NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-05-2026 3AM EST

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

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Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. With the conflict in the Middle East now in a sixth day, an effort to rein in President Trump's authority to wage war failed on Capitol Hill. Senate Republicans blocked a war powers resolution Wednesday. NPR's Claudia Grisales. Largely along partisan lines, the vote failed by 47 to 53. We only saw one Republican join. Most Democrats to vote yes on this measure.

That was Rand Paul of Kentucky. He's been a co-sponsor on several of these resolutions. And Democrats also saw a defection as Pennsylvania, Senator John Federman, agreed with most Republicans voting the measure down. The House is to vote on its own war powers resolution later today. Iran's foreign minister is warning that the U.S. will bitterly regret the sinking of an Iranian frigate in international waters off Sri Lanka, saying in a social media post that the U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea. Defense Secretary Pete Hegas said Wednesday the ship was sunk by a U.S. Navy submarine. Dozens of Iranian sailors were killed.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior is in Venezuela discussing a rare earth minerals deal with the government. In Peres-Ader-Peralta reports it's another sign of re-engagement following the U.S. capture President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela's caretaker president, Desi Rodriguez, received Interior Secretary Doug Bergam with smiles, and the talk was all about Venezuela's rich subsoil. Venezuela is a rich, rich country filled with both oil and gas resources, but also rich in critical minerals. Last month, it was the U.S. Energy Secretary pushing for oil deals with Venezuela. Now, Bergam brought along more than two dozen critical mineral executives, who he said were ready to invest in Venezuela.

Rodriguez said she was willing to fast-track legislation that would allow exploration. China dominates a vast majority of rare earth processing, and the U.S. sees tapping into Venezuela's resources as a way to disrupt that dominance. Adapalta, Empire News, Caracas. Elon Musk is expected to be back at a San Francisco court today for a civil trial. Former Twitter investors accused him of fraudulently scheming to depress the company's stock price as he moved to buy the social media company back in 2022. Sarah Hossini at member station KQED reports.

On the stand Wednesday, Musk downplayed any potential impact of public statements he made, that some investors say inspired them to prematurely sell their stock. In one tweet, Musk said the deal was temporarily on hold. In others, he criticized Twitter's analysis of spam bots. Plaintiffs argue he was motivated by a dip in Tesla's worth, money he intended to use to buy Twitter. Musk said his tweets were simply about speaking his mind, not swaying stock prices, adding that those investors who held on to their shares did well in the end. For MPR News, I'm saying, Sarah Hosseini. This is NPR. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Norona has released findings from a multi-year investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Providence. The findings released Wednesday

show an estimated 75 priests abused more than 300 children since 1950, and that diocesan leaders often moved, accused priests to minimize scandal, and largely avoided contacting law enforcement. The church disputes the reports conclude. and says abuse is not ongoing. Three priests in Narona's office has charged our awaiting trial. A fourth died after being deemed incompetent to stand trial in 2022. The photographer credited with shooting a famous image during the Vietnam War has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix. Empires Mendelite Del Barco reports. Associated Press photographer Nick Ut when a Pulitzer Prize for his shot of a naked girl running with outstretched arms after her Vietnamese village was bombed in 19. titled The Terror of War. It was one of the most famous images of the Vietnam War. Last year, Netflix aired The Stringer, a documentary that questioned whether Oet really shot the so-called Napalm girl image. Filmmaker Gary Knight suggested a photo credit should have gone to a freelance photographer in Vietnam.

Oud maintains that claim is false, and his attorneys asked Netflix not to distribute the film. Now they filed a criminal defamation lawsuit in France, where Netflix's distribution. and promoted the documentary and where the film's production house is based. Outs says the documentary has damaged his reputation and brought shame upon him. Mandalay-del-Barco, NPR News. Listen to this podcast, sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR NewsNowplus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.