NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-26-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: April 26, 2025

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Climatic change is drying up some water supplies and making others undrinkable. That's why Here and Now Anytime is covering the hunt for fresh water. From a pipeline in the Great Lakes to the science of desalination to extreme recycling that turns sewage into clean drinking water. That's Here and Now Anytime, a podcast from NPR and WBUR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Massive crowds filled St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to bid farewell to Pope Francis today. NPR's Lauren Frere was at the funeral service, along with hundreds of thousands of people who came to pay their final respects.

The day began with bells tolling across the city and at the Basilica here, and then a homage of global leaders, royals, military men and women. The cobblestone streets of Rome have been lined with people in some places, 20 people deep applauding as the Pope mobile carried Francis out of the Vatican for the last time, past Roman ruins, past the Colosseum, to his final resting place in an immigrant neighborhood. NPR's Lauren Frere reporting from St. Peter's Square. From the Vatican, the Pope was taken to his final resting place. A choir sang as pallbearers carried the wooden coffin of Pope Francis up the steps of a basilica in Rome. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports people from poor and marginalized communities were invited to say their goodbyes.

One of the priorities of his papacy was Francis' care for the poor and the disadvantaged. And he was known, for example, to slip out of the Vatican to visit homeless shelters nearby, there. And this was also the final focus of this funeral, too. A group of people from disadvantaged backgrounds were invited to be by the entrance of St. Mary Major. People without homes, migrants, prisoners, victims of war. It was a fitting end that these people should be the final people to say goodbye to this

hope. MPR's Ruth Sherlock reporting from Rome. The White House is describing President Trump's meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Vatican today as quote very productive. NPR's Joanna Kekisis reports that both Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky attended the funeral service of Pope Francis today at St. Peter's Basilica. Writing on social media Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this meeting could turn out to be historic. Trump wrote his own post criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin

for attacking Ukrainian civilians. It makes me think he doesn't want to stop the war, Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media network. He's just tapping me along. The meeting comes after a week of US pressure on Zelensky to concede territory. Zelensky says he will never recognize Russian-occupied Ukrainian land as part of Russia. Trump told Time magazine that Russia can keep the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014. Joanna Kekissis, NPR News, Kyiv. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. $2.2 million might seem like a hefty asking price for two apartments on just over nine

acres of land in Tennessee. But what if it included a three-mile cave system? Chad Barrett with member station WETS has more on a unique Appalachian attraction up for sale. Appalachian Caverns in Blountville, Tennessee opened to the public in 1991 and has been a popular attraction in the region ever since. Here's Roger Hartley, the owner since 2004, on why he's decided to sell. I'm three and a half years away from retirement.

I've got time to sell and if it doesn't sell right now, I'm still okay. A little over 10,000 people visit the Appalachian Caverns per year, but a couple endangered species also call the caverns home. So you do have the endangered gray bat, the most populous bat we have here. We have about 15,000 grays and then we have the endangered Indiana bat. Hartley hopes that whoever buys the property shares his passion for preservation of the caverns. For NPR News, I'm Chad Barrett in Johnson City. Attorney General Pam Bondi has rescinded a Biden-era policy that provided protections for journalists. She announced the changes in a memo to Justice Department employees. The document says the Department will not tolerate the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive

information to the media. The new policy allows for the use of subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to compel production of information and testimony from journalists. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says in a statement that strong protections for journalists serve the public

by safeguarding the free flow of information. This is NPR. Do you think you have ADHD? You're not alone. After the pandemic hit, of information. This is NPR.