NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-26-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

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Hey, it's A Martinez a lot of short daily news podcasts focus on one story, but sometimes you need Tomas for up first on NPR We bring you the three top world headlines every single day in under 15 minutes because no one story can capture all that's happening It's the mundo tangrande on any given morning. So listen to the up first podcast from NPR day on any given morning. So listen to the Up First Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. The controversy has grown surrounding top Trump officials and their recent use of a commercial messaging app to discuss U.S. military strikes in Yemen. A journalist from the Atlantic was inadvertently put into this chat. The Atlantic has now released the unredacted text messages. These messages detail the exact

times for the attacks, the type of warplanes used, even one of the targets. But top Trump intelligence officials testified at a Senate hearing yesterday, none of that information was classified. Connecticut Democratic Congressman Jim Himes wants more action. With a screw up of this magnitude,

there's only one response, which is, we are terribly sorry, we are standing down, we will do the investigations, we's only one response, which is, we are terribly sorry. We are standing down. We will do the investigations. We will get to the bottom of this. We will make sure it never happens again. And there will be accountability for the people who were involved. You know what we didn't hear yesterday? A single one of those assertions. Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Caroline Levin has released a statement she claims the entire Atlantic story is a hoax. The U.S. military attacks did occur. In Gaza, Palestinians staged a rare protest against Hamas, the militant

group that rules the territory. Israel zoomed fighting last week to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages. And Piers Daniel Estrin reports. Videos posted on social media show crowds chanting, out, out, out, Hamas, go out. Protesters called for media coverage, chanting, where is the media? Eyewitnesses say thousands took part in the demonstration in Beit Lahya in northern Gaza, which began as an anti-war protest. One protester who requested we only use his first name, Ibrahim,

to speak freely against Hamas told NPR, Hamas is not taking us into account. It has two million people in Gaza who need to live. He called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and leave Gaza. Over the years, Hamas has cracked down on dissent, but open criticism has grown during the war. Hamas did not break up the protest. It issued no comment.

Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Stocks open mixed this morning as discount retailer Dollar Tree unloads its family dollar business. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial average rose about 170 points in early trading. Dollar Tree paid more than $8 billion to acquire the Family Dollar chain back in 2015, but the discount retailer has struggled to make the blended family work. So now Dollar Tree is selling off Family Dollar to a pair of private equity funds for about $7 billion less than it paid a decade ago.

New orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose last month, led by a jump in motor vehicle orders, but a key measure of business investment was down. Businesses may be reluctant to invest right now given the uncertain economic outlook. People are still spending money on pets, though. Online pet store Chewy delivered better than expected sales for the most recent quarter and a tail wagging forecast for the rest of the year. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is now up 160 points.

This is NPR. It was a year ago today a cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge just outside Baltimore. Parts of the enormous bridge collapsed, killing six construction workers. The port of Baltimore was closed for months because debris choked the river. People around the world are switching religions. NPR's Jason DeRose reports on a new study from Pew Research that finds large portions of adults no longer practice the faith in which they were raised. Religious switching is especially common in East Asia, Europe, and the Americas. In South Korea, Pew found that 50% of respondents had changed religions.

In Spain, 40% said they'd left their childhood faith. In the U.S, 28% switched. And in Colombia, 25%. Christianity and Buddhism have experienced the largest losses. The biggest gains were among those who have no religious affiliation. Atheists, agnostics, and those who describe themselves as nothing in particular. Pew found very small percentages of people either left or joined Islam. The retention rates for Hinduism and Judaism are also high.

For the study, Pew surveyed nearly 80,000 people in 36 countries. Jason DeRose, NPR News. Lawmakers in Florida are advancing a bill that would relax laws on child labor. The proposed change would let children as young as 14 years old work overnight and on school days. proposed change would let children as young as 14 years old work overnight and on school days. The legislation must be reviewed by two other Florida state senate committees. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says a younger workforce could help be the solution to replace labor by migrants who are in the United States illegally. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in

Washington.