NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-21-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

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These days, there's a lot of news. It can be hard to keep up with what it means for you, your family, and your community. Consider this from NPR as a podcast that helps you make sense of the news. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a story and provide the context, backstory, and analysis you need to understand our rapidly changing world. Listen to the Consider This Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. The Justice Department has announced it's dropping lawsuits against police departments in Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The agency says the Biden administration imposed consent decrees on these departments that

were unjustified. The Biden administration took that action after four police officers in Minnesota murdered George Floyd. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet President Trump for talks at the White House later today amid deteriorating ties between the countries. Kate Barlow reports from Johannesburg, South Africa says billionaire Elon Musk will also join this meeting. D-Day in D.C. was the headline in one local newspaper today.

South Africans are watching anxiously as Cyril Ramaphosa meets President Trump, worried it could be a repeat of the Oval Office showdown earlier this year with Ukrainian leader Zelensky. Trump has repeatedly attacked South Africa, falsely accusing Ramaphosa's government of taking land from white farmers. But Ramaphosa was upbeat speaking to reporters in Washington on Tuesday, saying the talks will focus on trade. He is also expected to speak to Trump's

South African-born advisor, Elon Musk, about bringing his Starlink satellite service to the country. For NPR News, I'm Kate Butler in Johannesburg. President Trump's cost-cutting entity DOGE has slashed tens of thousands of federal jobs at agencies. NPR's Stephen Fowler reports a new analysis by NPR shows DOJ has recently sought cuts in at least 40 agencies and groups.

There are more than a dozen lawsuits that have been filed related to DOJ efforts at these small organizations that say it's not legal. By and large, these are places that have been created by Congress, many of them nonprofits, and nearly all of them do have their funding and functions spelled out by law, in some of those cases explicitly limiting the president's power to interact with them. That means President Trump can't always go in and fire people and make changes on his own. NPR's Stephen Fowler reporting.

For the first time in 50 years, emergency room doctors will have a new framework to assess people with head injuries. From member station KQED, April Dombosky reports on the system outlined in the journal, Lancet Neurology. Current assessment of traumatic brain injury filters patients into three categories, mild, moderate, or severe. UC San Francisco neurosurgeon Jeff Manley says that's way too vague. He's seen severe patients taken off life support who could have recovered, and mild patients sent home with nothing.

Jeff Manley, U.S. San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco Neurosurgeon, UC San Francisco They've got problems with their visual system. They're not sleeping well. So there's nothing mild about that.

The new framework recommends using blood tests, CT scans, and patient medical history to make diagnosis more detailed and precise. For NPR News, I'm April Dombosky in San Francisco. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials are down 350 points. It's NPR. Severe storms rolled through several states yesterday and tornadoes were reported from Illinois to Alabama. Reports from northern Alabama say the storms were heaviest in that part of the state. Another reported

tornado caused damage in Tennessee. Educators in the U.S. are expressing concern for students who are homeless. President Trump is working to close the U.S. are expressing concern for students who are homeless. President Trump is working to close the U.S. Department of Education. Lee Gaines reports the agency has not said what will happen to its efforts to help these students. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ensures extra educational support, like transportation to school, for eligible students who don't have stable housing. Last year, Congress set aside $129 million for the federal program,

which the Education Department oversees. But the Trump administration hasn't shared any plans for what will happen to the resource. All of it keeps me up at night. Susie Terry coordinates homeless education services in San Diego County. I think the dismantling of the department and or the dismantling of the program, the funding for the program is probably my biggest concern right now.

Neither the department nor the White House responded to NPR's request for comment. For NPR News, I'm Leigh Gaines. The iconic Indianapolis 500 auto race is this weekend, but this Friday the Speedway says it is hosting the Weenie 500. Six of the famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles will race each other. Each Wienermobile will be designed to represent a different region of the U.S. based on their local style of hot dog. It's NPR.