NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-13-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

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A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. But right now, you probably need more. On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes. Because no one story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any given morning. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, on Korova Coleman, President Trump is in Saudi Arabia

where he has signed several agreements with Saudi leaders. Trump says these will add up to a $600 billion investment in the U.S. The majority are more than $140 billion in arms deals involving more than a dozen U.S. firms, and billions more will involve technology investments from Google, Oracle and others. The president is expected to sign additional agreements during the rest of his Mideast trip in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. But NPR's Domenico Montanaro says Trump will not be visiting a longtime U.S. ally.

You know, it's pretty surprising, frankly, that he's not going to Israel while he's there, considering the war with Gaza, with, that he's not going to Israel while he's there, considering the war with Gaza, with Israel that Trump has been trying to settle. But it does reflect some of the strain between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for continuing to bomb Gaza. And Piers Domenico Montanaro reporting. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has met leaders from several South American nations. He has urged them to stay united in the face of uncertainty due to American tariffs.

And P.S. Emily Fang reports this comes a day after the U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause on high tariffs on each other's products. China has been deepening its economic ties with Latin America in the midst of a trade war with the U.S. Xi Jinping met with South American leaders while on a trip to Russia this month, and also during an annual meeting with Latin American ministers in Beijing this week.

At the meeting, China extended another $10 billion in credit to Latin American countries, and Columbia, historically a close partner of the U.S. and South America, also signed up to join China's built and road initiative, through which Beijing has financed hundreds of billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects in sectors like energy and railroads. Emily Fang, NPR News. Social media influencer Kim Kardashian appeared in a French courtroom today.

She testified against 10 men who are accused of robbing her at gunpoint nearly a decade ago in her Paris hotel suite. As NPR's Rebecca Rossman reports, Kardashian told the court the incident left her fearing for her life. In emotional testimony, Kardashian told the closed courtroom she had always loved Paris, saying she used to walk the streets at night, window shop and drink hot chocolate, feeling safe. But when I came for Fashion Week in 2016, she said, everything changed.

She described begging for her life as the robbers tied her up and held her at gunpoint, pleading that she was a mother. The thieves, dubbed the Granthorobbers by French media due to their age, mostly 60s and 70s, posed as police officers to gain access. They stole more than $6 million in jewelry, including the engagement ring given to Kardashian by then husband Kanye West. Kardashian was physically unharmed, but says she still suffers emotional trauma. Rebecca Ronsman, NPR News, Paris.

On Wall Street, the Dow is down more than 160 points. This is NPR. Nearly 60 white South Africans have arrived in the U.S. President Trump has given them refugee status. He claims they face persecution, a claim South Africa denies. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Church says it will end its decades-long partnership with the U.S. It had been asked to resettle the South Africans. The church says this violates its commitment to racial justice and its ties with the Anglican Church of South Africa. Separately, the Trump administration says it's ending protections against deportation

for people from Afghanistan. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says Afghanistan's situation is improving. Critics say that Afghans in the U.S. face persecution if they return, especially if they help the U.S. against Taliban militants. New York State is lowering the minimum hiring age for prison guards from 21 years old to 18. From member station WXXI, Jung Yoon-Han has more. The state will still place some restrictions on younger guards. They can't, for example, use firearms and have to be supervised during certain tasks.

State lawmakers greenlit Governor Kathy Hochul's proposal, saying it's a way to boost guard staffing levels in New York's prison system after the state fired 2,000 corrections officers in March for being on strike for nearly a month. But critics say 18 is too young to work as a corrections officer. The New York State Legislature will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the strike, as well as recent inmate deaths and beatings at the hands of prison guards. For NPR News, I'm Jeongyeon Han in Albany. You're listening to NPR News.