NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-13-2025 7AM EDT

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

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This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what. To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington,

on Korova Coleman, President Trump has landed in Saudi Arabia for his first visit there since taking office. Trump also made the Saudi kingdom an early destination during his first term in office. NPR's Ea Batraoui reports from Riyadh. Trump was greeted on the tarmac as he stepped off Air Force One by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

State TV showed them shaking hands as Saudi soldiers stood guard and the two leaders walked on a long lavender carpet flanked by American and Saudi flags. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US under Trump is stronger than it was under President Biden, who only fist bumped the Crown Prince when he visited the kingdom.

Trump, though, is here to make deals. Tens of billions of dollars in military and weapons sales to the kingdom are expected to be announced during the trip. Trump's traveling with several members of his cabinet and American CEOs of major companies are in Riyadh for an investment forum today. Trump heads next to Qatar and the UAE. Aya Plattrowi, NPR News, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Court filings show that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting rejected an effort by the Trump administration's

cost-cutting entity to assign a DOJ team to the CPB. NPR Stephen Fowler explains. After President Trump attempted to fire three Corporation for Public Broadcasting board members and before an executive order claiming to defund PBS and NPR, DOJ attempted to embed with a nonprofit. Court filings in a case challenging the alleged firings revealed Department of Government Efficiency staffers tried to set up a meeting with CPB leadership late last month. CPB leaders denied that request, citing federal law that establishes the independent nonprofit outside of the control of the federal government. The request comes as the president is launching a broad assault against the country's two

largest public broadcasters. At the same time, Doge has sought to embed itself in numerous independent agencies Trump wants to shutter. Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta. Nearly 60 white South Africans have arrived in the U.S. President Trump has given them refugee status. He's claimed they face persecution, a claim that the South African government

has vehemently denied. 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 Episcopal Church says this violates its steadfast commitment to racial justice and its ties with the Anglican Church of South Africa. The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa had worked to end apartheid

in his country. Separately, the Trump administration says that it will end protections against deportation for people from Afghanistan. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says that Afghanistan's security situation and its economy are improving. Critem says that Afghanistan's security situation and its economy are improving. Critics say that Afghanistan remains fully under Taliban control. They say Afghans in the U.S. face persecution if they return, especially if the Afghans help the U.S. against Taliban militants. You're listening to NPR.

The Trump administration says it will cut tariffs on more inexpensive packages that come to the U.S. from China that could include cheaper items from Chinese firms such as Temu and Shien. The cuts come after the U.S. and China agreed to slash their triple-digit tariffs this week. In South Korea, a group of female free divers on Jeju Island fish in the frigid ocean nearly every day. They're called the henyos. NPR's Ari Daniel reports, researchers looked into the adaptations that make this possible. When the henyos were asked to dunk their faces in cold water, their heart rates dropped more than non-divers,

due to a lifetime of training. When it came to the genetics, everyone on the island, henios and non-henios, basically had the same genes, including two that stood out, one related to cold tolerance and one related to blood pressure that may offer protection from preeclampsia and other conditions like stroke. Wouldn't it be amazing if we can translate these findings to develop a therapeutic that protects people from stroke around the world? Melissa Allardo is an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Utah. She says the extreme diving of the jenos has changed not just their bodies, but those of

everyone else on the island who are descendants of divers. Ari Daniel, NPR News. The sun won't set in the northern Alaska town of Utkivik for more than 80 days. It's called the polar day when the sun lowers but never sets. That's because the earth tilts on its axis. Don't forget, polar night starts in November. The sun won't rise for months in Utkivik. I'm Korfa Coleman, NPR News in Washington.

Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. I'm Korfa Coleman, NPR News in Washington.