NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-26-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

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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. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Hurst. In England, a car collided with dozens of pedestrians in Liverpool, where thousands of soccer fans were celebrating their team's victory in this season's Premier League competition.

Villa Marks reports British police say several people, including four children, were injured and some taken to the hospital. Video shows the vehicle ploughing through a large crowd of people in the city centre Monday evening, with several individuals thrown off its front windshield and hit by both sides too. Authorities say a 53-year-old man from the city has been arrested but have not yet offered details on the number of injuries or confirmed if there have been any fatalities. A police cordon, ambulances and fire trucks now surround the area, just yards from where a Liverpool football club had celebrated a

successful soccer season earlier with an open top bus parade. British Prime Minister Keir Stalmers said he's monitoring developments, has thanked the emergency workers and called the incident quote, appalling. For NPR News, I'm Villamarks in London. President Trump, Vice President Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth all took part in a wreath-laying ceremony this morning at Arlington's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Trump paid tribute to veterans who died in America's wars, but as NPR's Jacqueline Diaz reports, he couldn't resist wading into politics. In a speech following the ceremony, Trump praised the men and women of the military

who gave their lives and the Gold Star families that were left behind. After speaking about the first soldiers who died during the American Revolution, Trump took shots at former President Biden's administration. The valor gave us the freest, greatest, and most noble republic ever to exist on the face of the earth. A republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years. That was a hard four years we went through. Earlier in the day, in a Memorial Day post on social media,

Trump also lashed out at the former administration for its immigration policies and at judges who have blocked the Trump administration's agenda. Jacqueline Diaz, NPR News. The sweeping spending plan that Republicans are crafting to implement President Trump's policy agenda includes a first-of-its-kind national private school voucher plan.

NPR's Corey Turner reports on how it could work. The government can't directly fund private religious schools, so Republicans in Congress are looking to do it indirectly using the tax code. A private citizen could make a donation to a nonprofit called a scholarship granting organization, which would then bundle that money into vouchers for students to attend private schools. What's more, folks who donate would get a generous dollar-for-dollar tax credit. Meaning if they give $5,000, they could knock five grand off their tax bill. And if they give $5,000, they could knock five grand off their

tax bill. And if donors give stock instead, they can avoid capital gains taxes. By one estimate, the plan would cost the U.S. government more than $23 billion in lost revenue. Turner, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News. New genetic data shows that the M. pox, or money pox virus, monkey pox rather, virus was circulating undetected in people in West Africa for years before the 2022 global M. pox outbreak. NPR's Gabriela Emanuel has more on a study published in Nature. Historically, M. pox has been something that people got when they came into contact with certain small animals in West Africa.

But not much was known about exactly when it started spreading readily from person to person. Now, international researchers have pooled their EMPOX samples and analyzed the genetics. They found that one type of the virus likely first started circulating among humans in August 2014 in Nigeria. That's three years before it was detected and eight years before it spread globally. Study authors say better disease surveillance in Africa and better treatment could have prevented the international outbreak. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News. Elon Musk's SpaceX is getting ready to do another test launch of its massive Starship

rocket as early as tomorrow. Musk is hoping the rocket will one day take people to Mars, but first, it has to get to space. The last two test flights exploded minutes after launching, with debris raining down on the Caribbean. This time, SpaceX says it solved the problem, linked to one of the spacecraft's engines. The FAA has cleared SpaceX to launch Starship as many as 25 times a year from Texas and expanded the hazard zone in the event another spacecraft explodes during a launch.

I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.