NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-25-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The Trump administration is restoring the status of hundreds, possibly thousands, of international students whose records it had eliminated from a crucial government database. As NPR's Adrian Fleurot explains, those deleted likely would have had to leave the country soon. The SEVIS database is how immigration agents track student visa holders while they're in the country to ensure they're complying with requirements. If you're not in the database, it's harder to keep your legal status.

In recent weeks, the government deleted records for thousands of students, many of them sued, saying it was over minor infractions like arrests that resulted in no charges. But now the Justice Department has announced the government will restore those students' records, at least until it devises a formal policy for removing them. A lawyer for one student called it a sigh of relief, though legal fights to protect international students from deportation will continue. Adrian Fletevo, NPR News. Protests in Wisconsin today following the arrest of a Milwaukee County judge who the

FBI alleges helped a migrant evade arrest. The man faces battery charges in the US illegally. Judge Hannah Dugan was briefly held and appeared in court before being released. Activist Simon Rosenblum Larson was among those rallying in support of Dugan. Judge Dugan's arrest is another example of Donald Trump's weaponization of federal agencies to intimidate judges, immigrants, and any of us Americans standing in the way of the Trump administration's attacks on us. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the arrest of Judge Dugan, saying it shows no

one is above the law. Federal authorities have accused Dugan of intentionally misdirecting federal immigration agents. The Pentagon has named four new senior advisors to embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. MPR's quote on supports Hegseth is under fire for leaking military attack plans. The White House is seeking senior staff at the Pentagon

to quote, write the ship, according to a former Trump official who requested anonymity to describe internal deliberations. Five of Hegseth's key advisors left in the past two weeks amid infighting and accusation of leaks to the press. Meanwhile, four new senior advisors have been quickly named. They include Colonel Ricky Berea, a former junior military assistant, and Justin Fulcher, a 32 year old member of the Doge team embedded at the Pentagon. Chief spokesman Sean Parnell has been promoted to assistant secretary of defense and senior advisor. A Pentagon spokesman says regular workforce adjustments are a feature of any highly efficient

organization. Democrats and at least one Republican in Congress say Hegseth should be replaced. Quill Lawrence, NPR News. Profits as Google parent company Alphabet were up strongly for the first quarter. The company says its profits for the three months ending in March rose 50 percent despite a turbulent global economy. Earnings and revenue with the company were both stronger than expected. The company's stock closed up for the day, but the share price is still down from the end of last year. On Wall Street, stocks closed mostly higher. This is NPR. As President Trump seeks to broker an end to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine,

Trump today said Crimea will stay with Russia. The President making the comments in an interview with Time magazine, a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea, Crimea was seized by Russia in 2014. Trump has continued to try to pressure Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to immediately sign an agreement giving the U.S. access to Ukraine's mineral resources. This week it became clear a congressionally required student achievement test called the Nation's Report Card will be shrinking in years to come. And Pyrrhus Shrnakhymeta has more. Pyrrhus Shrnakhymeta As Doge paved the way to have the Department

of Education's workforce in recent weeks, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon repeatedly promised the Nation's Report Card would be preserved. It is required by Congress and is considered the gold standard of student achievement tests, but this week the board that oversees it announced cuts to many parts of the tests that aren't strictly required by law. That includes the next long-term trend test, which has been tracking student achievement since the 1970s. 12th grade science, history and math will eventually be scrapped, along with other subjects for younger students. These changes come as the Trump administration says it needs to cut costs across the federal government. Janaki Mehta and Pear News.

Former star final running back Adrian Peterson is fray on bond. That's after being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, following his appearance at an NFL draft party for fans for the Minnesota Vikings. 40-year-old Peterson faces a fourth-degree charge of driving while impaired after police say they observed him driving 83 miles an hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News.