierre News, Kyiv. Trump administration officials continue to seek to downplay an incident where a journalist was apparently inadvertently added to a discussion of a U.S. military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Top national security officials, including Trump's defense secretary, texted plans of the strike to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic via an encrypted app.

During a scheduled hearing today, top intelligence officials denied any classified material was shared. California fire officials have released new maps that show millions of acres at risk. It comes after the Los Angeles wildfires in January. More from NPR's Lauren Summer. California is one of the few states that maps where homes are at risk of wildfires. In some of those areas, that means new houses must be built with wildfire resistant materials. Those building codes have been shown to increase the chances

that a house will survive. The new maps mean that in Altadena, where the Eaton fire burned, some additional 500 buildings will have to rebuild with fire resistant materials. But the majority of buildings, almost 8,000 will not. Some of the requirements could add to the cost of construction, but experts say building houses to resist wildfires helps make entire neighborhoods safer, especially as wildfires

get more extreme. Lauren Sommer, NPR News. Consumer confidence fell in March. NPR's Scott Horsley reports. Consumer confidence has been hovering in a fairly narrow range for more than two years, but it dipped below that level this month while survey respondents still feel good about the current job market, their assessment of current business conditions, and their outlook for the future worsened.

The confidence index is compiled by the Conference Board, a non-profit think tank. People who answered the survey say inflation is still a big concern, and many expect prices to climb even faster as a result of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. More people say they're planning to buy big ticket items, such as appliances and electronics, but rather than a vote of confidence in the economic outlook, that's seen as a largely defensive move to try to beat the looming import taxes. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR.

Supreme Court proceedings in Brazil will continue tomorrow as justices decide, where the former president Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for attempted coup. The far-right leader was charged with five counts of conspiring to overturn his 2022 reelection loss, but it's up to the high court to see if a trial should move ahead.

NPR's Carrie Conn is more. Five justices are overseeing the proceedings and spent the first day outlining the charges in the case against Bolsonaro. Prosecutors say Bolsonaro and seven others formed a criminal conspiracy to upend democracy. The indictment also alleges that Bolsonaro plotted to poison the current president, Luisa Nassio Lula da Silva, and kill the Supreme Court justice, who's now overseeing the proceedings. Bolsonaro attended the first day and denies any wrongdoing. His lawyer told the justices that Bolsonaro is the most investigated president in Brazilian

history and pointed out the former president wasn't even in the country when his supporters ransacked government buildings on January 8, 2023. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. There have been a plethora of injuries involving baseball pitchers lately. The cause is not tough to figure out. They're hurling the ball at ever-increasing velocities, and with maximum effort, every pitch. What will be far more difficult for the sport is coming up with a solution.

Some of the findings were detailed in a 62-page report issued by Major League Baseball in December. Now a study is backing that up with hard numbers. Critical futures prices fell today after an agreement in principle between Russia and Ukraine and the Black Sea oiled down 23 cents a barrel to 68.88 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from NYU Langone. The NYU Langone Health App gives you access to your in Washington.