NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-03-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The U.S. stock market is leading a global sell-off, underscoring the shock from new sweeping tariffs out of the world's biggest economy. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,600 points or nearly 4 percent. The Nasdaq slid more than a thousand points, down nearly 6%. The S&P was down 4.8%. NPR's Scott Horsley with more on the fallout. The tariffs that President Trump announced late Wednesday

are both higher and broader than investors had expected. Starting this weekend, the US will charge a minimum 10% tariff on nearly everything that's imported. Products from many countries will face even higher import taxes beginning next week. Economists say those tariffs will push prices higher and slow down economic growth. The Trump administration maintains the tariffs will help level the playing field and put American manufacturing on a stronger footing. African countries are

reeling though. Kate Bartley reports the highest tariffs will hit the tiny nation of Lesotho. Last month Trump joked no one knew where Lesotho was. This week he levied 50% tariffs on the tiny mountain kingdom that is one of the poorest nations in the world. Lesotho has a large trade surplus with the US to which it exports mainly textiles and diamonds. South Africa was also hit by some of the highest tariffs at 31 percent, which Pretoria labeled

punitive. African island nations Madagascar and Mauritius were hit with 47 and 40 percent tariffs respectively. For NPR News, I'm Kate Butler in Johannesburg. The Pentagon Watchdog says it is reviewing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's use of the Signal message app. Security concerns surfaced after journalists was inadvertently included in a high-level group chat about military strike plans in Yemen in mid-March. Note, NPR CEO Catherine Maher chairs the board of the Signal Foundation, which supports the

app. A wave of destructive tornadoes and torrential rainfall across much of the Midwest and South claimed at least six lives, and it isn't over yet. WUKY's Karen Zahr with more. Governor Andy Beshear believes the main tornado threats have passed Kentucky, but with rain forecast for much of the state for several more days, he says there are still threats of flash and riverbank flooding. You looked at just the inches of rain that are still expected on top of what we've gotten by the end of the weekend. That is really concerning. The National Weather Service

has issued flood warnings and watches for the majority of Kentucky until Sunday. Beshear has declared his state of emergency, deployed the Kentucky National Guard, and activated the state's Emergency Operations Center. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in Frankfort. This is NPR News. The U.S. Department of Education's warning schools to get rid of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. If not, the agency says it'll cut Title I funding, which targets schools that have a

high concentration of students from low-income households. President Trump ordered a government-wide elimination of DEI that he says prioritizes race over individual merit. The United Nations Secretary General says he is sending top officials to Myanmar not just to help the country recover from last week's massive earthquake, but also to try to restore democracy and end a conflict that has ravaged the country. Here's NPR's Michelle Kelliman. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says Myanmar was already suffering from political, human rights and

humanitarian crises before an earthquake, in his words, supercharged the suffering. He says he welcomes the announcement by Myanmar's military rulers of a temporary ceasefire in a civil war. This is essential to help aid flow and let rescuers do their jobs. But an end to fighting must quickly lead to a beginning of a serious political dialogue and the release of political prisoners. He's sending the UN's emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher and his special envoy Julie Bishop to Myanmar to work on that.

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. Meanwhile, Myanmar's ruling military says that last Friday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake has claimed more than 3,000 lives. U.S. stocks have ended the day lower, the Dow closing down more than 1,600 points. It's NPR.