NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-22-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

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A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. But right now, you probably need more. On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes. Because no one story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any given morning. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Authorities today raided the Chicago home of the man suspected of killing two people outside a Jewish museum in the nation's capital last night.

Police say the man chanted, free Palestine, as he was detained. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports the two people killed were a young couple about to become engaged. Yaron Lishinsky and Sarah Milgram both worked at the Israeli Embassy in DC. A friend of Milgram's, Ayelet Razin Bet-Orr, says she started the job after Hamas attacked Israel a year and a half ago, determined to combat rising anti-Semitism. Not with violence or shoutings or verbal abuse, but in diplomacy with love, with intelligence.

Leszczynski was an Israeli citizen and devout Christian. The Israeli ambassador to the US says he'd bought a ring and planned to propose to Milgram during a trip to Jerusalem next week. Jennifer Lutten, NPR News, Washington. The Swastika now faces federal murder charges and other charges. Officials say the shooting is also being investigated as a possible hate crime. The Senate has voted to undo the waiver that allows California to require zero

emission vehicles. It's a controversial move in part because there's a debate over whether Congress is actually following its own rules. As. Piers Kamila Domenowski explains the resolution now heads to President Trump for his signature. The Biden EPA said California is allowed to require all new cars to be zero emission by 2035. The oil industry has called that an assault on consumer choice. Big automakers say it's unrealistic. Environmental and public health groups say it would save lives through cleaner air and help slow climate change. And there's another debate entirely. Congress used the Congressional Review Act, which lets it overturn rules with a simple majority. But is a waiver actually a rule? Wonky debate?

Big implications. The Senate parliamentarians said no. And over outcry from Democrats, the Senate voted anyway. Camila Domomenoski, NPR News. Existing home sales fell in April, signaling more bad news for the housing market, as NPR's Laura Wamsley explains low sales figures are a symptom of economic uncertainty. Many had hoped that home sales would rebound during what's supposed to be the busy spring season. But instead, last month's existing home sales were the slowest April in 16 years. Still, the median existing sales price continued to climb to $414,000, an all-time high for

the month of April. Adding to the affordability challenges are high interest rates, which show no signs of falling. Inventory is up more than 20% over a year ago. Many Americans want to buy a home but can't afford to. Some had hoped to buy a home this spring but have been stymied by possible job loss, mortgage rates, and market volatility. Laurel Wamsley, NPR News, Washington. The mix closed on Wall Street today. The Dow was down one point. The Nasdaq closed up 53

points. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Scientists say they've found a way to sample DNA across an entire country out of thin air. NPR's Ari Daniels says it may lead one day to tracking the health and well-being of the world's biodiversity. A network of stations monitors pollution levels across the UK by drawing ambient air across discs of filter paper. Elizabeth Clare is a biodiversity scientist at York University. Those same systems have been accidentally capturing airborne DNA at the same time. Little bits of DNA sloughed off into the environment by creatures big and small. When Clare and her

colleagues analyzed the filters, they found DNA from heaps of insects, spiders, plants, fungi, birds and mammals. Each filter stored just a morsel of information. But when you have hundreds of them being collected, all those dots coalesce into a picture. The biodiversity of a nation and how it's changing. R.E. Daniel, NPR News. Daniel, a hurricane forecast has been released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and with warmer than usual ocean waters, forecasters say they expect it to be a busy season. While perhaps not at last year's level, forecasters are predicting a 60% chance of above-normal

activity with 13 to 19 named storms, 6 to 10 of which they say are expected to become hurricanes. Last year was the third- costliest hurricane season on record. The Atlantic hurricane season officially gets underway on June 1st. Critical futures prices settled lower today as investors weigh a report that OPEC is discussing a production increase for July oiled down 37 cents a barrel to 61.20 a barrel. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.

Know that fizzy feeling you get when you read something really good, I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.