NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-08-2026 3AM EDT

Episode Date: April 8, 2026

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Live from NPR news, I'm Jail Snyder. Iran says it has accepted a two-week ceasefire and says it will negotiate with the U.S. and Islamabad beginning Friday. Iran issued a statement after President Trump said he's pulling back on threats to attack civilian infrastructure. That came less than two hours before his Tuesday deadline for its Iran to reopen the traitor for moves. Earlier Tuesday, Trump warned that a whole civilization will die if his demands were not met, prompting more than three dozen congressional Democrats to call for him to be removed from office. Here's NPR's Eric McDaniel. Republicans control all the levers of power in Washington, but Democrats' objections do give a sense of scale to the alarm within their ranks,

following President Trump's threat that a whole civilization would die if Iran didn't accede to his demands. Here's New Jersey Democratic Representative Rob Menendez calling for the president to be removed from office immediately. A line has been crossed and we cannot wait or be silent. we must act now. Trump said he would suspend bombing Iran for two weeks, subject to Iran agreeing to open a key waterway as part of a ceasefire deal. Eric McDaniel, NPR News, Washington. The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel supports the ceasefire,

but that the deal does not cover fighting against Hezbollah and Lebanon, the Israeli military has issued a new evacuation order for southern Lebanon. In Southern California, a warehouse employee was arrested Tuesday, facing arson charges following a massive fire that destroyed the facility operated by the paper goods company, Kimberly Clark. Ontario Police Corporal Emily Williams says calls to dispatch led to the arrest. We had multiple people calling into Ontario Dispatch Ontario Fire with information. We can't get into the specifics of the information, but the information that came in from them led us to believe that it was suspicious in nature and let us to contact the suspect. Authorities say the 29-year-old suspect was employed by a third-party company at the warehouse.

Firefighters fought the blaze for several hours early Tuesday. Artemis 2 spacecraft still having plumbing problems. The toilet is working, but NPR's Nell Greenfield voice reports that astronauts are having trouble emptying the wastewater tank. Initially, the NASA team thought a vent out into space had gotten blocked by ice. But problems persisted even after they activated heaters and got the sun on that part of the spacecraft. Rick Henfling is an Artemis 2 flight director. He says the latest theory is that a chemical reaction might be making some kind of debris that's clogging a filter. Once we get the spacecraft back

into the processing facility in Florida, we'll be able to get access to all the components and do a real detailed fault tree to identify the root cause. The astronauts are set to return to Earth Friday. They do have less high-tech alternatives to the toilet they can use in the meantime. Nell Greenfield-Boice, NPR News. This is NPR. The State Department has confirmed the release of American journalist Shelley Kittleson. In a statement on social media, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is working to support Kittleson's safe departure from Iraq. Kittleson was abducted in Baghdad in late March by Interim-backed militia.

In Texas, the Board of Education is discussing a new social studies curriculum for K-12 students. critics and educators gather Tuesday outside the board meeting to protest from member station KUT. Greta Diaz-Gonzalez Vasquez reports. The changes to the curriculum are based on a new framework that emphasizes Texas and U.S. history and de-emphasizes world history. Critics say its Western and Christian approach limits students' understanding of the world. Adrian Reina, a public school teacher from San Antonio, says the curriculum is focused on Texas

and American exceptionalism. Which denies our students and our community. the opportunity to learn of some of the things that perhaps were not our shining moments, but we're also critical to help us learn some lessons about how to better deal with some of the problems that we face as a community or as a country. The board is set to take a final vote in June. The new curriculum would go into effect in 2030. I'm Greta Diaz-Gonzalez Vasquez in Austin.

Grammy winner Ray Stevens recovering at home after breaking his neck during a fall late last month. A statement on social media confirmed that Stevens was briefly hospitalized, but is now fully mobile and in good spirit. Stevens, 87 years old. His hits include the novelty song, The Streak, about the 1970s craze from running naked in public. I'm Giles Snyder in PR News.