NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-27-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

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When Malcolm Gladwell presented NPR's Throughline podcast with a Peabody Award, he praised it for its historical and moral clarity. On Throughline, we take you back in time to the origins of what's in the news like presidential power, aging, and evangelicalism. Time travel with us every week on the Throughline podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. French President Emmanuel Macron says he hopes President Trump's anger towards Russia will translate into action.

Macron's remarks came after Trump criticized Russian leader Vladimir Putin for his massive air assault on Ukraine, calling him crazy and warning of possible sanctions, as NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports from Paris. Macron said he hoped Trump's indignation would result in the US coming together with the Europeans for a much bigger sanctions package, one that could, quote, dissuade Russia and finally bring an end to the conflict.

Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Maersk now says that Germany, Britain and France will no longer impose restrictions on the use of their long-range weapons. British police say a 53 year old man is in custody, believed to be the driver of a minivan that plowed into a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Liverpool's Premier League Championship. They say they believe he is the only one involved in the incident. More than 45 people were injured, including at least four children. SpaceX is preparing another test launch of its massive Starship rocket as early as today. NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports on the upcoming launch after two failed attempts earlier this year.

The rocket is called Starship, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk hopes it will one day take people to Mars. First, though, it's got to get into space. Its last two test flights exploded minutes after launching from Texas. The debris rained down over the Caribbean. This time, SpaceX says it solved the problem, which it traced to one of the spacecraft's engines. The FAA recently cleared SpaceX to launch Starship as many as 25 times

a year from Texas. It also expanded the hazard zone in the event another spacecraft explodes during launch. And the regulator told SpaceX to time launches so that there will be fewer civilian aircraft crossing beneath the path of the rocket. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Charles Wrangel, a longtime member of Congress, died Monday at the age of 94. NPR's Jacqueline Diaz has more on the former lawmaker, known to his constituents in New York as the Lion of Lennox Avenue. Former United States Congressman Charles Wrangel served 46 years in the House of Representatives. He was a founding

member of the Congressional Black Caucus. He also made history as the first African American member of Congress to lead the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Born and raised in Harlem, Wrangel represented what is now New York's 13th congressional district from 1971 to 2017. He played a big role in getting major legislation passed, including President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Before his time in Congress, he served in the New York State Assembly and as an assistant U.S. Attorney. He was also a veteran of the Korean War, earning a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. Jacqueline Diaz, NPR News. This is NPR.

Authorities in Louisiana say three more of the 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail earlier this month have been recaptured. The Louisiana State Police confirmed the recaptures on social media saying one was arrested in Baton Rouge and the other two in Walker County, Texas. That leaves two escaped inmates who remain unaccounted for. In Nepal, authorities are conducting the country's first ever census of monkeys. Officials say the population count is the first step in dealing with the rising problem of monkeys attacking people and stealing food from homes and farms. NPR's Amkar Khandekar

reports. The government of Nepal has commissioned a team of 18 zoologists and wildlife experts to conduct a survey in some areas worst affected by human-monkey conflict. Census coordinator Harish Sharma says the government decided to do the survey after farmers in many villages migrated to urban areas because the monkeys kept destroying their crops. Sharma says wild monkeys started entering human settlements after locals cut down fruit trees in the forests. Human is

the main factors and but we are blaming other animals. The count will go on until October. Omkar Khandekar, NPR News, New Delhi. message she is currently on tour in Europe. This is NPR News. 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.