NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-12-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

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Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. The NPR Politics Podcast makes politics a breeze. Every episode will break down the day's headlines into totally normal language and make sure that you walk away understanding what the day's news might mean for you. Take a deep breath and give politics another chance with the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. The Trump administration says the U.S. and China have agreed to temporarily reduce the high tariffs imposed on each other's products.

NPR's Emily Fang says the announcement follows weekend talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Total U.S. taxes on Chinese goods will go from at least 145 percent down to 30 percent for an initial period of 90 days. And Chinese taxes on U.S. goods will initially go down to 10 percent from around 125 percent earlier. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer helped negotiate the deal over the weekend. They did not explain what else China had offered in terms of opening up their economy and addressing Secretary Scott Besson and US Trade Representative Jameson Greer helped negotiate the deal over the weekend.

They did not explain what else China had offered in terms of opening up their economy and addressing trade imbalances besides lowering their own import taxes. The US and China are still negotiating, however, and they say they've set up a trade consultation negotiation going forward to avoid what Besson called quote, unfortunate escalations in the last few weeks in tariffs on each other. Emily Fang and Peer News. Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky says he plans to travel to Turkey later this week

for direct talks proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Zelensky says he'll only do so if Putin first agrees to a 30-day ceasefire. NPR's Joanna Kikisys has more from Kiev. In his nightly video address, Zelensky said he was optimistic that Russia could agree to a ceasefire on Monday. I will be in Turkey on May 15th and I will be waiting there for Putin, Zelensky said, and I hope this time Putin will not look for reasons why he cannot do something. On Saturday the Russian leader said he was ready for direct talks with Ukraine but did

not address a ceasefire. The same day the leaders of four major European countries traveled to Kiev. Together with Zelensky they proposed an unconditional ceasefire that would last 30 days starting on Monday. President Trump says he supports the proposal. Joanna Kikissis, NPR News, Kyiv. Hamas says it's releasing American Israeli hostage Eden Alexander this hour. The militant group is describing the release as a goodwill gesture to the Trump administration. A Hamas official speaking to NPR on condition of anonymity says

Hamas is to receive unspecified things from the U.S. The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement saying Alexander is being released without receiving anything. President Trump is scheduled to leave Washington today to travel to the Middle East. He'll be visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on the first foreign trip of his second term in the White House. On social media last night, the President confirmed his

administration is preparing to accept a Boeing 747 luxury jet from the royal family of Qatar. This is NPR News from Washington. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the Trump administration will work to reduce the number of flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey for the next several weeks. The move follows numerous flight delays and cancellations in recent weeks amid a shortage of air traffic controllers and repeated radar outages. Speaking to NBC's Meet the Press, Duffy says he'll be meeting with airline executives to help determine the flight reductions. United Airlines

recently eliminated more than 30 daily round-trip flights at the airport, citing safety reasons. A new study finds the land in many cities across the U.S. is sinking, mostly because of groundwater extraction. As NPR's Rebecca Herscher reports, tens of millions of people are being affected. Researchers at Columbia University in Virginia Tech measured the height of the land in the 28 most populous U.S. cities. They found that about 20% of the land area sank between 2015 and 2021. More than 30 million people live in areas affected by sinking land, and Houston is the

fastest-sinking major city in the country, they found. The study was published in the journal Nature Cities. Land sinks for many reasons, some of them natural, but extracting groundwater for agriculture, drinking, and manufacturing is the main driver. Sinking land can lead to more flooding in urban areas, particularly in coastal neighborhoods where sea levels are also rising because of climate change. Rebecca Herscher, NPR News. Wall Street futures are up sharply this morning.

I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington.