NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-24-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

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Want to know what's happening in the world? Listen to the State of the World podcast. Every weekday we bring you important stories from around the globe. In just a few minutes you might hear how democracy is holding up in South Korea or meet Indian monkeys that have turned to crime. We don't go around the world. We're already there. Listen to the State of the World podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. President Trump has issued a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Writing online, Trump says he's not happy with Russia's overnight drone and missile

attacks on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. At least 10 people have been killed and more than 70 wounded. Trump says, quote, Vladimir, stop. Yesterday, Trump was criticizing Ukraine's president for standing in the way of a U.S.-backed peace effort to end Russia's war in Ukraine. MPR's Charles Main says the outlines of the U.S. deal are not clear. The White House has yet to publicly offer specifics on this peace plan, but it's clear it heavily favors Russia on paper. J.D. Vann said this deal would lock

in the current front lines or something close to it. But the latest dust up with Ukraine involves Zelensky's refusal to acknowledge the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014, as now formally part of Russia. This is apparently a component of this US peace deal and a non-starter for Ukraine. Danielle Pletka And Piers Charles-Maines reporting. President Trump has signed a sweeping list of executive actions targeting both higher education and K-12 schools. And Piers Janet Oujong-Lee looks at a few of them.

Piers Janet Oujong-Lee One of the half-dozen executive actions called for new accreditation pathways, taking aim at colleges and universities for having, quote, abuse their authority by imposing discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion based standards. Here's White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf ahead of Trump signing the executive order. The basic idea is to force accreditation to be focused on the merit and the actual results

that these universities are providing, as opposed to how woke these universities have gotten. Other note where the executive actions included revising school discipline in K-12 classrooms aimed at removing DEI principles, strengthening apprenticeship programs for industrial jobs, as well as advancing AI education in public schools. Janet Wujong-Lee, NPR News. Some states are reviving plans to link health insurance for low-income Americans to working. Alex Olgan reports that 13 states received approval to do this during the first Trump

administration. Alex Olgan, Journalist, The New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times,

The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New adults who depend on this coverage, the prospect of losing it if there is a disruption in their work is scary. 31-year-old Summer Neal works at a pizza place and relies on Medicaid to pay for drugs to control pain caused by the chronic autoimmune disease lupus. If they cut Medicaid, pardon my

language, I'm quite frankly screwed and I'm going to be in pain for the rest of my life. Arkansas tried this in 2018 and more than 18,000 people lost health insurance coverage before a judge stopped it. The state is now awaiting the green light from the Trump administration to try again, as are Ohio and Arizona. For NPR News, I'm Alex Olgan. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials

are up more than 200 points. This is NPR. In Sudan, the country's armed forces have regained control of the capital in the country's civil war. NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu has reached Khartoum, recently liberated from the Sudanese army's rival, the paramilitary militia. It's hard not to meet anyone in Khartoum or in Omdoman or the surrounding cities in the capital region who isn't relieved that the Sudanese army have recaptured this city because it means that most people have the freedom

to move around without abuse. But the reality of it is that there is still so much that is incredibly painful for people to come to terms with because the level of destruction, the level of vandalism is heartbreaking. And Piers Emmanuel Akinwotu reporting. Southern California could be dealing with its worst harmful algae bloom ever and it's killing marine wildlife up and down the coast. For Member Station LAist McKenna Sievertson has details. Sea lions, pelicans, and at least two whales from separate species have died from a neurotoxin

connected to the bloom, which affects the animal's brain and nervous system. Dave Bader is with the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, which has rescued hundreds of sick and stranded animals. He says dolphins have no chance of recovery. We'll give them the dignity of a humane end of life and one that is reduced in as much stress as possible. KORVAT KOLMAN This is the fourth year in a row there's been a bloom like this. And Bader says it's gotten worse in recent years because of climate

change. For NPR News, I'm McKenna Sievertsen in Los Angeles. And I'm Korva Kolman, NPR News from Washington.