NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-16-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

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Tariffs, recessions, how Colombian drug cartels gave us blueberries all year long. That's the kind of thing the Planet Money podcast explains. I'm Sarah Gonzalez, and on Planet Money, we help you understand the economy and how things all around you came to be the way they are. Para que sepas. So you know. Listen to the Planet Money podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. It's been a destructive week in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 300 Palestinians in the past three days.

Israel says it's pressuring Hamas to release hostages. This comes as President Trump wraps up his trip to the Mideast today, and Piers Hadil Al-Shelchi has more. Israel's military has dramatically intensified its campaign in Gaza, with President Trump still in the region. That's the sound of a few of the strikes overnight in the north of Gaza. Israeli officials say the intense bombing is their final warning to Hamas. Surrender or they will launch an expanded offensive in Gaza.

In preparation for it, dubbed Gideon's Chariot, Israel has been calling up tens of thousands of reservists. The plan involves displacing a large number of Palestinians to the south. There were hopes President Trump would advance talks towards a ceasefire during his trip to the Middle East, but there has been no public announcement about the talks. Hadil Alshalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations have concluded in Turkey. They only lasted a couple of hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had called for the talks last weekend. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went to Turkey yesterday, saying he was ready to meet Putin himself. But Putin didn't go. He sent a low-level delegation instead. President Trump had hinted he might go to the talks, but he did not. Trump said today nothing will happen to end Russia's war in Ukraine until he and Putin personally meet.

A closely watched barometer of the U.S. economy has dropped. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment gauge fell this month for the fifth month in a row. Since January, it's fallen by nearly a third. Americans are taking a dim view of the U.S. economy following the imposition of President Trump's global tariffs. Snow totals in the mountain ranges supplying water to the Colorado River are far lower than normal for this time of year, but this may not be receiving as much attention as

usual. From member station KUNC, Alex Hager reports there's disarray in federal offices that manage water for 40 million people across the West. Look at maps of snow totals across the Rockies right now and you'll see a whole lot of red. Eric Balkin is with the nonprofit Glen Canyon Institute. I think some of that chaos within the agencies, the broader negotiations happening on the Colorado River, all of these other factors I think are sort of drowning out the severity of the drought situation right now. Low snow totals now could spell catastrophe for Lake Powell as soon as next year. The

nation's second largest reservoir could lose the ability to generate hydropower or even send water downstream to the millions of people who depend on it. For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Fort Collins, Colorado. Engineers who drive New Jersey transit's commuter trains are on strike over wages. Hundreds of thousands of commuters are without transportation. New Jersey officials say they're seeking a fair contract agreement. It's NPR. A federal judge is scheduled to hold the latest hearing today in the case of the migrant illegally

deported from Maryland to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paul Azines will hear Trump administration arguments about why the administration can keep information secret in the case of Kilmer Obrego Garcia. The U.S. Supreme Court has told the Trump administration to facilitate his return. Authorities in Fresno County, California are calling it a miraculous story of survival. A 28-year-old Georgia woman missing for three weeks was found alive this week in a snow-packed section of the Sierra National Forest. And Piers Amy Held reports. You don't see stories like this.

Tony Boddie, spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, says search crews were prepared for the worst. It speaks to the tenacity Tiffany has. Tiffany Slayton went missing on a solo camping trip. A blizzard hit. Then on Wednesday, Christopher Gutierrez, owner of a remote resort closed for the season, was checking the boathouse for bears. Here comes Tiffany. She pops

out, just ran up, and all she wanted was a hug. Gutierrez leaves cabins open in case of stranded hikers like Tiffany, who said she survived on wild leaks. All she wanted was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And to make an important phone call. She said, Dad, I'm alive and I'm sorry. Bobby Slayton says he hadn't heard his daughter's voice since April 18th. Amy Held, NPR News. Tomorrow is the grand finale of this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland. It launched the careers of groups like ABBA. Competitors will perform tomorrow and then the audience votes.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News. Look, we get it. When it comes to new music, there is a lot of it. And it all comes really fast. I'm Korva Kuhlman, NPR News.