NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-06-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

NPR News: 06-06-2025 12PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It all starts with listening. To the person in front of you and the person you'll never meet. To the person living a story and the journalist who helps you see it in a new light. The NPR network is built on listening. With microphones in every region, so where there any time a voice or sound demands to be heard. Hear stories in the first person, hear the bigger picture on NPR. Live from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. A public spat between President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk is escalating,

with both sides continuing to take jabs at each other. The relationship took a turn this week after Musk blasted Trump's massive tax cut and spending bill, calling it a quote, disgusting abomination. Tech journalist Kara Swisher covered Elon Musk for many years. She tells NPR that his relationship with Trump burned fast and fizzled even faster. He sort of fell in love quickly, didn't he? He sort of went crazy jumping up and down, doing the chainsaw thing, dedicating his life,

moving into Mar-a-Lago, all this stuff, and shifted rather dramatically because he sort of was somewhat neutral in politics. Their feud has led to a more than 14% drop in Tesla stock, erasing more than $150 billion in value. The White House says a man from Guatemala, who is in the United States without legal status and wrongfully deported, has been returned. NPR's Jimena Bustillo reports this is a first for the Trump administration. The man known as O.C.G. in court records entered the country illegally last year.

An immigration judge decided that he would face harm if he were sent back to Guatemala, so he was issued a protection from being deported there. But just days later, immigration officials put OCG on a bus to Mexico, and Mexico then removed him to Guatemala. A federal judge in Massachusetts ordered that OCG should not have been removed to any other country without additional legal steps, and he ordered he must be returned. The courts have also blocked third country deportations to Libya and South Sudan. The administration has been trying to send people to other countries if their home country

exercises its sovereign right to refuse deportation flights. Jimena Bustillo, MPR News, Washington. The European Union is joining the International Criminal Court in blasting the White House for punishing judges for tribunal investigations. Terri Schultz reports legal communities around the world are criticizing the move, which could impact global justice efforts. President Trump has slapped sanctions on four judges from the ICC in retaliation for their work on the tribunal's probes into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza.

The judges from Benin, Peru, Slovenia and Uganda will have any U.S.-based assets frozen. European Commission spokesperson Paola Pino says the EU remains committed to the ICC. This court holds perpetrators of the world's gravest crimes to account and gives victims a voice. It must be free to act without pressure. In February, the Trump administration banned the chief prosecutor and other non-American employees of the court from entering the U.S. and warned of more measures to come. For NPR News, I'm Terri Schulz in Brussels.

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 386 points. This is NPR. A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump's latest attempt to bar international students from attending Harvard University. The administration's proclamation sought to suspend entry for foreign students, citing national security concerns. Harvard challenged the move, arguing it was retaliatory. The temporary order allows international students to continue their studies while the case proceeds. The court is expected to hold a hearing on June 16th to consider a long-term injunction. Researchers say they've discovered

seasonal patterns surrounding divorce filings. NPR's Vanessa Romo reports it's something divorce lawyers have noticed for years. Kirk Stange is a family law attorney with 25 years in the business. Over that time he's noticed that divorce filings hit two peaks per year. Our business really picks up in the spring time and then it tends to pick up August, Septemberish. The slow seasons seasons, he says, especially December and January, then again in June and July, can mean a drop of about 50 percent in divorce filings. We could spend money advertising and try to do things, but it just doesn't work. A 2016 study from the University of Washington that analyzed divorce filing data also found

consistent peaks in March and August. The study's author says couples likely put off legal steps because they're caught in a cycle of optimism tied to domestic rituals and that keeps people hanging on for just a little bit longer before they finally make things official. Vanessa Romo, NPR News. I'm Windsor Johnston and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. The news can feel like a lot on any given day, but you can't just ignore it when big, even world-changing events are happening.

That's where the Up First podcast comes in. Every morning at under 15 minutes, we take the news and pick three essential stories so you can keep up without getting stressed out. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR.