NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-18-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: May 18, 2025

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Politics is a lot these days. I'm Sarah McCammon, a co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast, and I'll be the first to tell you what happens in Washington definitely demands some decoding. That's why our show makes politics as easy as possible to wrap your head around. Join us as we make politics make sense on the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Giles Snyder Live from MPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. Authorities in the Southern California resort town of Palm Springs say they're investigating a major explosion there as an act of terrorism. MPR's Jason DeRose is in Palm Springs.

Jason DeRose The FBI says a car that exploded outside a fertility clinic late Saturday morning has left one person dead and several others injured. Akhil Davis is assistant director in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. Make no mistake, this is an intentional act of terrorism. The FBI is working with Palm Springs law enforcement. Andy Mills is chief of police for the city. This is going to take a great deal of time for us to process this scene. There are blocks of debris.

Large areas of the city's commercial core surrounding the American Reproductive Centers building are blocked by police barricades. Jason DeRose, NPR News, Palm Springs, California. The authorities have not released a name of the suspect thought to have been responsible, but believe the person died in the blast investigators are not looking for anyone else. Now to New York City where Mayor Eric Adams says the Brooklyn Bridge did not suffer major damage when a Mexican Navy sailing ship struck it last night shearing off the top of its mast and killing two crew members. He says multiple people aboard the ship need medical attention. 19 were injured, four were seriously injured.

They were moved to Bellevue Hospital. A total of 277 were on board, and they're properly being taken care of. Officials caution that initial reports that the ship had lost power due to a mechanical issue or a preliminary. The cause remains unclear, and an investigation is underway.

At the time of the crash, traffic on the bridge was halted, but city officials say it was allowed to resume after an inspection. Dusting injuries still being reported after Friday night's Midwest storms in Indiana. The officials say tornadoes caused chaos at a popular state park. George Hale of Member Station WFIU reports from Nashville, Indiana. Brown County State Park is particularly popular with equestrians and operates a camping area equipped to accommodate horses. The campsite was nearly at capacity Friday evening when a tornado ripped through it. Department of Natural Resources regional manager Carl Lindell drove past the splintered remains

of hitching rails and overturned horse trailers Saturday afternoon. He says flying debris killed one horse and injured at least one more. Yeah, it happened right during the storm event. Three campers also sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The campground and horse trails are closed until further notice. For NPR News, I'm George Hale in Nashville, Indiana. The severe weather is being blamed for killing at least 27 people, including 18 in Kentucky alone. Governor Andy Beshear says 10 others have been hospitalized in critical condition.

Hundreds of homes were damaged, vehicles tossed around. The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed a tornado in Kentucky, but says it's likely. This is NPR News. Romanians are going to the polls today. They're choosing a new president in an election that had to be run twice due to allegations of interference from Russia. Terry Schulz reports the two candidates are running neck and neck. The candidates offer very different pledges for Romania's future. The centrist pro-European union mayor of Bucharest, Nico Sardan, promises to crack down on corruption and to continue supporting Ukraine as the best insurance against threats from Russia.

Hard right candidate, Giorgia Simeone, is a euro skeptic who wants to cut off Romanian help for Kyiv. His decisive win in the first round earlier this month prompted the government to resign. Simeone says if he wins, his prime minister will be Kalin Georgescu, the little-known far-right politician who came out of nowhere to sweep an election held last November. But signs that Russia had flooded the internet with support for Georgescu led officials to invalidate the vote and reschedule it for now. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz. A similar dynamic is playing out in Poland, where voters are also casting ballots today

in the first round of a presidential election. The results could determine whether the country remains on a pro-European union path laid out by Prime Minister Donald Tusk or turned toward the far right. The Polish president has limited executive authority, but can veto legislation. Tens of thousands have gathered in St. Peter's Square to see the formal installation of Pope Leo XIV as the leader of the Catholic Church, his inaugural mass marking the official start of his papacy being held right now. He is to receive two signs of his pontificate, a vestment called the pallium and the fisherman's

ring. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News. We've all been there, running around a city, looking for a bathroom, but unable to find one. Hello, do you have a restroom we could use? A very simple free market solution is that we could just pay to use a bathroom, but we can't.

On the Planet Money podcast, the story of how we once had thousands of pay toilets and why they got banned, from Planet Money on NPR, wherever you get your podcasts.