NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-18-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: May 18, 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, I'm Dale Willman. A sailboat operated by the Mexican Navy

is a training vessel collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York Saturday night. At least 19 people were injured. The ship's three masts hit the bridge and were damaged. The Supreme Court Friday ruled against the Trump administration when it ordered lower courts to decide how much time immigrants must be given to challenge their removal from the country. President Trump has been using a 1798 wartime law as justification for rapid deportations, but the court said the Constitution

requires due process, even for immigrants. And Piers Jimena Bustillo says Trump responded to the ruling by blasting the courts. And in a post to his social media site, site Trump said quote, the Supreme Court will not allow us to get criminals out of our country end quote. And one of the biggest strongest rebukes of the Supreme Court specifically Trump explicitly said that he believes that the court is not allowing him to do what he was elected to do on immigration. He complained that the court is forcing his administration to go through what he called a long protracted and expensive legal process

to deport migrants in the country. That's NPR's Jimena Bustillo reporting. A panel of appellate judges says President Trump's executive order ending union rights for most federal workers can go forward, at least for now. NPR's Andrea Schu has more. Back in late March,

President Trump signed an executive order ending collective bargaining rights at agencies including the IRS, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and many many more. The White House argued Trump had the power to do so because these agencies have national security as a primary mission. The National Treasury Employees Union sued, arguing Trump's interpretation of national security was too broad. Last month, a lower court halted the order.

Now, in a 2-1 ruling, a panel of judges at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals says the lower court's pause harms the president by impeding his national security prerogatives. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. The Israeli military says it's begun a massive expansion of its operations inside Gaza. Over the past week Israeli airstrikes have dramatically intensified all over the territory. Health officials in Gaza say the more than 150 Palestinians have now been killed in the past 24 hours and PR's Hadil Al-Shalchi reports. Israel is calling this new expansion of its

military operations in Gaza Gideon's chariots. The military gave Hamas an Salchi reports. Israel said it would wait to launch Gideon's chariots until after President Trump ended his trip to the Middle East this week. Trump visited Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but not Israel. He departed the region on Friday. There was hope that during his visit there would be a breakthrough in the long stalled ceasefire talks. Hadil Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. And you're listening to NPR News. Tel Aviv. And you're listening to NPR News. One person is dead and four others were injured when a bomb exploded Saturday at a fertility clinic in the California city of Palm Springs. The building was also heavily damaged by the blast. The FBI says the bombing was an intentional act of terrorism. Work is continuing on identifying

the victim. The FBI will not say if they think the person who died was the bomber, but they do have a person of interest. Researchers say they've found a way to test your exposure to smoke before health problems crop up. The study was supported by the CDC. Northwest Public Broadcasting's Courtney Flat explains. The sensors were developed by a team including Washington State University and the University of Georgia. They're kind of like a pregnancy test, same method on a paper strip, but with more sensitive measurements. Then you snap a 3D printed reader

and a magnifying lens onto your smartphone. You slide the strip in and an app shows your exact smoke exposure, kind of like a glucose monitor. Project lead Annie Du says the goal is to test before you feel sick. With the early diagnostic, you can take rest or use oxygen to help you recover. Wildland firefighters are field testing the sensors this summer.

For NPR News, I'm Courtney Flatt in Richland, Washington. The horse journalism has won the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes. The heavy favorite placed second to Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. Sovereignty did not run in the Preakness. His owners and trainer decided the turnaround for that race was too short. He will be entered in the Belmont Stakes in Saratoga Springs, New York being held on June 7th. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.