NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-28-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

NPR News: 05-28-2025 3PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump says he'll know soon if Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to end his government's war with Ukraine. We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not. And if he is, we'll respond a little bit differently. In the Oval Office today, Trump said his administration won't know for another couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Ukraine, which says it wants a ceasefire, has secured German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's pledge to help produce long-range missiles. The results from a long-term study find that cash aid to low-income mothers did not improve

their child's development in the first four years of life. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports themark Project has tracked hundreds of poor children across the U.S. Jennifer Ludden, PSJP Researcher, Landmark Project Researchers have compared babies whose mothers got more than $300 a month in cash aid with those who got just $20. They made headlines after the first year when the extra money appeared to boost brain activity. But now, three years later, they find no developmental differences. The study measured things like language, executive function, and social-emotional problems.

Past research has linked higher scores on all of those with higher family income, but it was not clear if the money itself made the difference. The study was published in the National Bureau of Economic Research. The cash aid continues for two more years when researchers will assess its impact again. Jennifer Lunden, NPR News, Washington. China is urging the U.S. to protect the rights of international students after reports the State Department was pausing new visa interviews for foreign students. NPR's Emily Fang reports the administration's officials say the pause will allow time for screening students' online activity.

China's state television broadcaster said it had reached out to the US embassy in Beijing. They were told by the embassy applications are being handled as normal, though a cable from the State Department says there is a temporary hold on new time slots for a mandatory visa interview. China's foreign ministry said it hoped the U.S. would safeguard the interests of foreign students, including those from

China. China is one of the biggest sources of foreign students who come to the U.S. Eclipsed only last year by India, and there is intense veneration for American universities in China and intense competition to get in. Emily Fang and Peer News. Last week the administration revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students unless the school turned over date on its foreign student body. Harvard refused, sued, and convinced a court to temporarily block the administration. Meanwhile, in a victory for the descendants of slaves,

Harvard has agreed to transfer 175-year-old photos of enslaved people to a South Carolina Museum on African American History. The settlement marks the end of a 15-year-long battle over the photos. This is NPR News. More than a million Muslims from around the globe have already arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of next week's official start of the Hajj pilgrimage. The annual pilgrimage is taking place this year again in very hot temperatures. And Piers Ayyab-e-Trawi has more on the preparations.

Hundreds of people died from heat-related injuries last year during the Hajj in Mecca. Most were people who did not have the proper Hajj visas which meant they were not part of organized tour groups with adequate transportation and accommodation. Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry provides free health care for pilgrims during the Hajj season. It says this year more than 7,500 paramedics and 900 ambulances are part of the Hajj emergency response. The Kingdom says the Royal commission overseeing Mecca and the holy sites has also planted more than 10,000 trees, expanded shaded walkways, and installed hundreds

of water stations and misting fans to fight the soaring temperatures. The kingdom also advises pilgrims to carry umbrellas and water with them. The Hajj pilgrimage is required by all Muslims to perform once in a lifetime. Aya Batraoui, NPR News, Dubai. A global team of astronomers says it has detected a new object located about 150,000 light-years away in our Milky Way galaxy. The team says it could be a star, maybe a pair of stars,

or maybe something else entirely, emitting X-rays around the same time it was shooting radio waves in a cycle that they say repeats every 44 minutes. U.S. stocks are trading lower this hour. The Dow is down 135 points. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.