NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-16-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

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The scary new movie Sinners from the director of Black Panther finds Michael B. Jordan playing twin brothers. It's got vampires, it's got great music, and it's a fun one to see with a big crowd. This is the most excited I've been about a movie in a very long time. We'll tell you why you should see Sinners on the biggest screen you can. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. New Jersey transit engineers have gone on strike after failing to reach a new contract agreement.

As Harrison Malkin reports, all service on the nation's third largest rail system is suspended. New Jersey's brotherhood of locomotive engineers and trainmen have worked for the contract since 2019. They're seeking wage increases comparable to Long Island Railroad and Metro North. Here is Union President Mark Wallace. Our members want to be treated with parity. They want to be treated with respect and the negotiations that they've been having with General Chairman Haas have been neither. The strike will impact around 350,000 commuters.

NJ Transit says it will increase bus service and is working with private bus carriers. NJ Transit estimates its contingency plan can only support about 20 percent of current rail customers. For NPR News, I'm Harrison Malkin in New Jersey. The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing arguments over the authority of lower courts to restrict President Trump's executive orders. The justices are deciding whether a single judge can issue a universal injunction blocking Trump's attempt to reinterpret a clause of the Constitution on birthright citizenship. NPR's Carrie Johnson has more on a hearing held Thursday. Many of the justices have been on record in speeches and writings saying

they do not like this idea that one judge who can be very wrong in one part of the country can make a decision that binds everybody else for a long period of time. Those justices include Elena Kagan. But today she said in her questioning that this case is different because it involves this issue of birthright citizenship, which has basically been settled law for over 125 years. It involves Supreme Court president, the 14th Amendment. NPR's Kerry Johnson.

Ukrainian officials gathered in Turkey Thursday for a meeting with Russian leaders on ending the war in Ukraine. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky says he's sending a delegation to Istanbul to meet with Kremlin technocrats. But NPR's Joanna Kikissus reports from Kyiv that it's not clear when the meeting would take place. Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to attend the talks, talks that he had proposed earlier this week. Zelensky, who did fly to Turkey, says this shows Putin is not serious about peace. In the Turkish capital, Ankara, Zelensky met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

who is trying to serve as a mediator. The Ukrainian president later spoke with reporters. He's saying, so here we are in Ankara, we're sending a group to Istanbul, but Putin is not here or in Istanbul and we cannot run around looking for this person. Speaking from Qatar, President Trump said that nothing can happen on peace negotiations until he speaks with Putin himself. Joanna Kekissis, NPR News, Kiev. This is NPR.

The Georgia hospital was refusing to remove a feeding tube from a brain-dead pregnant patient because of the state's abortion ban. The woman's family argues that they should have the option to take her off life support. The case is raising questions about the right of states to force measures to preserve the life of a fetus. The patient is said to be three weeks away from a due date. In Wisconsin, a judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities has entered a plea in federal court.

As NPR's Joe Rose reports, the case is part of an escalating clash between the Trump administration and Democrats over the president's crackdown on illegal immigration. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan pleaded not guilty during a brief arraignment in federal court. Dugan is charged with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. The judge is accused of directing a defendant without legal status out the back door of her courtroom as U.S. immigration and customs enforcement agents tried to arrest him. The man who was in court on domestic abuse charges was apprehended a short time later. A federal grand jury indicted Dugan earlier this week. She and her attorneys left the hearing without speaking to reporters. The trial is set for July. Joel Rose, NPR News.

Cryptocurrency giant Coinbase says it will have to spend as much as $400 million to recover from a recent ransomware attack. The company says it's refused the hackers' demand for $20 million. The company says it's refused the hackers demand for $20 million. The attack came days before Coinbase is set to join the S&P 500 index on Wall Street. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are lower. This is NPR News. We've all been there, running around a city, looking for a bathroom, but unable to find one. Hello. News.