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Chapter 1: What are the latest updates from NPR News on February 12, 2025?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A federal judge in Boston is declining to block the Trump administration's deferred resignation program. For now, it means the offer to federal employees can move ahead. Andrea Hsu has more.
Chapter 2: What is the federal judge's decision on the Trump administration's program?
The Trump administration had given workers a choice. They could offer their resignations now in exchange for pay and benefits through the end of September. The expectation was they'd be on leave most of that time. Or they could remain in their positions and risk being laid off as Trump downsizes the federal workforce.
Labor unions representing civil servants asked the court to block the offer, calling it unlawful. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole declined that request, finding that the unions didn't have standing to bring the case because they are not directly affected. He did not rule on the legality of the deferred resignation program. The unions called the ruling a setback, but not the end of the fight.
Andrea Hsu, NPR News.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of Trump's potential meetings with Putin?
President Trump says he and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are likely to meet in person in Saudi Arabia as part of an effort to end the war in Ukraine. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports Trump says he expects Putin also to meet him in the U.S. and he'll travel to Russia.
Trump didn't provide a date for when he'll first meet with Putin. He also did not commit to traveling to Ukraine, though he said he would think about it.
Trump didn't go into detail on what he thinks a peace agreement will look like, but he said he doesn't think it's practical for Ukraine to join NATO, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing for for years and Putin is opposed to.
They've been saying that for a long time, that Ukraine cannot go into NATO. And I'm okay with that.
Trump's remarks come after the president spoke over the phone with Putin in a lengthy call. after he spoke with Zelensky. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News.
The Trump administration is taking credit for a record number of recruits joining the U.S. military last month. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports that number has been on the upswing for a year.
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Chapter 4: How is the Trump administration influencing U.S. military recruitment?
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that high numbers of Americans joined the Army in December and January because of President Trump's leadership and a new emphasis away from diversity initiatives. That may be true, but Army data show that after a slump in 2022 and 2023, recruiting goals have been met over the past year, with a surplus from 2024 to start off this year.
One reason is an Army program for future soldiers that helps Americans get physically fit or academically caught up so they can qualify to serve. Another factor is a growing number of women enlisting over the past three years. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.
The Federal Reserve at its meeting in January held off on cutting interest rates, and based on the latest inflation numbers, that stance may continue for a bit longer. Government says its consumer price index, which measures a market basket of goods, ticked up slightly last month, rising 3 to 3 percent. Many economists worry the Trump administration's tariffs could cause prices to go even higher.
On Wall Street today, the Dow was down 225 points. You're listening to NPR. A judge in London is allowing a Gazan family to resettle in Britain through a special visa program that was specifically designed to help Ukrainians.
CNPR's Lauren Frey reports from London the decision has been criticized by British politicians because it may set a precedent for more Palestinians and others fleeing violence elsewhere.
After an Israeli airstrike destroyed their home in Gaza, a Palestinian couple and their four children applied to come to the UK, where they have relatives. And they were ultimately granted permission to settle here on appeal through a special visa scheme designed for Ukrainians.
This is not what the scheme was designed to do.
Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenach told Parliament a judge was wrong to allow this family into Britain. And the centre-left Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he agrees.
The Home Secretary is already looking at the legal loophole which we need to close in this particular case.
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