NPR News: 07-21-2025 1PM EDT
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Why is Texas holding a special session to redraw congressional maps before the 2025 elections?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. With an eye toward the midterm elections and the balance of power in Congress, Republican lawmakers in Texas are holding a special legislative session and are set to redraw the state's congressional maps. And Pierre's Hanzi Lo Wong reports on why Governor Greg Abbott is pushing for new maps five years before the next census.
Abbott pointed to a letter he received this month from the Justice Department under the Trump administration. And that letter claims the map that Republican lawmakers passed back in 2021 is unconstitutional. You know, a lot of legal experts are skeptical of the letter's reasoning, though, because President Trump has been vocal about wanting a new map that he thinks can get Republicans five more seats in Texas.
and Pierre's Hansi Lo Wong reporting.
What sentence is former police detective Brett Hankison facing for the 2020 raid that killed Brianna Taylor?
A federal judge in Louisville is expected to hand down a sentence this afternoon for former police detective Brett Hankison. Hankison was convicted last fall of violating the rights of Brianna Taylor during a botched twenty twenty raid. That ended in her killing. Roberta rolled on with Louisville Public Media has the tales.
The U.S. Probation Office recommended Hankison receive eleven to fourteen years in prison, but last week the Department of Justice endorsed a one-day jail sentence and questioned whether Hankison should have been prosecuted in the first place. Lawyers representing Taylor's family called the DOJ's sentencing memo a slap in the face, and they urged the judge to deliver justice. Taylor's mother and the people involved in the protest movement that her killing fueled in 2020 are expected to be. Expected to be at the courthouse this afternoon. Hankison's conviction came during his third criminal trial. He was acquitted of state charges in twenty twenty two, and his first federal trial resulted in a hung jury.
For MPR News, I'm Roberto Roldan in Louisville.
Who is the extradited Ecuadorian drug lord ‘Fito’ and how was he captured?
Ecuador's most notorious narcotics leader is now in the United States and is expected to face drug and weapons charges in federal court today. NPR's Kerry Kahn reports the gang. Was extradited or leader rather was extradited to the US after his dramatic arrest in Ecuador earlier this year.
Jose Aldofo Macias Villar, known as Fito, is the alleged head of Ecuador's powerful narcotics game Los Troneros. According to the US Attorney's Office in New York, Macias was extradited Sunday from Ecuador. In an indictment unsealed earlier this year, Macias faces seven counts, including conspiracy to traffic cocaine and firearm smuggling. Macias had escaped twice from Ecuadorian prisons. He was recaptured in a stunning operation last month where he was found hiding in an elaborate bunker under a coastal villa.
Why is Harvard University suing the federal government over a $2.6 billion research‑funding cut?
In a recently passed referendum, Ecuadorians voted to allow extradition of its citizens as violence and homicides have skyrocketed in the once peaceful South American nation. This is NPR News.
Harvard University appeared in federal court today, seeking to get back the two point six billion dollars the Trump administration cut in research funding. Harvard argues that the federal government is retaliating in a bit to influence the Ivy League's academic decisions. The administration says its policies are part of a broader attempt to rein in spending. There was no immediate ruling on the matter. President Trump is threatening to scuttle a plan to build a new stadium for Washington DC's professional football team if the team does not change its name back to the Washington Redskins. And Pierre's Rob Stein has that story.
How could former President Trump block the Washington Commanders stadium plan over the team’s name?
The team changed its name to the Washington Commanders after years of complaints that the original name was offensive to Indigenous Americans, but in two posts on the True Social Network, the president threatened to quote, put a restriction on the plan if the commanders don't switch their name back. Congress recently gave the DC government control over federal land in the city for a multiple. multi billion dollar plan to redevelop the property into a new stadium that would let the team move back to Washington from Maryland.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why is Texas holding a special session to redraw congressional maps before the 2025 elections?
0:01–0:53
2
What sentence is former police detective Brett Hankison facing for the 2020 raid that killed Brianna Taylor?
0:53–1:54
3
Who is the extradited Ecuadorian drug lord ‘Fito’ and how was he captured?
1:54–2:44
4
Why is Harvard University suing the federal government over a $2.6 billion research‑funding cut?
2:44–3:41
5
How could former President Trump block the Washington Commanders stadium plan over the team’s name?
3:41–4:38