NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-21-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, the Vatican says the body of Pope Francis will be placed in a coffin today in a ceremony at the chapel of the hotel where he lived. The Pope died today at the age of 88, and Piersovio Puggioli reports. Jorge Maria Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, the son of Italian immigrants. He was the first Jesuit to become Pope, the first to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, and the first Pope from the global south. Francis was beloved for his common touch and his vision of a merciful and inclusive church. He described it as a field hospital after battle, healing the wounds

of the faithful and going out to find those who have been hurt, excluded or fallen away. A firm believer in the need to save the planet, Francis was not afraid to criticize Western societies for what he called their unfettered pursuit of money. He also made many enemies within the church for his efforts to reform and clean up the Vatican bureaucracy. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome. After reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed plans about a military operation in a second signal group chat, the White House is standing by him. NPR's Deepa Sivaram reports.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says President Trump has confidence in Hegseth and stands behind the Defense Secretary. Reports surfaced Sunday that Hegseth had shared information about a U.S. military strike in Yemen in a chat on the platform signal. The chat included people like his wife and brother and was on the secretary's personal phone. It comes just weeks after the White House confirmed reporting of a different signal group chat talking about the strike with multiple officials like National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Hegseth himself spoke to reporters Monday at the White House Easter egg roll and attacked the media for the reporting and blamed

the narrative on quote a few leakers who were fired from their government jobs. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News. An Israeli military investigation has determined the killing of 15 Palestinian medics and emergency workers in Gaza was the result of professional failures. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave and their ambulances were crushed. NPR's Eya Batraoui has more. The military's rare admission of failures in Gaza came after phone video found on one of the paramedics' bodies became public, disproving the Israeli military's initial claims around the incident. The military had said the emergency vehicles did not have flashing

lights on, which was proven untrue by the video. The subsequent military investigation determined the killings were a result of quote, operational misunderstanding, prompting the dismissal of a deputy commander. The head of the UN's operations in Gaza, Jonathan Widal, says some of the findings continue to contradict the evidence and urged greater accountability. The Palestinian Red Crescent has called for an independent investigation and says the killing of its paramedics in March reflects a dangerous pattern. Local officials in Gaza say nearly 140 rescue workers and medics have been killed by Israel

in the war while on the job. Aya Bultrawi, NPR News, Dubai. On Wall Street, the Dow is down more than 900 points. This is NPR. The UN says Pakistan has pushed out nearly a million Afghans from the country since Pakistan stepped up deportations in September 2023. Deportations have risen just this month. And Fierz Diyehadeed reports Pakistan has given hundreds of thousands of Afghans a deadline to leave. A Pakistani official told the Reuters news agency that some 80,000 Afghans were deported this month, while the UN says

that in total more than 854,000 Afghans have left. The UN says those Afghans left either because they were deported or because they feared deportation. Some of them are Afghan families who fled to neighbouring Pakistan so their daughters can attend school, the Taliban, which rules Afghanistan, does not allow girls to study beyond grade six. But there's been growing hostility against Afghans in Pakistan. That's partly as Pakistani officials blame the Afghan Taliban for harboring militants

who've been conducting increasingly brazen attacks in the country. Dhiya Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai. The gunman who shot and killed 23 people in a racist attack in El Paso, Texas in 2019 will appear in a state court today. Patrick Crucis is expected to accept a plea deal and admit he intentionally targeted Latino shoppers at a Walmart. In exchange, he would avoid the death penalty for a life prison term without parole. The first winners have crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon. The winner of the men's

wheelchair division is Marcel Hug of Switzerland, who's won this for the eighth time. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.