NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-30-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

NPR News: 04-30-2025 9PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from the Lemelson Foundation, working to harness the power of invention and innovation to accelerate climate action and improve lives around the world. Learn more at lemelson.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today on a conflict between church and state. There are indications conservatives on the court are open to approving religious charter schools. MPR's Nina Totenberg says the test case from Oklahoma could transform public education.

On one side of the case are two Catholic diocese in Oklahoma. Representing them is lawyer James Campbell. You can't create a public program and then just simply say that no religious organization can apply. On the other side is the state's Republican attorney general, Gantner Drummond. Religious liberty is really the freedom to worship. It is not taxpayer-funded, state-sponsored religious indoctrination. A decision in the case is expected by summer.

Nina Totenberg in NPR News, Washington. New census data shows Latinos and Asian Americans continue to have some of the lowest voter registration rates among eligible voters. As NPR's Hansi Luong explains, researchers blamed long-standing barriers to registering to vote that made it difficult to close the racial and ethnic gaps. Results from the Census Bureau's current population survey about last year's general election show the rates of Asian and Latino citizens age 18 or older sign up to cast ballots trail behind the rate for white adult citizens. The registration gap between white

and Latino eligible voters is around 14 percentage points. Between white and Asian eligible voters, the gap is about nine percentage points. Researchers point out many Latino and Asian American eligible voters are naturalized U.S. citizens. That can make it more difficult to find out how to get registered to vote, especially in states that don't offer automatic voter registration or same-day registration. Also, restrictive voter ID requirements disproportionately affect many eligible voters of color, who are more likely than white citizens to say they lack documents proving their citizenship. Anzila Wang, NPR News, Washington. France is accusing Russia of carrying out more than a decade of cyber attacks.

As NPR's owner Beardsley reports, targets include national government ministries, companies, the presidential election, and even the Paris Olympics. A report just out from France's National Cyber Security Agency outlines cyber attacks from 2021 through 2024. It attributes them to a group called AP 28 also known as Fancy Bear Which is linked to Russia's military intelligence agency. The report says the hackers aimed to collect intelligence Notably in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine France is one of Ukraine's most vocal backers and President Emmanuel Macron is working to ensure that an eventual US brokered peace deal Doesn't further embolden

Russia and threaten Europe's security. The Russian ambassador to France denied the accusations. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. The US economy was shrinking during the first three months of the year. President Trump blaming the three-tenths of a percent decline in the gross domestic product on former President Joe Biden, who left office months ago, for many economists blamed Trump's own stewardship of the economy, including his on-again, off-again tariffs.

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 141 points. This is NPR. China has decided to drop sanctions against five members of the European Parliament. NPR's Emily Fang reports China's reversal on those sanctions comes as Beijing is trying to further woo Europeans as relations with the U. And Bureau's Emily Fang reports China's reversal on those sanctions comes as Beijing is trying to further woo Europeans as relations with the U.S. deteriorate. In 2021, China sanctioned more than a dozen Europeans in organizations critical of Beijing's policies in the Xinjiang region, where the United Nations says China may have committed

crimes against humanity. But fast forward more than four years, and China has been telegraphing that it wants to resume talks on a stymied investment pact with the European Union. Negotiations the EU froze because of these Chinese sanctions. So now China's removed sanctions aren't the European politicians, but not some of the other individuals and organizations. An advocacy group with ties to those EU politicians says, quote, the removal of some sanctions does not constitute a favor that warrants concessions from the European Union. Emily Fang, NPR News.

The Trump administration is enlisting more federal agencies to help with its immigration enforcement agenda. According to the Washington Post, that includes the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service. USPS has not replied to NPR's request for comment. When asked about working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, a senior official with the Department of Homeland Security only said DHS, quote, we use every tool and resource available to secure our border and get criminals without legal status out of the country. Critical futures prices continued their downward slide today,

posting their biggest monthly drop in almost three and a half years. Oil fell $2.21 a barrel to $58.21 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.