NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-18-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. A federal appeals court has issued the latest ruling against the Trump administration's handling of an immigrant illegally deported to El Salvador. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals says the Trump administration is, quote, asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process. This case has already been to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it could return if the Trump administration appeals.

The Supreme Court says it will hear expedited arguments next month on the issue of birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. are American citizens. The matter has been settled law for more than a century. But NPR's Nina Totenberg says President Trump disagrees. Nina Totenberg Trump, however, has long argued that there is no such thing as automatic citizenship, at least not for babies born in the United

States if their parents were not born here. So on his first day in office, he issued an executive order banning birthright citizenship, which was promptly challenged in court by a bunch of states. NPR's Nina Totenberg reporting. Every year, the U.S. State Department releases human rights reports on every country around the world. NPR's Graham Smith tells us that this year,

there are major changes coming in these reports. Internal State Department documents reviewed by NPR show the Trump administration is dropping multiple categories of human rights abuses from its annual country reports. No longer will the U.S. call out governments for violations against the freedom to privacy, the right to free and fair elections, or the right to peacefully assemble. More than 20 kinds of violations are being stripped out, according to these documents to comply with recently issued executive orders from the White House, among them violence against minorities and disabled people and serious government corruption. Human rights defenders tell NPR they're concerned the U.S. is abandoning its post as a supporter

of personal freedoms and that this will send the wrong message to authoritarian governments. Graham Smith, NPR News. A vigil will be held today on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee for the victims of yesterday's mass shooting. NPR's Greg Allen reports the 20-year-old suspect arrested by police is the son of a sheriff's deputy. Police say Phoenix Eichner used his mother's handgun to shoot eight people, killing two. Leon County Sheriff said he'd been a member of the department's youth advisory board and had gone through extensive training with the department.

The shootings occurred near Florida State University's Student Union Building. Students locked themselves in basements and bathrooms while they heard gunshots being fired outside. Eichner didn't surrender when confronted by police and was shot and wounded before being arrested. Classes at FSU are canceled today as are home athletic events through the weekend. Greg Allen, NPR News. This is NPR. Officials in Puerto Rico say they've restored power to nearly 99 percent of their customers. The entire island lost power Wednesday. Initial reports suggest part of the problem was heavy vegetation blocking a major transmission

line. Puerto Ricans are worried as summer approaches, more people use air conditioning, putting heavy demand on the power grid. Chinese goods may soon become harder to find in the United States. NPR's John Ruich reports exporters at a massive trade fair in China say shipments to the U.S. are grinding to a halt in response to President Trump's sky-high tariffs. At the Canton Fair in southern China, tens of thousands of Chinese companies display products and customers from around the world come to wheel and deal.

But if you ask about trade with the U.S., it's grim. Monica Liang is a sales manager at a company that makes juicers and blenders. She says everyone is in wait-and-see mode. Customers from the U.S. have halted orders, she says, and products are piling up in warehouses. Some here expressed optimism that China and the U.S. would strike a deal and avert disaster, but until then few seem to be selling goods across the Pacific, and many say they're looking for new markets altogether. John Ruech, NPR News, Guangzhou, China. The Defense Department says that the U.S. attacked a port in Yemen. U.S. Central

Command says the U.S. targeted fuel imports that are used to support Houthi rebels instead of Yemeni citizens. The Houthis say the U.S. attack has killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 100 others. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.