NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-27-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

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We've all been there running around a city looking for a bathroom, but unable to find A very simple free market solution is that we could just pay to use a bathroom But we can't on the planet money podcast the story of how we once had thousands of pay toilets And why they got banned from planet money on NPR wherever you get your podcasts Live from NPR news in Washington, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The United Nations says there have been heartbreaking scenes in Gaza, where Palestinians are swarming in aid sites

set up by a U.S.-backed private foundation. NPR's Michelle Kalman reports the UN is not taking part in the new aid project. Videos showing desperate Palestinians scrambling to get food at new distribution sites are hard to watch, says UN spokesman Stefan de Chariq. For us, humanitarian aid needs to be distributed in a way that is safe under principles of independence impartiality in the way we've always done it. The way this new group is trying to deliver aid does not meet those standards, he says,

and that's why the UN is not taking part. U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce says Hamas tried to stop the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation from delivering aid, but she says the food is starting to flow for the first time in months. Israel had been blocking all aid. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. President Trump is continuing to target Harvard University. NPR's Windsor Johnson reports he's proposing to strip billions of federal funds from Harvard and reroute the money

to support trade schools. The president has floated a plan to redirect three billion dollars in federal grants away from Harvard University, calling for the money to be invested in vocational and technical training programs. He described the move as a great investment for the U.S. and badly needed. The Trump administration's ongoing disputes with Harvard include allegations of anti-Semitism, racism in its admissions process, and non-compliance with federal requests for information on international students. The administration is asking federal agencies to cancel their remaining contracts with the university after freezing a portion of the school's federal funding. Harvard has responded by

filing lawsuits, arguing that the cuts in funding are unconstitutional. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. King Charles today warned Canada is facing a critical moment during an official address to open Parliament in Ottawa. NPR's Jackie Northam reports the British royal speech delivered a message aimed at reassuring Canada's sovereignty. King Charles' speech comes at a time when relations between Canada and the U.S. are at a low, and his visit as head of state is seen as a powerful reminder of Canada's sovereignty. Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada. Although the King never mentioned Trump's name in the speech,

he warned that Canada is at a critical point where democracy, rule of law, and self-determination are at stake. The King said the world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the Second World War, which worries Canadians, but added that this represents an incredible opportunity to, in his words, think big and act bigger. Jackie Northam, NPR News.

A delay of threatened EU tariffs sent stocks soaring today. The Dow was up 740 points. You're listening to NPR. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians played a significant role in the movie Sinners. The film was mainly shot in Louisiana, but residents in the city of Clarksdale, Mississippi, petitioned producers to have the movie screened there. Shemarra Muhammad of Mississippi Public Broadcasting has more. Cynthia Massey is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and was a cultural consultant for sinners. I enjoyed seeing our Choctaw language on the screen because pretty much it was the first

time that was spoken on screen correctly. Other indigenous actors and sinners say they hope the movie opens the door for more interest in Mississippi's indigenous cultures. The setting of the movie is Clarksdale, but without a theater in town, residents are unable to see it without leaving town. So producers have arranged special screenings of centers for later this week in the city's civic auditorium. For NPR News, I'm Shamir Mohammed in Jackson.

["Pomp and Circumstance"] Blue Danube composer Johann Strauss would be 200 this month and to mark the bicentennial of his birth, the European Space Agency's Big Dish antenna in Spain plans to beam his waltz into space as it's being performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Celestial broadcast of the Blue Danube will also celebrate the space agency's founding 50 years ago. According to the scientists involved the radio signals will move away at the speed of light within 23 hours. The signal will be as far from Earth as NASA's Voyager 1, the Earth's most distant spacecraft, currently some 15 billion miles away from Earth. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. As NPR's daily economics podcast, The Indicator has been asking businesses how tariffs are

affecting their bottom line. I paid 800,000 today. You paid $800,000 in tariffs today. Yes. Wow. And what that means for your bottom line. Listen to The Indicator from Planet Money. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.