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Chapter 1: What is the focus of the NPR News 4PM edition on April 24, 2025?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Two federal judges are temporarily blocking the Trump administration's ability to withhold federal funds from public schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Here's NPR's Janaki Mehta.
Chapter 2: What are the recent federal court rulings on DEI programs in public schools?
The Trump administration had asked school leaders in all 50 states to submit letters certifying their schools wouldn't promote DEI programs. If they refused, the administration said schools would risk losing federal money, including Title I, which is aimed at low-income students around the country. Today was the deadline for state and local leaders to submit responses to the federal government.
About a dozen Democratic state leaders refused to sign the document. Others signed on behalf of their local school leaders. And several Republican states did comply with the order. Now, two federal judges have ruled against the Trump administration temporarily preventing the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing the DEI orders it has sent to K-12 schools. Janaki Mehta, NPR News.
Chapter 3: How are states responding to the Trump administration’s DEI funding demands?
NPR's Asma Khalid is covering the escalating U.S. trade war with China, reporting that Trump may be attempting to reset the dynamic by insisting that talks with Beijing are underway.
Chapter 4: What is the current status of the U.S.-China trade talks under the Trump administration?
The president has said his administration is actively discussing the trade war with China, but China's foreign ministry and commerce ministry deny that claim. They've said there are no talks underway with the U.S. about trade. A reporter asked the president to clarify the contradiction.
Chapter 5: What contradictions exist regarding the U.S.-China trade negotiations?
Well, they had a meeting this morning, so I can't tell you. It doesn't matter who they is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we've been meeting with China.
The president's comments come as he has subtly softened his tone following stock market turmoil and economic uncertainty over his tariffs. Asma Khalid, NPR News.
The president says he's not happy with Russia after the latest deadly airstrikes on Ukraine's capital. But NPR's Michelle Kellerman tells us Trump stopped short of calling Russia an obstacle to peace.
Chapter 6: What is President Trump's stance on Russia amid the Ukraine conflict?
In an Oval Office meeting with his Norwegian counterpart, Trump said he wasn't happy that, in the midst of talking peace, missiles were flying. But he says he still thinks Russia is ready to make some concessions.
Stopping the war. Stopping taking the whole country. Pretty big concession.
But Russia doesn't even control parts of Ukraine that it claimed to have annexed in the early stages of this war. And European countries don't want to see Russia rewarded for its land grab. Norway's prime minister says he exchanged ideas with Trump on what he calls a complex picture in Ukraine and thanked him for trying to negotiate a ceasefire. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has paused parts of an executive order that critics say could disenfranchise millions of would-be voters. Among its provisions, executive order instructs the Independent Election Assistance Commission to change the National Mail Voter Registration Form. This is NPR.
People in the market to buy a home or refinance are finding slightly lower mortgage rates this week. Freddie Mac, a government-backed entity that buys mortgages from lenders, is reporting the average rate on a 30-year loan is down to 6.81%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a frequent option for refinancing, has eased to 5.94%.
Today is the 35th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce reports that this workhorse of astronomy is still doing important science.
The telescope is the size of a school bus, and to get it into orbit over 300 miles up, it took a space shuttle.
And liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery with the Hubble Space Telescope, our window on the universe.
Soon after its launch in 1990, NASA discovered the telescope's primary mirror was flawed. This Hubble trouble resulted in much public mockery. But once astronauts installed corrective optics, Hubble's gorgeous images became part of popular culture on everything from lunchboxes to U-Haul rental trucks.
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