NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-30-2026 4AM EDT

Episode Date: May 30, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roman. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is calling on Asian allies to ramp up military spending. He was addressing a regional defense summit in Singapore. NPR's Jennifer Park reports. Secretary Hegseth told a room full of military defense officials and diplomats that there is rightful alarm at what he called China's historic military buildup. That a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power and undermine the equilibrium we all seek to preserve.

He was less clear on how to prevent an escalation and did not clarify the status of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and the Iran war, key issues affecting Asian allies. Heg Seth also touted better U.S.-China relations coming off what he called a historic summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. Jennifer Pack, NPR News, Singapore. The NDSB is taking the lead on the investigation into Friday morning's

deadly bus crash on Interstate 95 south of Washington, D.C. Five people died, at least 34 others were injured. The Virginia State Police said its preliminary investigation showed that other vehicles were beginning to slow down as they entered a work zone and the bus did not reduce its speed. Charges are pending against the driver. The Trump administration is moving to get rid of rules that would have forced some companies to tell investors about the risks they face from climate change. NPRs, Cople Copley reports publicly traded firms would also have had to disclose how they plan to meet the targets to cut climate pollution. A lot of businesses have been voluntarily disclosing some climate information to investors. Under former President Biden, financial regulators issued rules to ensure the information investors get is consistent and comparable.

But the Securities and Exchange Commission now says it doesn't have the legal authority to carry out those rules. It also says the rules would have imposed undue costs on companies and their shareholders. environmental groups criticize the move, saying investors need more information about the threats businesses face from climate change. The rules have been on hold amid pending litigation. Michael Copley, NPR News. Louisiana Friday enacted new congressional districts that could help gain Republicans one more seat in the House of Representatives. State Representative Senator Royce Duplidus said the map will face new legal challenges. We know we're going to end up right back in court because this map is a racially gerrymandered map.

no matter how they try to spin it, it's clearly racially gerrymandered, and again, it's a race to the bottom. We're building a house on quicksand, and we're doing a huge disservice to our state, both financially and morally. AAA says the nationwide average price of a gallon of gasoline dropped three cents to $3.49 a gallon. Diesel, the main fuel in trucking and the railroad industry also declined. The White House insists energy prices will continue to fall. This is NPR. The governor of New Jersey, Mikey Sherrill, has announced the creation of a protective protest zone outside of an ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey. Bruce Cornweiser reports the move comes after a week of conflict between the protesters and federal agents.

Tensions rose outside the Delaney Hall detention center over the past week as protesters clashed with ice agents on multiple occasions. Governor Mikey Sherrill said the violence is unacceptable. Her plan for the protected zone would task New Jersey State Police with keeping order instead of ICE agents. We know what ICE has done in other states, and we know American citizens lost their lives. We all need to do everything we can to cool things down now. Demonstrations erupted amid reports that hundreds of detainees are on a hunger and labor strike over poor conditions. ICE insists that conditions are fine, but when state health officials sought to inspect Delaney Hall, they were denied full access. For NPR news, I'm Bruce Convizer in Greenbrook, New Jersey.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., says President Trump's name must be removed from the Kennedy Center and the board that made that change acted illegally. Judge Christopher Cooper also blocked the board from temporarily closing the Arts Center for what Trump said is a two-year-needed renovation. Cooper ruled that Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name and only Congress could change it. A Kennedy Center official told NPR they planned. to appeal. In his social media post Friday, Trump blasted the decision. He insisted the Kennedy Center was in financial trouble. The judge ordered the signs at the Kennedy Center be removed in 14 days.

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