NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-01-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: June 1, 2025

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This is Ira Glass with This American Life, each week on our show. We choose a theme, tell different stories on that theme. All right, I'm just going to stop right there. You're listening to an NPR podcast, chances are you know our show. So instead, I'm going to tell you, we've just been on a run of really good shows lately. Some big epic emotional stories, some weird funny stuff too. Download us, This American Life. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. According to a report released Friday,

the United Nations nuclear watchdog says Iran has greatly increased its stockpile of weapons-grade uranium. Almost immediately, Israel said Iran's program is not peaceful. NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi reports. A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency delivered a warning to Iran saying

that it was concerned that the country now has enough enriched uranium to theoretically make one atomic bomb. Following the release of the report, Israel accused Iran of being determined to complete its nuclear weapons program. It also called on the international community to quote, act now to stop Iran. Iran and the US have recently held several rounds of talks about Iran's nuclear capabilities. Trump said on Friday that he thinks a deal could be reached

in the quote, not too distant future and that Iran doesn't quote, want to be blown up. Hadil Alshalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Canadian firefighters are trying to control wildfires burning across that country's northwestern region. 17,000 people have been forced from their homes in remote communities in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. And the premier of Manitoba, Wab Kanu, says the hot, dry weather that's helping to drive

the fires is expected to continue. The climate is clearly changing. Just for our province's history, typically we'd have wildfires in one region, say east, west, north. This have wildfires in one region, say east, west, north. This year it's in every region and at the same time. So going forward, we're going to have to scale up our wildfire fighting efforts as well as talking about mitigation. Smoke from the fires meanwhile has triggered air quality alerts as far away as Chicago.

As the spring tornado season continues in the U.S., meteorologists are using new technology to confirm and classify tornadoes. Karen Zahr with Member Station WUKY reports on work being done following the latest tornado that hit Kentucky on Friday. Officials with the National Weather Service use high-tech equipment like drones grabbing aerial views and phone apps that estimate wind speed based on damage. Lead forecaster Brian Schottmer and his team also surveyed damage on the ground. At their first stop, Schottmer said an EF1 tornado touched down. It looks like the debris from this particular structure was thrown to the north of the path

and since the storm was moving east or northeast, that indicates to me that it was thrown almost counterclockwise. After stopping at another site where a home had been ripped off its foundation, they upgraded the tornado to an EF-2 with wind speeds reaching 125 miles per hour. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in Springfield, Kentucky. Russian forces are continuing to attack Ukraine this weekend. Drone and missile attacks this weekend have killed at least two people, including a nine-year-old girl. There is uncertainty meanwhile around whether Ukraine diplomats will attend a new round

of peace talks proposed by Russia. Those talks would be held in Istanbul. You're listening to NPR News. A passenger train has derailed in western Russia after a bridge collapsed. Local officials say at least seven people were killed and 30 others injured. They say the cause of the accident was illegal interference in transport operations, but they've not explained exactly what that means. The crash occurred in Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.

A ceremony in New Orleans has honored 19 black Americans whose skulls were shipped to Germany in the late 1800s for racial research. Those remains were recently repatriated and laid to rest in the city where they had died. And Piers, Alina Seljuk reports. Samuel Prince was a 40 year old cook who died of tuberculosis at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

He was among 19 black patients whose heads were removed and shipped to Germany for study in then popular pseudoscience that purported connections between skull shapes and intellect or morality, often with racist motives. More than a century later, the University of Leipzig has now returned those remains to be interred back in New Orleans in a memorial service led by Dillard University. Justice carries 19 men and women home. May they walk freely in the city of God in dignity and in honor.

The ceremony featured multi-faith prayers, an African drum and dance procession, and a jazz band. Alina Selouk, NPR News. Thousands of people, including many who took part virtually, took part in the inaugural Godreau Family 5K Walk Run and Family Day on Saturday in Sewell, New Jersey. The event is named after NHL hockey players John and Matthew Godreau. The brothers were killed last August while riding bicycles the night before their sister's

wedding. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. sweating. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.