NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-19-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The United Nations says Israel allowed nine UN aid trucks into Gaza today following a nearly three-month blockade, but the UN calls it a drop in the ocean, as we're from NPR's Michelle Kellerman. Michelle Kellerman The UN's humanitarian coordinator, Tom Fletcher, says in a statement that he's hoping that the nine trucks that were cleared to enter Gaza will be just a start, but it comes amid what he calls a spike in Israel's military offensive. And UN spokesman Stephane Descharek says it's dangerous to deliver aid like this.

This drop by drop, truck by truck-by-truck approach nowhere meets the needs of the civilians in Gaza. The US has been backing a private foundation which is planning to set up aid distribution centers in Gaza later this month. The UN is refusing to participate in that. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. President Trump assigned a bipartisan bill into law that makes it a federal crime to post online sexually explicit images without the subject's consent. NPR's Mara Eliason reports the bill was backed by First Lady Melania Trump. In a rare show of bipartisan support, the bill passed the Senate with 99 votes. The

bill is known as the Take It Down Act. It criminalizes the distribution of sexually explicit imagery posted without the subject's consent. It covers both real images and deep fakes that can be generated by artificial intelligence. And it requires social media platforms to remove the material within 48 hours after a request from a victim of the online harassment. The new law also empowers the Federal Trade Commission to enforce it. Those convicted of intentionally distributing the material would face up to three years in prison. Mara Liason, NPR News, The White House. Former President Biden, having lost a son to a brain tumor and had his wife deal with

two cancerous lesions, is now having his own brush with the disease. It was announced Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive stage four prostate cancer, and although it can be controlled, the treatment is no longer curable. Federal judges blocked President Trump's takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace. The court says the actions, including the removal of the board of directors, was unlawful. Here's NPR's Ryan Lucas. The Trump administration moved to take over the U.S. Institute of Peace in March, removing members of the board and dismantling its global operations. Board members sued, alleging they were unlawfully fired. Now, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell

agrees. In her 102-page ruling, Howell says that USIP was created by Congress as an independent nonprofit think tank. She determined it is not part of the executive branch, meaning the president does not have the authority to remove the institute's leadership as he did. The judge ordered the fired board members and the USIP president reinstated. The actions to dismantle the institute, the judge said, including the transfer of ownership of its headquarters, are null and void. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. The Dow is up 137 points today. This is NPR. Home rental company Airbnb is being accused by Spain's government of violating rules, including having some rental properties listed without a license number and others that fail

to specify whether the owner is an individual or a company. As a result, Spain's government says it's blocking more than 65,000 holiday listings on the platform. New research finds plant protein is as effective for building muscle as consuming protein from animals like meat and dairy. NPR's Will Stone has that story. The study followed 40 young adults over three weightlifting sessions. They were randomly assigned a vegan or omnivore diet. Nicholas Bird, who ran the trial, says both groups had comparable results when they measured how the muscle was growing.

From muscle building potential, vegan diets are just as good. He says with the caveat that people are eating well-balanced plant-based meals, meaning they have multiple sources of plant protein. Historically, studies have found meat-based protein was superior, but those tended to focus on just one meal and one source of protein. And Bird says views have evolved with longer-term studies that included full meals. Will Stone, NPR News. New Jersey Transit says it has reached a tentative deal to end a three-day walkout by engineers. The strike holding service for around 100,000 daily riders in New York and New Jersey,

including routes to Newark Airport and into New York City. Two sides say they reached a deal Sunday. The train service will resume at 12 a.m. tomorrow. Wages were apparently the main sticking point. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy called it a very good outcome at a news conference held over the weekend. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.