NPR News Now
NPR News Now

NPR News: 07-25-2026 3PM EDT

2h ago4:40795 words
0:000:00

NPR News: 07-25-2026 3PM EDTSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

EN

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Norrom.

Democrats in Maine today nominated Troy Jackson, a longer and former legislative leader

to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins.

It's one of the nation's closest watch congressional races. Kevin Miller with Maine Public Radio reports. Jackson received all but five of the 571 votes cast by Democratic delegates during a special convention. He replaces Graham Platner, an Oysterman and Marine Corps veteran who withdrew earlier this

month. Like Platner, Jackson pledged to work toward universal health care to protect abortion rights and to stand up to the Trump administration. "And are you ready to defeat Susan Collins?" "Well, unless you night this party, let's build the largest working class movement

Maine has ever seen, unless win this fight." Jackson will now face Collins, a 30-year Senate veteran who is the only Republican member of Congress from New England. For NPR News, I'm Kevin Miller. President Trump signed an executive order yesterday that takes aim at its Smithsonian Institution,

accusing it of advocating for, quote, "social justice and the radical transformation of American

society." NPR's Daniel Kurtz-Layman reports. In the order of the President references an administration report focusing on the national museum of American history. The report accuses that museum of over-emphasizing troubling aspects of American history, like

slavery and colonization, while under-emphasizing or being too negative about the nation's founders. The order directs the Secretary of the Interior to install signs near the museum to correct quote, "enacurate information and tell visitors that, quote, "the museum exhibits should be renovated."

Congress set up the institution to be independent. A Board of Regents oversees it, though government officials are on that board, including the Vice President, Supreme Court Chief Justice, and bipartisan members of Congress. Daniel Kurtz-Layman and PR News.

The Department of Energy ended clean energy grants last year of more than $7 billion.

Now, court documents show the Department based its cancellations on political grounds that

all but one of the projects were in states that had voted for the Democrat in the last presidential election. A new bridge that connects the U.S. and Canada will be open to traffic on Monday, officials and Canada held a ceremony yesterday to celebrate its completion. Representatives from the U.S. did not take part after President Trump imposed new tariffs

on Canada. Gregor Robertson is the Canadian Minister of Housing and Infrastructure. He says a big celebration wouldn't be appropriate right now. Particularly since the new tariffs kicked in, there's work to do between between our officials, between the Prime Minister and President to resolve that.

We felt it's inappropriate to have a big joint celebration when we're working through those challenges.

President Trump had announced 50 percent tariffs on a variety of Canadian projects.

This is NPR. After weeks of protest, India's Education Minister resigned today, the protest led by young people, began after the leak of a medical entrance exam in May, canceling results for about 2 million students. Demonstrations have expanded since then to anger over unemployment and a lack of government

accountability. Officials in Albany, New York, say the war with Iran is delaying the city's plan to add fluoride to the water supply. Grant Ashley with Member Station WAMC reports. Albany approved a plan to Florida its water to promote dental health more than two years ago.

Now the city says it can't obtain the chemicals it needs because of supply chain issues stemming from the ongoing war with Iran. Albany Common Council Member Tom Howie, who sponsored the city's fluoridation plan, said Albany isn't alone. It's throughout the country, naturally throughout the world, that there is a shortage right

now. And a lot of places that do fluorinate had a cutback on the amount of fluoridation in the water because there's none of supply. Israel is one of the world's top exporters of fluorosolicic acid, but the association of metropolitan water agencies notes they are producing less.

Thanks to many workers being called into active military service. For NPR News, I'm Grant Ashley. Happy World Rounding Prevention Day to those who celebrate. It's held every July 25th to rail awareness that drowning deaths are preventable and to promote actions that save lives.

The World Health Organization says everyone has a role to play in preventing deaths. I'm Nora Rom, NPR News.

Just over a year, it'll Congress eliminated more than a billion dollars in funding for public

media. We have not backed down. When you donate to independent nonprofits that make up the NPR network, we hold the powerful to account together. It's the kind of journalism democracy requires that we the public need to protect.

Don't wait. Many of people who power this work before the month is out at theplus.npr.org.

Compare and Explore