NPR News: 02-12-2025 6PM EST
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What is the current US stance on Ukraine and Russia?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Essentially upending U.S. support of Ukraine and its war against Russia's invasion, President Donald Trump today said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to begin negotiations toward ending the conflict. Trump's saying he and Putin will, quote, work together very closely to end the war and will eventually meet in person.
I'll be dealing with President Putin largely on the phone and We ultimately expect to meet. In fact, we expect that he'll come here and I'll go there. And we're going to meet also probably in Saudi Arabia the first time we'll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something done.
Trump said he's also spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. White House officials, however, declined to say whether Ukraine would be party to the negotiations, indicating a deal might be made by Washington and Moscow to try to end the fighting. Critics of Elon Musk say his push to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could benefit one of his companies.
What are the implications of Elon Musk's actions on the CFPB?
NPR's Bobby Allen explains the agency was working to regulate digital wallets, and Musk's X platform is set to release a digital wallet service.
What is X Money and its potential impact?
It's called X Money. Musk announced last month that the service has partnered with Visa. The plan is to launch a peer-to-peer money transfer service similar to Venmo or Apple Pay. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began taking steps late last year to regulate digital wallets. Former CFEB head Richard Cordray says abolishing the agency would benefit X and Musk.
He is now engaged in businesses or looking to engage in payment businesses that would be regulated by the CFPB. At the same time, he's trying to tear down the CFPB, just puts in sharp relief the conflicts of interest here.
Musk and the White House did not return requests for comment. President Trump says Musk will be removed from any government work that could help any one of his six businesses. Bobby Allen, NPR News.
Who is Jameson Greer and what is his new role?
The Senate Finance Committee signed off on President Trump's choice to be the nation's top trade negotiator. Members of the Senate Finance Committee approving the nomination of Jameson Greer. That clears the way for Greer's nomination to go to the full Senate. Consumer prices in January were higher than expected. NPR's Scott Horsley reports on the latest inflation data from the Labor Department.
Forecasters had expected to see some moderation in price hikes last month, but inflation remains stubbornly high. Consumer prices in January were up 3 percent from a year ago. Prices rose by half a percent between December and January alone. Egg prices jumped more than 15 percent last month after avian flu forced egg farmers to cull millions of laying hens in December. Overall, grocery prices were up by half a percent. Stripping out food and energy prices, which bounce around a lot, core inflation was also higher than forecasters had expected. Given the sticky price hikes, the Federal Reserve is expected to take its time before making any additional cuts to interest rates. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
Stocks closed mixed today after the release of the new inflation figures. The Dow was down 225 points. The Nasdaq closed up six points. The S&P was down 16 points. This is NPR. While Trump administration efforts to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development have led to problems with food aid overseas, other groups are also being affected. That includes Christian aid groups that partner with USAID. Two of the 12 largest non-governmental recipients of USAID funds are faith-based Catholic Relief Services and World Vision. The Christian nonprofit served millions globally, providing food, water and medical care in conflict zones. Last month was officially the warmest January ever. That's according to new data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. What's worrying scientists, it wasn't expected to be that hot. Here's Alejandro Barunda reports.
Both 2023 and 2024 shattered global temperature records, primarily because of human-caused climate change. But climate scientists had expected that unusual heat to fade slightly this winter because of a natural climate cycle. That expected cool off didn't happen. Instead, the planet was warmer than ever in January. Radley Horton is a climate scientist at Columbia University.
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