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Chapter 1: What NPR podcasts can I enjoy sponsor-free with NPR+?
Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh Air, Up First, NPR News Now, Planet Money, TED Radio Hour, ThruLine, the NPR Politics Podcast, Code Switch, Embedded, Books We Love, Wildcard, are just some of the podcasts you can enjoy sponsor-free with NPR+. Get all sorts of perks across more than 20 podcasts with the bundle option. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
Chapter 2: Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia and what happened in El Salvador?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. Senator Chris Van Hollen held a face-to-face meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He's the man illegally deported to a mega prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration. And Pierce Ryland Barton reports the Maryland Democratic senator was initially turned away by Salvadorian officials.
In an interview yesterday on All Things Considered, Van Hollen said soldiers had initially prevented him from reaching the prison.
Chapter 3: What challenges did Senator Chris Van Hollen face visiting the Salvadoran prison?
They simply said they had been given orders not to allow me to visit him.
Chapter 4: What was El Salvador's president's response to Van Hollen's visit?
Later in the day, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, posted on X that Van Hollen had met with Abrego Garcia and said that he, quote, gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody. The senator then posted a picture of himself and Abrego Garcia sitting at a table.
Chapter 5: What recent court decision affects Abrego Garcia's deportation case?
Also yesterday, a federal appeals court declined the Trump administration's request to lift a judge's order that they help bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. Ryland Barton, NPR News.
Chapter 6: How has the Trump administration changed COVID-19 information online?
The Trump administration has redirected government websites about COVID-19 to a White House page dedicated to a controversial theory that the pandemic was caused by the virus leaking from a Chinese government lab. NPR's Rob Stein has more.
The original federal websites had provided the public with basic information about COVID-19, such as vaccines, treatment, and testing. But those sites are gone, and now direct visitors to the White House website and a page titled, The True Origins of COVID-19. That theory argues the virus escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, China, and then spread around the world.
Chapter 7: What is the controversy about the origins of COVID-19 according to federal websites?
Most scientists believe that the virus most likely originated naturally in a wild animal and then spread to people in a market located in Wuhan. Rob Stein, NPR News.
Chapter 8: What do most scientists believe about the origin of COVID-19?
Ukrainian President Zelensky says there's evidence that China is supplying Russia with artillery and gunpowder. And here's Joanna Kikis' reports. Zelensky didn't elaborate on this evidence, while China says the charge is baseless.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Qian said Beijing has not sent weapons or ammunition to either Russia or Ukraine during the war that China calls a crisis. Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Thursday, Zelensky said Ukraine's intelligence has documented such shipments from China to Russia and said he wasn't surprised.
Zelensky said, Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised earlier in the war that he would not sell or send weapons to Russia. Unfortunately, now we see information to the contrary. Zelensky said he would provide more information about these shipments sometime next week. Ukraine has also captured two Chinese nationals fighting for Russia. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kyiv.
Wall Street is closed today in observance of Good Friday. You're listening to NPR News. Federal regulators approved a $35 billion merger of Capital One and Discover, creating the country's biggest credit card company. The deal is expected to close next month. As a condition of the merger, Capital One says it will comply with the Fed's action against Discover.
which was fined $100 million for overcharging merchants certain interchange fees from 2007 through 2023. Revenue from those swipe fees, which merchants pay every time a customer buys something, has more than doubled over the past decade. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has put its Washington, D.C.
headquarters up for sale, and Pierce Jennifer Ludden reports it's part of a wider push to save money by downsizing federal real estate.
The housing agency HUD says its 1968 building faces more than $500 million in deferred maintenance and that current staff only occupy half the space, even as its workforce shrinks. HUD Secretary Scott Turner says right-sizing will be more efficient and less costly for taxpayers. He's also called the massive, brutalist-style building ugly. It could be tricky to sell.
It's on the National Register of Historic Places. HUD says staying in the D.C. area is a priority. But this week, President Trump made it easier for agencies to move outside large cities, saying they need to be where the people are. Jennifer Lutton, NPR News, Washington.
Gas prices continue to fall heading into the Easter weekend. AAA says the average price of a gallon of regular gas is about $3.16. That's about five cents less than a week ago. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News.
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