NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-22-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

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Support for NPR and the following message come from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help NPR produce programming that meets the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Trump administration is blaming the common drug acetaminopin for increased cases of autism. Medical groups say there's no clear evidence showing a cause. a link. NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce reports that the National Institutes of Health just awarded more than $50 million to explore the roots of autism. NIH director Jay Batacharya said the 13 new grants will help scientists consider the effect

of environmental and medical factors, everything from nutrition to pollutants. For too long, it's been taboo to ask some questions for fear that scientific work might reveal a politically incorrect answer. He said past NIH research on autism has not given family the answers they want it. The NIH did, however, fund one very large study looking at acetaminopin use in pregnancy and the risk of autism. It analyzed data from more than two million children in Sweden and found no connection. Nell Greenfield-Boyce, NPR News. President Trump has signed an executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. NPR's Odette Youssef reports he's instructing his administration to investigate those with connections to the DC.

centralized movement. Antifa is shorthand for anti-fascist. It is described as a decentralized far-left movement or ideology. Jason Blasakis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies says the domestic terrorist designation represents a first, and that it may run into trouble. First, Antifa is not a structured group. And the U.S. government has a definition of domestic terrorism but does not have the legal authorities to designate entire organizations as domestic terrorist groups. Under U.S. law, groups with foreign operations may be formally sanctioned as terrorist organizations. Blasakis said no such process exists for purely domestic groups because of the risk of infringing on First Amendment freedoms. Odette Yousaf, NPR News.

ABC's parent company Disney says Jimmy Kimmel Live will return to the air on Tuesday. ABC suspended the show last week after Kimmel made remarks about the person accused of shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk. NPR's Mandalay Del Barco explains the outcry after the suspension. All of the other late-night host, John Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Myers, John Oliver, and even former host David Letterman, they all lined up to support Kimmel. You know, Whoopi Goldberg, one of the hosts of the ABC show, The View, criticized the decision. There was a move-on.org petition circulating to get the show back on. And on Hollywood Boulevard outside the studio where Jimmy Kimmel live is taped, protesters talked about the suspension as a threat to free speech, not just

to Kimmel, but to all Americans. NPR's Mandalay Del Barco reporting, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns or operates nearly 40 ABC affiliates, says it will preempt Jimmy Kimmel live on its stations, replacing it with news programming. I'm Ryland Barton, in Washington. This is NPR News. France is officially recognizing a state of Palestine,

joining more than 150 other countries that have done so. The move came during a United Nations conference aimed at General. new support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The move further isolates Israel, which is waging another major offensive in Gaza. A prominent Egyptian activist, whom human rights watch says rose to prominence during the country's Arab Spring Revolution, is set to be released following years of imprisonment. NPR's Aibatrawi reports on his case and what it represents. State media reported that Egypt's president has issued pardons for seven people, among them Aleh Abdel Fattah. The activist was first arrested along with

thousands of others and years of turmoil following Egypt's 2011 uprising. He was just 29 then. Abded Fattah, known for his black curly hair, beard, and the glasses he often wears, is now 43 and has a son. He was added to a terrorism list and was serving a five-year prison sentence on charges of spreading false news for posting on Facebook about torture in Egyptian jails. He'd already spent two years in pretrial detention and had served five years on another charge of protesting without a permit. Abed Fattah gained British citizenship while in jail through his mother, Laila Suaf, a well-known women's rights activist who went on hunger strikes for his release. Ayelba Trawey, NPR News, Dubai.

A federal appeals court says a Vermont Christian school can participate in the state's sports league that reverses a previous ruling that upheld a ban on the school after it forfeited a high school girls' basketball game against a team with a transgender athlete. At least 26 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in women's or girls' sports competitions. From Washington, this is NPR News. message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of

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