NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-24-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 24, 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 is 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 Noor Rahm. President Trump is overhauling the National Security Council, the foreign policy experts

who advise the president. Earlier this month, Trump had replaced the National Security Advisor Michael Waltz with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Now, dozens of employees were fired yesterday afternoon. Some told at 430 that they should leave by 5. NPR's Greg Myrie has more. The NSC has grown over the years. There are periodic calls to scale it back. One of Trump's national security advisors in his first term, Robert O'Brien, recently wrote this in an op-ed. One source, for example, told NPR that the

Middle East section at the NSC is being reduced from 10 staffers to five, so it appears to be an attempt to streamline the national security process, though again we don't know precisely because it was done without notice or explanation. NPR's Greg Myhre. President Trump has signed off on federal assistance for six Kentucky counties that were devastated when a deadly tornado hit last weekend. At least 19 people were killed. For Member Station WUKY, Karen Zahr reports. Just days after Kentucky applied for individual assistance from the federal government, Governor

Andy Beshear announced that the request was approved. Despite political differences, Beshear had high praise for the Trump administration following natural disasters. I disagree with this president on a lot of things. But the FEMA operation on the ground under his administration has been good. In fact, it's been really good. Beshear anticipates the latest violent storm will quote easily be a hundred plus million dollar natural disaster. Kentucky is still recovering from storms that hit the state

in February and April. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zahar in Lexington. This weekend, Ukraine and Russia are carrying out the largest prisoner of war exchange since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. NPR's Joanna Kokissis reports from northern Ukraine, where dozens of families are waiting for buses with 1,000 Ukrainians to arrive by tomorrow. Anton Kobylnik stepped off the bus draped in Ukraine's blue and yellow flag. The soldier was emaciated and pale after three years in Russian captivity.

He told NPR he cannot wait to hug his mother. I am finally in Ukraine, he said, but I won't truly feel I'm home until I'm next to my mom in our cottage. Nearby, 18-year-old Milena Moroz holds a photograph of her dad, Yevhen. He disappeared in February of this year. I wish I had told him, I love you dad. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Northern Ukraine. This is NPR News.

German police are investigating a knife attack at the central train station in Hamburg yesterday. 18 people were stabbed. Officials say they are in stable condition. A German national was arrested at the scene. Police say it appears the 39 year old woman had acted alone and there is no indication of a political motive. A judge is to decide whether she should be admitted to a psychiatric ward. The United Nations says it fears 427 Rohingya refugees died at sea while trying to flee Bangladesh and Myanmar. Michael Sullivan reports from Thailand the agency is still confirming details.

The UNHCR says it believes two boats carrying more than 500 Rohingya sank on May 9th and 10th in the Andaman Sea, with fewer than 90 people rescued. The dire conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh and in Rohingya communities in war-torn Myanmar have led the Rohingya to make the dangerous journey despite the beginning of the annual monsoon rains that make the journey even more treacherous. The fact they'd make the journey during the monsoon, the UNHCR says, reflects the refugees' increasing desperation given recent funding

cuts by donor nations, including the U.S. Human rights groups warn more such journeys are likely. For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai. NURRARAM. Southeastern France was hit by a major power outage today as the Cannes Film Festival was preparing to hand out its top prize. Officials say about 160,000 homes and businesses lost electricity. The festival says the show will go on. I'm Nurram, NPR News.