NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-18-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: May 18, 2025

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Conductor Robert Fron says a good melody captures our attention. And then it moves you through time. Music is architecture in time. If you engage in the moment with what you're listening to, you do lose a sense of the time around you. How we experience time. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR. That's on the Ted Radio Hour from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. At least 27 people are dead following a series of violent storms and tornadoes this weekend that hit the Midwest and parts of the southern U.S. First responders in Kentucky found more bodies on Saturday, bringing the total dead there to 18. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says the damage in some areas is quite severe. Hard to see homes that are in a single wall left standing.

Some homes that have all four walls yet lost the person inside. The storms also brought a massive heat dome to parts of Texas. In Palm Springs California officials say they believe an explosion near a fertility clinic was a deliberate act. More from Steve Futterman. As law enforcement officials gather evidence, they've come to one key conclusion. This explosion was no accident. Akil Davis is in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office. Make no mistake, this is an intention act of terrorism. The explosion occurred just before noon near the clinic, which suffered significant damage. A nearby car was burned out. Adjacent buildings nearby also suffered damage. Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills. There are blocks of debris

and it'll take a meticulous effort to understand very thoroughly what happened. Police believe this was an isolated incident. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. The Mayor of New York City says at least 19 people were injured Saturday night when a tall ship from Mexico hit the Brooklyn Bridge. Four of them are in serious condition. Two crew members, meanwhile, have died from their injuries. The ship's three masts were damaged in the accident and traffic was briefly stopped on the bridge, but the 142-year-old bridge received only minor damage. The cause of the collision is now under investigation. Thousands of teachers across California are rallying against President Donald Trump's

proposed budget cuts to K-12 education. For Member Station KQED in San Francisco, Juan Carlos Lara reports. Rallying teachers say they're concerned by Trump's proposal to cut billions of dollars in federal funding to K-12 schools, including the elimination of programs for low-income and English learner students. Celia Medina-Owens is a a second grade teacher and president of the Pittsburgh Education Association. Our community schools not only service our students, but they also service the neighborhood in that area.

And so not having funding would really impact not just our students and our educators and our support staff, but also the neighborhoods that are in Pittsburgh. Since taking office again, Trump has also threatened to cut funding to schools that recognize transgender identities or continue diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs, sparking legal battles with California. For NPR News, I'm Juan Carlos Lada in San Francisco. And you're listening to NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News. Mexico, Chile and Uruguay have stopped poultry imports from Brazil

after that country confirmed that it has its first bird flu outbreak. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers and exporters of poultry. It accounts for 14 percent of global chicken meat production according to the Department of Agriculture. China and the European Union have also stopped poultry imports from Brazil. Austria has won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest. Wasted Love by JJ beat out 25 other songs for the top prize at the finals held in Basel, Switzerland on Saturday. NPR's Chloe Veltman has more on our story. Wasted Love is in some way similar to last year's winner, Nemo's The Code, in that it includes soaring operatic vocals. But while the 2024 victor was more club anthem than aria, Wasted Love is the opposite.

Banging beats only appear in the final part of the song. Wasted Love is the opposite. Banging beats only appear in the final part of the song. It's rising. This is the third time Austria has won the international singing competition. Udo Jürgens claimed the top prize in 1965, and Conchita Wurst in 2014. Israel took second place, and Estonia

came in third this year. As is customary, the 70th Eurovision Song Contest will be held next year in this year's winning country. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. Thomas Harley scored in a power play and a minute and a half into overtime to lift the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The win moves the Stars into the Western Conference Final for the third season in a row. The Stars will now face Edmonton in the final. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. With a major shift in our politics underway in this country, 1A is drilling down on what's in the final. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.