NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-06-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington. I'm Lakshmi Seng. The United States and India are in a standoff over tariffs. India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement in which it decried as, quote, unjustified and unreasonable. President Trump's decision to double the U.S. tariffs on Indian imports by hitting the South Asian ally with a new 25% levy. India says it will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests. And PR's Danielle Kurtzleben has more. Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods last week as part of a set of global country-by-country tariffs that will take effect Friday. This additional 25% is set to take effect in three weeks. Trump says the new tariff is in response to India purchasing Russian oil amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The White House also said the new tariff is aimed at deterring other countries from buying Russian oil. India has argued that its purchases of Russian oil have kept global prices low, and that the U.S. previously encouraged those purchases.

The U.S.'s major imports from India include pharmaceuticals, clothes, and stones and metals used in jewelry. Danielle Kurtzleben and P.R. News, the White House. The Kremlin says Russian president, Vladimir Putin's welcome President Trump's special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, to Moscow. They were scheduled to hold talks over Trump's economic threats if Putin continues to resist a ceasefire with Ukraine. NPR's Charles Means reports on the prospects for today's outcome. Putin insists his army is the momentum on the battlefield, therefore he's given no indication he'll back down. But if that's the case, why get together? You know, it seems like both sides might be looking for some kind of compromise or face-saving gesture. Perhaps not the

full peace Trump is demanding, but something just enough to keep him from fulfilling his threats come Friday. NPR's Charles Mainz reporting. It was 60 years ago today, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. NPR's Hansi Lowong reports the law's remaining protections against racial discrimination in elections are set to face major new challenges at the U.S. Supreme Court. Months after the Bloody Sunday March in Selma, Alabama, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark law for enforcing the 15th Amendment's ban on racial discrimination in voting. This act flows from a clear and simple wrong.

Now the Supreme Court may soon hear a case out of Louisiana that questions the constitutionality of factoring race into redistricting in another case that could limit enforcement of protections for minority voters. Evan Milligan, who's leading a voting rights lawsuit against Alabama, says the Voting Rights Act needs supporters now more than ever. We have to use our voices to demand that our votes are counted, not as some type of privilege, but as the right of American citizens. Democrats have introduced bills to strengthen the Voting Rights Act that are unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled Congress. Hansi Luong, NPR News.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 136 points. You're listening to NPR News. Republican Party leaders in Texas, backed by President Trump, are urging the FBI to force Democratic state lawmakers to get back to Texas so that a redistricting vote in the state legislature can proceed. More than 50 lawmakers left for several blue states to prevent a quorum and delay a vote. Republicans are supporting calls for the Democrats' arrests. The National Football League has struck a deal with Disney's ESPN. The NFL takes a 10% stake in ESPN and return the sports network. Gets control of key media assets, including the NFL Network.

For most of August, Scotland is hosting one of the world's biggest performing arts festivals, the Edinburgh International Festival and its better-known side act called The Fringe. It's nearly a month of comedy and theater, including one show about breakdancing. Here's NPR's Lauren Frere. It's called Breaking the Music. and it's about a fictional over-the-top breakdancer from Australia called Sprachiel Gun, nicknamed Spray Gun, who does a signature kangaroo move on stage.

It's a parody of last year's Paris Olympics, where a real-life Australian Rachel Gun, nicknamed Ray Gun, competed. The show was supposed to open last year in Sydney, but lawyers threatened action, and it got delayed. The comedian behind it, Steph Broadbridge, had to add a disclaimer, saying any resemblance to any public figure is merely a coincidence. The controversy has attracted more attention, and the show has since played to sold-out audiences in Australia and now in Scotland.

Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. You're listening to NPR News.