Month: April 2025

On Monday morning in Rome Cardinal Kevin Farrell Camerlengo or Cardinal Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church announced the death of Pope Francis I.

That was followed some 17 hours later by the rite of ascertainment. A formal acknowledgement of Francis’ death…and the transfer of his body to his coffin.

And it’s one a few of the many centuries-old rituals that will play out over the next several days as the church mourns Pope Francis.

There will be the mourning of the faithful as Francis’ body lies in St. Peter’s Basilica. A funeral, where Francis will be remembered by his fellow priests, followers and world leaders. Then, the Conclave where the College of Cardinals will meet to choose his successor.

Pope Francis has died at 88. Now the church has to chart a course without his leadership. Who will be his successor, and what path will he choose?

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Viktor Orban is in his fourth consecutive term as Prime Minister of Hungary. In that time, he has dismantled democratic checks and balances, taken control of the country’s media, civil society and universities, and consolidated power in him and his Fidesz party.

NPR’s Rob Schmitz looks at how Orban’s step-by-step dismantling of Hungary’s democracy has become a point of fascination for political scientists around the world, including those advising the Trump administration.

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This week, two federal judges handling separate immigration cases escalated their attempts to get the Trump administration to comply with court orders.

One case involves President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, the 18th-century wartime law, to deport migrants without due process.

The other is about the wrongful deportation, also without due process, of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and the government’s refusal to bring him back to the U.S.

The growing conflicts point to a potential constitutional crisis, where the president openly defies the country’s highest court — or at least, as one legal scholar maintains, a crisis at the Supreme Court.

Our guest is University of Virginia professor Amanda Frost, who specializes in immigration and citizenship law.

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When it comes to the cost of raising a child from infancy to the age of 17 in the United States – it’s hard to settle on a precise figure.

There’s one thing we do know – it’s going to be expensive.

By some estimates, raising a kid, who was born in 2015, could cost a middle class family close to $320,000 over 17 years.

That money goes to childcare, healthcare, food, clothes, education, transportation, activities, toys, and a lot more. All of those things will be affected – one way or another – by the Trump administration’s tariff policy.

And the companies that sell products geared at those raising kids – they’re going to feel the pinch as well. One CEO argues it could even mean certain products will become unavailable.

Being a parent in the U.S. is already expensive. Slapping tariffs on the products kids use could make it more so.

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The Trump administration’s move to send immigrants to a maximum security prison in El Salvador is the subject of multiple on-going fights in court.

But in an Oval Office meeting with the Salvadoran president this week, President Trump was already looking ahead.

“We also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters. I’d like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country,” Trump said.

Trump later clarified that by “homegrown criminals” he meant U.S. citizens.

No president has tried to do exactly what Trump is proposing.

In this episode, we hear from someone who argues it’s wildly unconstitutional.

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President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency team, or DOGE, appears to be grabbing sensitive data from all over the government.

A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress about concerning activity on the systems at one independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board.

Elon Musk says DOGE is searching for savings throughout the government. But is the data being accessed valuable?

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Measles is an extremely contagious disease. It’s also extremely preventable. There’s a vaccine. It’s highly effective.

For decades it has made measles outbreaks in the U.S. relatively rare, and measles deaths rarer still. But the U.S. has now seen more than 700 measles cases this year, and 3 deaths so far with active outbreaks across six states.

The federal response is under scrutiny because Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has made a career spreading false information about vaccines.

What are this administration’s views on vaccines, and what do they mean for what is already one of the worst U.S. measles outbreaks this century.

Kennedy publicly promised he would support vaccines. Dr. Peter Marks, who was forced out as the nation’s top vaccine regulator says his department isn’t doing enough.

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The Trump administration admitted that it wrongfully deported a man named Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

It had also been arguing that courts cannot compel the U.S. government to return him to this country.

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously determined the government must “facilitate” his release from the El Salvador prison where he is being held, but the Department of Justice has so far only confirmed his presence at that prison.

If he is not returned to this country to face due process, people following this case point out a troubling implication: The government could potentially send anyone to a foreign prison – regardless of citizenship – with no legal recourse.

Harvard University emeritus professor of constitutional law Laurence Tribe explains his argument.

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For weeks, President Trump has been targeting certain law firms with executive orders. Some have fought back, but others have cut deals to avoid the damage.

For our weekly Reporter’s Notebook series, we dive into this legal drama with NPR’s Justice Correspondent Ryan Lucas, to see how this use of executive power is changing the landscape of the American legal system.

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During his second Presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to carry out the largest deportation program the U.S. has ever seen.

And true to his word – Trump’s administration is arresting, detaining and deporting immigrants without legal status.

But as part of the crackdown on illegal immigration, legal immigrants are getting caught up in the mix.

And then there’s people like Amir Makled – a U.S. Citizen and lawyer. Makled was detained by Border agents at a Detroit airport as he returned from a family vacation in the Caribbean.

How is the Trump administration’s immigration policy changing who is getting arrested and detained?

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