NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-04-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

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Hey, it's a Martinez a lot of short daily news podcasts focus on one story, but sometimes you need Thomas for up first on NPR We bring you the three top world headlines every single day in under 15 minutes because no one story can capture all that's happening It's the mundo tangrande on any given morning. So listen to the up first podcast from NPR Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Dow Jones industrial average is now down nearly 2,000 points or 4.7%. We see the Nasdaq is now down more than 5.5%. The S&P 500 also down nearly as much. This as investors react to President Trump's widening trade war. NPR's Scott Horsley has more. Thursday was

the worst day in the stock market in five years and so far Friday is looking pretty grim as well. President Trump's sweeping tariffs threatened to raise cost for domestic businesses and consumers. They're also likely to hurt exporters including farmers and factories. They're also likely to hurt exporters, including farmers and factories. Overnight, China said it would apply matching tariffs to all U.S. imports. There is some positive news this morning on the U.S. job market. The Labor Department says employers added 228,000 jobs last month, about twice as many as the months before. The report's based on a survey taken three weeks ago, however, and doesn't reflect the fallout from this week's tariff news. The unemployment

rate inched up to 4.2 percent. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Official numbers have yet to reflect the full scope of Doge-driven mass layoffs across the federal government. President Trump announced today on his social media platform that the sale of TikTok to a U.S.-based owner will be delayed an additional 75 days. A deal had been expected today ahead of a self-imposed deadline. The Chinese-owned video app is required to find an American buyer. It was required to do so by this past January under a law that Congress passed last year. President Trump issued an executive order on his first day of office that gave TikTok an additional 75 days.

Well severe weather since Wednesday has been blamed for at least one fatality and four injuries in Kentucky alone. The entire state is facing the threat of more floods. Karen Czar with member station WUKY reports farmers keep pivoting to save their animals. The rain hitting the metal roof of the horse barn at Benzmark Farm can be a peaceful sound but owner Alicia Rasmussen says not when it's gone on for several days with no signs of letting up. Rasmussen says she has to make quick decisions. Is it safer to leave the animals out in the fields because of high winds or in the barn away from potential flooding in the fields?

No matter what you're up guilt-laden worried in the middle of the night. Rasmussen brings the horses inside keeping an eye on the weather alerts. The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings and watches across the state through Sunday. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zahar in Lexington. It's not just flooding. The severe weather included a series of tornadoes. The storms all linked now to at least eight deaths across the Midwest and the Southern

US. You're listening to NPR News. Russia launched a drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv last night that killed at least three civilians, according to local officials. And PRS Eleanor Beardsley reports, despite participating in US-brokered ceasefire talks, Russia is actively pursuing its war against Ukraine. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News Reporter, NPR News, Ukraine. Ukrainian officials announced that Russia intends to increase its military presence in Ukraine by 150,000 troops this year.

On the battlefield, Russian forces continue to pursue incremental advances, particularly near the besieged city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region. Territorial gains have slowed due to Ukrainian drone strikes and apparent Russian operational fatigue. But Ukraine says the Kremlin is gearing up for a major spring offensive to break through the Eastern Front. Eleanor Beardsley in Pierre News, Kyiv. Microsoft is 50 years old. In a YouTube throwback, Bill Gates recalls early stages of how he

and his childhood friend Paul Allen launched the technology pioneer. During my eighth grade year at Lakeside, a teletype terminal was purchased and it could connect over a phone line to a time sharing computer that could run basic language programs. Paul Allen and I were the most serious figuring this thing out. Microsoft celebrating 50 years in Redmond, Washington today

with an event to play up its AI power co-pilot chatbot. Features the first public gathering in more than a decade of gates with its two successors Steve Balmer and Satya Nadella, the current chief executive. The Dow is down 4.7% NASDAQ and S&P down than 5%. It's NPR.