NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-01-2025 2AM 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.

At least 21 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip as they went to receive aid from an Israeli-backed foundation. The Red Cross says another 175 people were wounded. Witnesses say Israeli troops fired on crowds that were waiting near the delivery sites. When President Trump first announced his tariffs, he said he would have 90 trade deals in place in 90 days. We're now halfway through that 90 days and NPR's Ron Elving says he's still a long way from that goal. We have seen a big new trade deal with Great Britain, big splashy announcement, details to follow someday. As for the rest of Europe, the European

Union, those talks are in Trump's own words, going nowhere. So he has threatened the EU with 50% tariffs on everything, which he then paused until July 9th. Meanwhile, talks with China seem to have gone backwards, and it doesn't help that the US now wants to revoke the visas for Chinese students going to school in the US. That's NPR's Ron Elving. Millions of Americans are under a health alert this weekend because of compromised air quality. It's being caused by out of control wildfires in the Canadian province of Manitoba. NPR's Alana Weiss reports that thick billowing clouds of smoke have swept through at least three states

in the Northern US. Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota have all issued air quality alerts for their residents. This comes as 17,000 Manitobans have been forced to flee their homes as dangerous fires cut through the province's prized wildlands. The evacuation effort is the largest in recent history for Manitoba. These fires come on the heels of two consecutive years of devastating wildfire seasons. In all three affected states, experts warn that the air quality is unsafe for people like children and the elderly.

In Minnesota, which is projected to be the hardest hit, the air quality will be reduced to the point of danger for sensitive groups and some members of the general public. Alana Wise, NPR News. Chicago gang boss Larry Hoover's family and supporters are asking Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker for a commutation. The request follows a federal commutation from President Trump. From Ember Station WBEZ, Mawa Iqbal explains. The 74-year-old Hoover helped form the notorious Gangster Disciples in Chicago during the 1960s. President Trump commuted Hoover's federal prison sentence Wednesday, but Hoover still faces time in prison for a

state sentence. His wife Wendy Jenkins says she hasn't hugged her husband in over 50 years. We just want him to come home so he can have his final days with the love and compassion and respect that we all have for each other within our family. Hoover's family says their optimistic Pritzker will commute his sentence. A spokesperson wouldn't say what Pritzker thinks of releasing Hoover, but says the governor takes the clemency process, quote, very seriously. For NPR News, I'm Mawa Iqbal in Springfield, Illinois.

And you're listening to NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News. The Indiana Pacers have clinched their spot in the NBA Finals after a Game 6 win over the New York Knicks. The Pacers won 125-1 at weight. They'll now face the Oklahoma City Thunder for the championship as NPR's Becky Sullivan reports. The Pacers set the tone for this series with an improbable Game 1 comeback. Tide scores and shots beyond belief followed with celebrities like

Timothy Chalamet, Caitlin Clark and Spike Lee watching from the sidelines. The Knicks took game three with the comeback of their own, but then fell behind three games to one. On Saturday night in Indianapolis, New York hung close in the first half, but their turnovers caught up with them, 18 and all. And Indiana took advantage, led by stars Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Halliburton. In the finals, the Pacers will face the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder had one of the best regular seasons of all time.

Neither Oklahoma City nor Indiana have ever won an NBA title. Game one is Wednesday. Becky Sullivan, NPR News. Coco Goff has moved into the fourth round of the French tennis open for the fifth consecutive year. She had a 6175 win over Marie Boscova. The second seed golf will now play Ekaterina Alexandrová. Golf was the runner up to Iga Switek in Paris in 2022. About 1100 people turned out Saturday for the inaugural Godreau Family 5K Walk, Run and Family Day in New Jersey.

The event is named after professional hockey players Matthew and John Godreau, the brothers who were killed last year while riding their bicycles. The accident occurred on the eve of their sister's wedding. Thousands of other people attended the fundraiser online. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.