NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-17-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

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SHAY STEPHENS Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. The Trump administration is proposing to limit the definition of an endangered species. As NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports, the move could make it easier to damage habitats that endangered species rely on. JONATHAN LAMBERT The Endangered Species Act prohibits the take of endangered species. By law, take means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or

collect a species. For decades, federal agencies have interpreted this definition to include harming the habitats endangered species depend on, since habitat loss is the biggest driver of species loss. Now, the Trump administration wants to narrow that interpretation. Their proposal would only prohibit harmful actions directed immediately against a particular animal, not their habitat. The change could make it easier for developers to build on habitats used by endangered species. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. LAMBERT Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and New

York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have wrapped up their fighting oligarchy tour in Missoula. Montana Public Radio's Ellis Julin has the story. Ellis Julin Thousands flocked to the University of Montana's campus to hear the two progressive lawmakers. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were joined by several state-level speakers who criticized many of the Trump administration's sweeping policy changes, including immigration, the proposed sell-offs of public lands,

and fossil fuel-friendly policies. Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd the country is at a crossroads. We can either have extreme wealth inequality with the toxic division and corruption that it requires to survive, or we can have a fair economy for working people, along with a democracy and freedoms that uphold it." This was the final rally on their U.S. tour, which has drawn tens of thousands of people

since February. For NPR News, I'm Ellis Ju Lin in Missoula, Montana. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says new tariffs are likely to cause a temporary rise in inflation, which remains above the central bank's 2 percent target. With a solid economy and low unemployment, Powell says policymakers are holding off any decision on interest rates until they get more clarity. We'll get the initial reading on first quarter GDP in a couple of weeks.

The data we have in hand so far suggests that growth has slowed in the first quarter of this year from last year's solid pace. Despite strong motor vehicle sales, overall consumer spending appears to have grown modestly. Paul says prices rose at an annual rate of 2.3% in March, excluding volatile food and energy costs, core prices were up 2.6%. California Governor Gavin Newsom is suing to halt President Trump's global tariffs. Newsom argues that Trump may respond to foreign threats or freeze or block transactions, but that he doesn't have the authority to impose tariffs without congressional approval.

This is NPR. A federal judge in Washington says the Trump administration defied his order to turn back two planes that ferried deported migrants to El Salvador last month. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is giving the administration until April 23rd to make a correction or identify the individuals who defied his order. The administration admits that a man on one of the planes, Kilmar Obrego Garcia, was deported and imprisoned by mistake, but insists that he's a gang member who cannot return to the U.S. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen says he was denied access to Obrego Garcia during a visit to

El Salvador on Wednesday. The periodic shift of the North and South Poles can weaken Earth's magnetic field and let in more ultraviolet light. NPR's new research suggests that the last time this happened ancient humans may have developed new sun protection. NPR's Jonathan Lampert reports. Jonathan Lampert, NPR Researcher, NPR About 41,000 years ago, the magnetic North Pole started drifting. This weakened Earth's magnetic field to as little as 10% of its current strength in parts of Europe and the Middle East. That would have exposed those regions to higher levels of harmful solar radiation,

according to new research in the journal Science Advances. Around that time, people in those regions began more frequently tailoring clothes to more fully cover their bodies, and using ochre, a mineral-based pigment with sun-protective properties. Neanderthals didn't use these technologies. The researchers suggest that difference might, in part, explain Neanderthals' downfall. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News.