NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-29-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

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Live from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. will aggressively revoke visas for many Chinese students. That's after he said the U.S. would scrutinize the social media of prospective students from Hong Kong and China. Mao Ning is the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. She's heard here through an interpreter. The U.S. has unreasonably canceled Chinese students' visas under the pretext of ideology and national security, which has seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests

of Chinese students and disrupted normal cultural exchanges between the two countries. She was heard through the BBC. Nearly all of President Trump's worldwide tariffs have been blocked. The little-known U.S. court of international trade says Trump cannot use an emergency law to impose them. The three-judge panel ruled only Congress has the exclusive authority to regulate trade and tariffs. President Trump says he's considering pardons for the men convicted

of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. In Piers Franco Ordonia's reports, Trump said he had watched the men's trial. President Trump said the case against the two men appears to be somewhat of a quote, railroad job. I'll be honest with you, it looked to me like some people said some stupid things, you know? They were drinking and I think they said stupid things, but I'll take a look at that. Barry Croft Jr. was sentenced to nearly 20 years while Adam Fox was sentenced to 16 years after being convicted of leading a violent scheme to kidnap Governor Whitmer during the final stretch of the 2020 presidential election. Defense lawyers have claimed the men were victims of entrapment and that government

informants egged them on, but last, a federal appeals court upheld their convictions. Franco Ordonez, NPR News, The White House. Native American voters in North Dakota are asking a federal appeals court to review a decision. Critics say it has made it more difficult to enforce protections against racial discrimination in elections in seven states. As NPR's Hansi Lo Wong reports, the case is a step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court, where a decision could weaken the federal Voting Rights Act. For decades, private individuals and groups have brought most of the lawsuits focused

on enforcing the Voting Rights Act, Section 2, which has protections for ensuring voters of color have an opportunity equal to white voters in electing their preferred candidates in places where voting is racially polarized. But this month, the panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a part of the federal code known as Section 1983 does not allow private individuals and groups to sue because those private individuals and groups are not explicitly named in the words of the Voting Rights Act. That ruling applies to seven mainly Midwestern states including Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota,

Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Now Native American voters in North Dakota led by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians are asking all eight circuit judges to review the ruling, setting up a potential appeal to the Supreme Court. Hansi Luong, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Officials in the Canadian province of Manitoba have declared a state of emergency. Wildfires have forced some 17,000 people to flee. Manitoba lies north of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Its premier says this is the largest evacuation in Manitoba's living memory, and the Canadian military is helping. Oklahoma City has advanced to this year's NBA Finals, and Pierre's Becky Sullivan says the Thunder closed out its series against the Minnesota Timberwolves last night in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, 124-94. In the first quarter, everything went wrong for the Timberwolves, who managed only nine points.

Everything went wrong after that, too. By halftime, Oklahoma City led by 33, and after the final buzzer, the Timberwolves filed out, heads hung low, bounced out of the playoffs just short of the finals for the second year in a row. The 4-1 series win was a dominant showing by Oklahoma City, who had the NBA's best regular season record this year. Their star, Shay Gilgis Alexander, was named Most Valuable Player, and the crowd showered him with chants of MVP as he scored 34 points. Now the thunder await the outcome of the Eastern Conference Finals.

There the Indiana Pacers lead the New York Knicks three games to one. Becky Sullivan in PR News. The Florida Panthers are heading back to the Stanley Cup final for the third year in a row. They beat the Carolina Hurricanes last night five to three. They won the NHL's best of seven series four games to one. The defending Florida Panthers will now play either the Edmonton Oilers or the Dallas Stars. The Edmonton Oilers currently lead that series three games

to one. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, from Washington.