NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-24-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: May 24, 2025

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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 lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between, catch the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in between, catch the pop culture happy hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. It's the second day of a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, with nearly 700 exchanged since yesterday. This after at least 15 people were injured overnight in a Russian attack on Kiev. NPR's Joanna

Kakissus reports Ukrainian families are anxiously awaiting the return of their loved ones. Anton Kobylnyk 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 Kokissis, NPR News, Northern Ukraine. The Trump administration has abruptly dismissed dozens of staffers on the National Security Council in another shakeup of the president's foreign policy team. As NPR's Greg Myrie reports, it comes just three weeks after Marco Rubio took over as Trump's national security adviser. The staffers were told they were losing their positions at 4.30 on Friday afternoon and given a half hour to leave the White House. This is according to sources who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity.

The National Security Council works closely with the president on foreign policy and usually has about 200 to 300 staffers depending on the administration. Trump named Marco Rubio as his national security advisor at the beginning of this month and in that role he oversees the NSC. The move is seen as an effort to streamline the foreign policy process, though the White House has not commented on the decision. Greg Myhre, NPR News, Washington. President Trump delivered the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York today, the first military commencement address of his second term, telling

the cadets they're graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history. Trump took credit for U.S. military might, accusing previous leaders of subjecting the military to social projects and political causes, saying he cleared the military of transgender ideas, critical race theory, and training that he calls divisive and political. We're focusing our military on its core mission, crushing America's adversaries, killing America's enemies, and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before. He also railed against other countries and NATO for, quote, ripping off the U.S. on trade. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

In New York City, one person is dead, two others are injured after a city-owned boat carrying raw sewage exploded on the Hudson River. The Coast Guard says the men were doing work involving a flame or sparks when the blast happened. Police say a 59-year-old man was declared dead at the scene. The other two men were taken to the hospital. The explosion happened on the city-owned Hunts Point. That's a ship that takes raw sewage to a treatment plant. Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panihi's thriller It Was Just an Accident has won the palm door at the 78th Hand Film Festival.

NPR's Chloe Veltman reports the annual French event drew to a close today after a dramatic opening this morning. Jafar Panahi received a standing ovation after the jury, led by the French actress Juliette Binoche, announced he had won Cannes' top prize for his movie, a strong critique of oppression in his home country. Panahi has been arrested and imprisoned in Iran for speaking out against the regime. In a brief speech in Persian the director said he dedicates the film to all the artists deported from Iran. The awards ceremony came just hours after a regional power outage threatened the

festival's final day. French authorities said the temporary outage likely the result of deliberate sabotage disrupted morning screenings and caused local businesses to shutter. An investigation is underway. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. JANENE HIRST, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, TRIPLE-A, TRIPLE-A says 45 million Americans are projected to travel at least 50 miles from home this Memorial Day weekend. If that happens, it would break the record that was set 20 years ago. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Look, we get it. When it comes to new music, there is a lot of it. And it all comes really fast. But on All Songs Considered, NPR's music recommendation podcast, we'll handpick what we think is the greatest music happening right now and give you your next great listen. So

kick back, settle in, get those eardrums wide open, and get your dose of new music from All Songs Considered, only from NPR.