NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-24-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: May 25, 2025

NPR News: 05-24-2025 9PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Shortwave thinks of science as an invisible force, showing up in your everyday life. Powering the food you eat, the medicine you use, the tech in your pocket. Science is approachable because it's already part of your life. Come explore these connections on the Shortwave Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners today, the second day of the swap. This as Russia launched a combined ballistic missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight, injuring at least 15 people.

NPR's Hanna Palomarenko has more. In Kiev, emergency services worked to clear rubble and extinguish fires. According to the Kiev city administration, it was one of the largest attacks on the capital. Yuri Ignat is a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force. The main means of air attack was directed at the capital from different directions, he said. Ignat added that the Russians have modernized their ballistic missiles, making them harder to intercept.

Hanna Palomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv. Senators from several states bordering Canada traveled to Ottawa to talk about ways to get relations back on track amid President Trump's tariff war. And here's Michelle Kellerman reports. The ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, New Hampshire Democrat Jean Jahin, says it was a quick and helpful trip. Jean Jahin This was an opportunity to meet very early with the new prime minister. In fact, we're the first Senate delegation to meet with this prime minister, the first

delegation to get on the ground after our new ambassador Hoekstra arrived. And she says it was helpful to have Pete Hoekstra and Senator Kevin Kramer, a Republican from North Dakota there. She says they're close to Trump and were able to respond to Canada's concerns about the administration's approach to a key trading partner and neighbor. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. Shira Perlmutter, the fired head of the U.S. Copyright Office, is suing the Trump administration, saying the ouster was illegal.

And Piers Andrew Limbong reports the firing came shortly after the Copyright Office published its much-anticipated report on generative AI. The U.S. Copyright Office exists within the Library of Congress. And shortly after the Trump administration fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden earlier this month, Perlmutter was also fired via email. In the lawsuit filed Thursday, Perlmutter argued that neither the president nor his appointee as Acting Librarian of Congress, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, have the authority to remove Perlmutter as head of the Copyright Office.

The office advises Congress on matters of copyright, and earlier this month the office published the third part of its report on generative AI, which stated that while some uses of copyrighted materials to train AI fall under fair use, other uses would require licensing. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Billy Joel has canceled all of his scheduled concerts after he was recently diagnosed with a brain condition. Ampere's Sydney Lupkin reports this condition is treatable, but it often goes undiagnosed. Normal pressure hydrocephalus happens when there's a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid putting pressure on the brain.

Symptoms include problems walking, cognitive issues, and urinary incontinence. But because it's often diagnosed in people over 60, those symptoms can be mistaken for normal signs of aging, sometimes for years. So advocating for testing is often key for getting a diagnosis. The condition is treatable, especially if it's caught early. Surgery involves drilling a hole in the skull and inserting a tube that drains the fluid and redirects it to be absorbed elsewhere in the body, usually the abdomen. A less invasive surgery is being studied in clinical trials. Sydney Lupkin, NPR News.

Memorials and vigils are being held today, marking three years since the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 students and two teachers dead. It took 77 minutes for police standing outside the room where the gunmen killed the children and teachers to enter. Then police chief was fired three months after the attack because of the slow response to the shooting. Last month the Uvalde City Council unanimously approved a two million dollar settlement with the victims families that calls for the city to establish May 24th as an annual day of remembrance. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News

in Washington.