NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-19-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

NPR News: 05-19-2025 4PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Know that fizzy feeling you get when you read something really good, watch the movie everyone's been talking about, or catch the show that the internet can't get over? At the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we chase that feeling four times a week. We'll serve you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, and more. From low brow to high brow to the stuff in between, catch the Pop Culture happy hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR news, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump says Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin ceasefire talks. We just spent two and a half hours talking to Vladimir Putin. And I think some progress has been made.

It's a terrible situation going on over there. Trump today at the white house, the U S leader says he spoke with Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky right after his call with Putin On social media the president noted that the Vatican was interested in hosting the talks The US Supreme Court is allowing the administration to end temporary legal status for 350,000 Venezuelans Reversing the the Biden administration's decision to extend the short-term protections. NPR's Ximena Bustilla reports the decision could lead to deportations.

The Trump administration sought to reverse temporary protected status for Venezuelans after former President Biden extended it in 2023. A federal judge paused the White House's plans a week before protections were scheduled to expire. The Trump administration appealed that decision to the US Supreme Court in an emergency application. The court didn't weigh in on whether the Trump administration could end TPS for Venezuelans permanently.

That continues to be litigated in lower courts. Ximena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. The Israeli military is ordering civilians to evacuate Gaza's second biggest city, part of its expanded offensive against Hamas. More from NPR's Daniel Estrin. Israel's military says the city of Khan Yunis is now designated a dangerous combat zone. Naseem Hassan, a paramedic in the city, spoke to NPR. He says he's starting to move items to an evacuation zone while he's fielding emergency

calls amid the Israeli offensive. Health officials report an Israeli strike has damaged the medical supplies warehouse of the city's main hospital. Israel says it's allowing food back into Gaza due to international pressure. It says it has now sent only five trucks of baby food into Gaza. And in the coming days, dozens of trucks will bring flour to bakeries, supplies to community kitchens and medical supplies. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Regeneron says it plans to buy the bankrupt DNA testing company 23andMe.

More on this from NPR's John Rewich. Regeneron says it won a bankruptcy auction and will acquire 23andMe for $256 million. It's a far cry from the $6 billion valuation of 23andMe after it went public just four years ago, but the company struggled to attract repeat customers. Its one-time DNA tests provide information about ancestry and health risks. When it announced its bankruptcy in March,

it said the data privacy of its customers would be an important consideration in any sale. Experts say federal law does little to secure genetic information given over to a private company though. Regeneron says 23andMe's consumer genome services will continue and it would comply with the company's consumer privacy policies and related laws. It's NPR News. Federal investigators of Saturday's ship collision in New York City just gave an update. Michael Graham, member of the

National Transportation Safety Board, says the Brooklyn Bridge is structurally safe. There is no significant structural damage to the load-bearing elements of the bridge. There is some damage on one of the travelers, which they use to access and survey the bridge at this point. But nothing structural from the bridge is an issue at this point. However, two people died when the tall-masted Mexican Navy vessel lost power and collided with the bridge. Sesame Street is heading to Netflix.

NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports the iconic kids show was without a distributor after it was dropped by Max. Netflix says it will begin streaming the 56th season of Sesame Street later this year. Me like boo. I'm a dipper dipper dipper. Under its previous distribution deal, PBS had to wait months before airing new episodes

after they first ran on Macs. Now PBS Stations and the PBS Kids platform will run new episodes on the same day and date as they stream on Netflix. As an educational show steeped in research, Sesame Street is expensive to produce. In March, Sesame Workshop announced it was laying off 20% of its staff amid the changing media and funding landscape. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News. US stocks end the day higher with the Dow closing up 137 points to settle at 42,792.

The S&P closed up five, the NASDAQ was up four points. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News. A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. For Four Points, I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.