NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-26-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: April 26, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. A choir sang as the wooden coffin of Pope Francis was taken to his final resting place at a basilica in Rome today. The Vatican says more than 250,000 people turned out to pay their final respects at the Pope's funeral service in St. Peter's Square. NPR's Jason DeRose reports from Rome. Presidents and kings and princes of the church gathered to bid Francis farewell, also laity

and clergy from around the world. The traditional requiem mass sung in Latin also included prayers in Chinese and Arabic, languages from the global south where the church is vibrant. Following the funeral itself, Francis' body was driven across town, over the Tiber River, to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial. There, he was seen to his final resting place by a group representing those on whom Francis focused his ministry, refugees, homeless people, the poor, and victims of violence. Jason DeRose, NPR News, Rome.

President Trump held a brief discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican today. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports the meeting comes amid ongoing talks that are aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the two sides should meet at high levels and finish off a deal. It was the first time Trump and Zelensky have met since their February meeting in the Oval Office that ended with Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticizing the Ukrainian president

who abruptly left the White House. That's NPR's Deepa Sivaram reporting from Rome. Legislation creating a statewide private school voucher program in Texas is heading to the governor's desk for his signature. The measure would allow families to use taxpayer dollars for private schooling. Blaise Ganey from the Texas Newsroom reports this comes after years of failed attempts. Since 2013, the Texas Senate has been passing voucher-like programs, but the House hasn't been able to hold up the bargain.

Now, after a brutal primary that rooted out several Republicans who voted against the idea, the bill passed both chambers and is headed to the governor. Senator Brandon Creighton celebrated the passage and the work to make it even better than its first iteration. Here we are with a bigger bill serving more students, focusing on income vulnerable and special needs with more funding. Texas program at $1 billion will be the largest starting cost of such program, offering families education savings accounts and it's expected to grow to nearly $4 billion by 2030.

Texas getting it done is a good sign for proponents who hope to push a similar effort on the federal level. I'm Blaise Ganey in Austin. This is NPR News. Talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program wrapped up for the day in Oman and may resume next week. Officials from Washington and Tehran are negotiating the details of an agreement that could result in the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran.

Researchers in Finland have found that harmful habits can cause health declines as early as the age of 36. Terri Schulz reports the new study is unusual for its long period of follow-up, tracking the lifestyles of more people from youth through their 60s. More than 300 residents born in 1959 in Uvascula, Finland, had health data collected at ages 27, 36, 42, 50, and 61. Researchers looked at the impact on mental and physical well-being of behaviors termed both risky and modifiable. Smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity. They found that by age 36, these

behaviors caused more depression, lower psychological well-being, lower self-perception of health, and metabolic risk factors. Alcohol had the most wide-ranging negative impact. The researchers conclude that while any one of the risky behaviors contributes to diseases, disability, and premature death, together they have a cumulative impact on public health that has not been sufficiently examined. For NPR News, I'm Terri Schultz. Uganda says the latest outbreak of Ebola is over after 42 days of no new reported cases.

Health officials say the last patients were discharged in March. This is the ninth Ebola outbreak in the country since 2000. This is NPR.