NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-24-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

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Imagine, if you will, a show from NPR that's not like NPR, a show that focuses not on the important but the stupid, which features stories about people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies, and call it Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me because the good names were taken. Listen to NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yes, that is what it is called wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. China says there are no talks underway with the United States about trade. Beijing says any reports saying so are false.

This comes after President Trump said there's been direct contact between China and the U.S. every day. NPR's John Ruich reports from Shanghai. China's Foreign Ministry and Commerce Ministry both issued unequivocal statements. Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong said there were, quote, absolutely no negotiations between the two sides. And Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun echoed that at a daily news conference. He said as far as he knows, there have been no consultations or negotiations over tariffs, let alone any agreement. Trump said this week that he expects tariffs on China

now at 145% to come down substantially. And he suggested that negotiations with Beijing are actively underway. Treasury Secretary Scott Bissett was reported to have said on Tuesday talks had not begun. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo said the door is open to dialogue, but it must be based on equality, mutual respect, and reciprocity.

John Ruhich, NPR News, Shanghai. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi says his country will find the attackers who killed 26 people this week. Most victims were Hindu men. NPR's Diya Hadid reports from Mumbai, Indian officials are blaming Pakistan, which denies responsibility. Modi said India would find and punish quote every terrorist, their handlers, their backers. The attack outraged many

Indians not just for the scale of the killing but the context. Gunmen attacked tourists in a meadow turning a scenic attraction into a killing field. They targeted men. Eyewitnesses told local media that gunmen asked if they were Muslims before killing them. The group which claimed responsibility for the attack is seen as a proxy for the Pakistani military. On Wednesday, India said it was suspending its decades-old water treaty with Pakistan. Pakistani officials say the attack was a pretext by India to deny the country water. Diya Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai.

In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health plans to include private health information in a study of rising rates of autism spectrum disorder. NPR's John Hamilton reports the study is part of a larger federal effort to find the causes of autism. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya says the agency will create a national database of autistic people, then look for factors that might have contributed to their diagnosis. The effort will use data from private doctors and insurance companies, as well as government health programs. One goal is to identify environmental exposures that could cause autism. But Dr. David Mandel

of the University of Pennsylvania says that's unlikely. The exposure is probably in utero. And it looks like we're studying children after they're born. There's also concern that sensitive private information used in the study could become public. John Hamilton, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. 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 eight Ukrainians have been killed and more than 70 wounded. Trump says, quote, Vladimir, stop. Trump goes on to say, let's get the peace deal done. Just yesterday, Trump was blaming Ukraine's president for standing in the way of a U.S.-backed peace deal. President Trump's win last November was seen initially as benefiting other populist political candidates around the world. But as NPR's Scott Newman reports, upcoming elections

in Canada and Australia are suggesting those countries may see different election results. Three months ago, Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilieff's message of tax cuts downsizing government and fighting woke ideology looked certain to propel his conservatives to a historic win in Monday's election. But President Trump's unpopular tariffs and talk of annexing Canada have helped Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party stage a turnaround. Simra Sevi is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto. So in three months, that's a major shift in Canadian politics. Australia's opposition leader Peter Dutton is seeing a similar backlash to his homegrown version of MAGA.

He faces voters in May. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington. Pope Francis continues to lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. He died Monday at the age of 88. Vatican officials say at least 50,000 mourners have viewed his casket. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News. Cell phones, NPR News.