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Episode Date: May 8, 2026

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The Virginia Supreme Court has struck down a Democratic-backed redistricting plan. The ruling helps advance the Republican Party's redistricting campaign to secure more U.S. House seats in this year's midterm elections. Meanwhile, in Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee has signed a new congressional map that divides a state's majority black district covering Memphis, giving Republicans an advantage. And now Alabama lawmakers may hold a vote today on a plan to set. new U.S. House primaries if the courts allow redistricting in the state. The U.S. is still waiting for Iran's response to a proposal for ending the war as new clashes continue to test their formal ceasefire. Top House Democrat Congressman Adam Smith says Iran is showing no signs of meeting U.S.

demands. When this war started, Iran was weak and negotiating over that nuclear program. We've made no progress whatsoever. We have not degraded their nuclear program at all during the course of this war. World Health Organization says a number of confirmed or suspected cases of the Hanta virus linked to a Dutch flag cruise ship in the Atlantic remains unchanged at eight. Ari Daniel reports health experts say the risks to the public remain low. Authorities are relying on a time-tested approach for limiting the transmission of the Hanta virus, contact tracing. It involves locating the close contacts of those at high risk of infection.

Preeti Malani is an infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan. By identifying people who are at risk of infection, you try to get ahead when people don't have symptoms yet with the goal of preventing the infection from continuing to propagate. Precautions can be taken with high-risk individuals, including quarantine, so they don't accidentally come into contact with even more people and spread the illness further. Public health officials believe this approach will help keep the hauntavirus outbreak contained. For NPR News, I'm Marie Daniel. California, an epicenter of the housing crisis.

in the United States will soon have one agency overseeing the programs intended to address affordability in housing. From member station KQED, Audity Bamblant Moody reports. Right now, housing developers say they have to navigate the state's nine different agencies overseeing some 40 programs. Sarah Karlinski is with UC Berkeley's Turner Center for Housing Innovation. When she compared California's system to other states, she found that 80% of them had a more consolidated system. Successful states, they have really high capacity, well-trained staff who work very well together.

And while achieving this in a fragmented system might not be impossible, it's easier to do if there is some type of consolidation. The new state agency will include separate departments for homelessness, financing, and civil rights. The governor's office recently reported the number of people living outside decreased by 9% last year.

For NPR news, I'm Aditi Bandlamudi, San Francisco. It's NPR News. A major rescue operation is underway amid a volcanic eruption in eastern Indonesia. Naina Rowney says more than a dozen people have been evacuated so far. A massive volcanic eruption has claimed the lives of at least three hikers on Indonesia's Mount Dukono in Halmahera Island. The volcano erupted on Friday, blasting a thick pillar of ash and rock nearly 33,000 feet. into the sky. Among the dead are two Singaporean nationals and one Indonesian citizen. Authorities say as many as 20 hikers were trapped near the crater when the eruption began. While a climbing ban had been in place for weeks due to increased activity, officials note that the mountain lacks an official

registration post, which allowed hikers to bypass warnings and enter via unofficial paths to view the crater. For NPR News, I'm Naira Rav. in Jakarta. Employers in the U.S. added 115,000 jobs in April, according to the Labor Department's latest report, saying higher than what economists

had expected. It marks another solid month of employment growth after the U.S. economy added 185,000 jobs in March, higher than the 178,000 initially reported. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%. Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta

challenging Britain's media regulator offcom. Meta told London's High Court yesterday opposed to how fees and penalties under the Online Safety Act are calculated. This is NPR News.