NPR News: 07-28-2025 11AM EDT

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NPR News Now 4 min 4 speakers 5 chapters transcribed 26 days ago

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What are the key details of the new US‑EU tariff agreement?

Nora Rahm 0:00

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has welcomed the tariff agreement struck this weekend between the United States and the European Union. As Esme Nicholson reports, the deal will impose a fifteen percent import tariff on most EU goods, and it ends months of uncertainty.

Esme Nicholson 0:20

Friedrich Merz says Germany has been able to preserve its core interests and avoid an unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations. While the agreed tariff rate is half as much as the White House originally proposed, Germany's Federation of Industries calls it an inadequate compromise that will have immense negative effects on Germany's export oriented industry. In addition to a 15% base rate on EU imports, Brussels has agreed to purchase $750 billion worth of energy products and invest a further $600 billion in the United States over the coming years. Economists warn that the asymmetrical deal will raise prices for consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.

How might the 15% tariff affect back‑to‑school expenses for American families?

Esme Nicholson 1:04

For MPI News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.

Nora Rahm 1:07

Back to school time is approaching and the tariffs that go into effect this Friday may make it more expensive to equip students for the new year. Angela Hanks is chief of policy programs at the Century Foundation. A progressive think tank that conducts research and proposes policy changes. She says the tariffs may affect a range of items on the back to school list.

Unknown 1:28

Backpacks or pencils or computers uh or food uh for school lunches. Uh there are a number of expenses, and I think Americans are worried that all of those things will be made more expensive by uh tariffs this year.

Nora Rahm 1:40

She says many items are produced in China subject to a thirty percent tariff.

Why do human‑rights groups claim Israel’s actions in Gaza could constitute genocide?

Nora Rahm 1:45

Two leading Israeli human rights organization say they've examined Israel's war in Gaza from a health perspective, and they believe that Israel's actions constitute genocide under the nineteen forty-eight Genocide Convention, a UN treaty. NPR's Emily Fang has more.

Emily Fang 2:01

Israel's Betzelem and the Israeli branch for the organization, Physicians for Human Rights, both say in separate reports that Israel's military's actions in Gaza have destroyed the enclave's health care system. In a manner, quote, both calculated and systematic, and that Israel's military has conducted intentional attacks on medical personnel and facilities. Physicians for Human Rights argues the assault on Gaza's healthcare system is quote part of a deliberate policy targeting Palestinians as a group. and therefore constitutes genocide under the nineteen forty eight convention, which was largely conceived as a response to the Holocaust. David Menzer, a spokesperson for Israel's Prime Minister, told reporters the office quote, strongly rejects the report's findings.

Emily Fang 2:44

Mencer said Israel's military targets, quote, terrorists and never civilians. Emily Fang and Pure News Tel Aviv.

Nora Rahm 2:52

Checking stocks, the Dow is down thirty-two points, the S P is up four. This is NPR News in Washington. The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand agreed today to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Deadly border cla clashes now in the fifth day have killed dozens of people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Meaning in Malaysia the leaders committed to halt hostilities and to resume direct communications. A new report by the Government Accountability Office finds the Census Bureau is planning to make some changes to preparations for the next national headcount. As NPR's Hanse Lewong reports, the results of the twenty thirty census will be used to redistribute political representation and federal funds to communities across the country.

How is the Census Bureau planning to use satellite images and AI for the 2030 count?

Hansi Lewong 3:39

Before the Census Bureau tries to get a count of all US residents once a decade, it puts together a list of all the country's home addresses. Ahead of the twenty twenty count, the Bureau hired door knockers to help verify about a third of those addresses. But Yvonne Jones of the Government Accountability Office says this decade the Bureau is not planning to hire those temporary workers. Instead, it's going to rely more on satellite images and have the Bureau's staff and AI analyze them.