NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-06-2026 10AM EST

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. A lawyer for the family of a five-year-old boy in Minnesota says the federal government is seeking to deport them, according to Minnesota Public Radio. Last weekend, a federal judge forced immigration officials to free five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father from an ICE detention center in Texas. The family's lawyer says a new hearing is scheduled for today, and the lawyer says the family is legally in the U.S. and has claimed asylum. A federal judge in Boston has blocked a data-sharing agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and federal immigration officials. NPR's Jude Jaffe Block reports this is the second time a federal judge has ruled against efforts to use IRS data to find and deport people. Last August, the IRS shared the addresses of 47,000 non-citizens with immigration and customs enforcement. But a federal judge in D.C. found last year that data exchange was unlawful.

Now a second federal judge, this one in Boston, has blocked ICE and the Department of Homeland Security from inspecting or using that data and has paused the data sharing agreement while the case goes forward. The judge cited taxpayer privacy laws and also raised concerns about immigration agents misidentifying people and wrongfully arresting them at their homes. A DHS spokesperson told NPR the agency disagreed with the ruling and said the government is, quote, sharing information across the federal government to solve problems. Jude Jaffe Black and PR News. Indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran have concluded in Oman. Iran's foreign minister says these were, quote, good start. It's not clear when they might resume. The Trump administration is pressing Iran over its nuclear program, ballistic missiles,

and support for militants in the Mideast. President Trump is also deploying U.S. military strength in the region. President Trump will travel to Florida today. He's scheduled to meet the new president of Honduras there tomorrow. Trump supported conservative candidate Nassar in last year's Honduran presidential election. Asforah won by less than 1% of the vote. Stocks opened higher this morning after a big sell-off yesterday. NPR Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrials are up 760 points.

Investors who were skeptical about all the money Google's parent company spending on artificial intelligence have similar questions about the payoff from Amazon's big AI investment. The online retailer and cloud computing giants says it plans to spend $200 billion on capital investments this year. Amazon shares opened lower. The price of Bitcoin has rebounded somewhat after a steep drop on Thursday. At one point, the volatile cryptocurrency had lost more than half its value from its record high last October. Toyota's making what it calls a gear shift promoting its chief financial officer to CEO in April. Toyota's global sales were up last year, but U.S. tariffs put a big dent in the company.

companies profits. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR. New federal data show that most of the Western United States is now in the grip of its warmest, driest winter in decades. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports the worsening drought is prompting environmental and economic concerns. The western states that are in the worst shape are Colorado, Utah, and Oregon. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, statewide snowpack, there is only about 50 percent of average, and that's only at high altitudes. Some ski areas have closed prematurely, but in the west

where the snowpack acts as the main water storage reservoir, cities and farmers are even more on edge. If things don't turn around, especially at lower altitudes, Noah says the wildfire risk will be even more severe going into spring. Climate scientists point to a warm weather blob stuck

in the Pacific Ocean, possibly related to rapid melting in the Arctic, that's caused it to be unseasonably warm from Montana to California. for weeks now. Kirk Sigler, NPR News, Los Angeles. Singer Lamont MacLamore has died in Las Vegas, according to his family representative. MacLamore was a founding member of the Grammy-winning group the Fifth Dimension. They had several hits, including Aquarius, Let the Sunshine in. Lamont MacLamore was 90 years old. He had suffered a stroke. MacLamore had also served in the U.S. Navy.

He was also known as a skilled photographer. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.