NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-02-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: June 2, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The investigation continues a day after a brutal attack on a peaceful march in Boulder, Colorado. Protesters were calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. During the event, a man attacked the demonstrators with a flamethrower and Molotov cocktail, injuring eight people. Megan Verley with Colorado Public Radio reports Jewish leaders, lawmakers and advocacy groups are calling it a clear act of terrorism. Colorado's attorney general called it a hate crime. Our governor, who's

Jewish noted that it occurred hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. And for some of the people we talked to in the Jewish community, what we really heard was this feeling that they wanted to say they were surprised by what happened, but after the killing of Israeli embassy workers in D.C. last month and the attack on the governor's mansion in Pennsylvania, they just weren't. Megan Burleigh of Colorado Public Radio reporting. Facebook and Instagram owner Meta is planning to automate its efforts to review its products for risks, including to the privacy of its users. NPR's Shannon Bond reports Meta is moving some work

toward artificial intelligence rather than relying on humans. For years when Meta launched new features and products, human reviewers evaluated possible risks to privacy, to teen users, to the prevalence of toxic content. Now the company aims to automate up to 90% of risk assessments using a system powered by artificial intelligence,

according to internal documents obtained by NPR. The change will allow product developers to release app updates and features more quickly. Meta says only quote, low low-risk decisions are being automated. But the internal documents reviewed by NPR show that Meta is considering automating reviews for sensitive areas, including AI safety and youth risk. Shannon Bond, NPR News. Meta is a financial supporter of NPR.

The United Nations says it's unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food. NPR's Michelle Kelliman reports. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it has delivered six million meals in its first week in operations in southern Gaza and has denied reports of chaos and shootings near its distribution sites. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, though, says he was appalled by reports that some Palestinians were killed trying to reach one of those sites

on Sunday. He's calling for an immediate and independent investigation and reminding Israel that it has, quote, clear obligations to facilitate aid into Gaza. The UN is not taking part in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The U.S. says the UN is wrong to criticize the foundation, which it says is trying to make sure Hamas doesn't benefit from aid. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. This is NPR News. Wildfires have forced more than 25,000 people to evacuate their homes in three provinces across central Canada.

A state of emergency has been declared in Manitoba one of the hardest hit areas. Forecasters say the blazes are being fueled by hot, dry weather in the province. Smoke from the wildfires is starting to drift south into the United States, affecting air quality across the plains and parts of the upper Midwest. Climate change is warming the north and south poles faster than the rest of the planet. NPR's Lauren Summer reports, new research shows there could be an unexpected source of cooling. Penguins. There are big penguin colonies in Antarctica,

and a lot of penguins means a lot of poop. Researchers from the University of Helsinki were studying the atmosphere there and noticed fog forming around a colony of Adelie penguins. They measured large amounts of ammonia gas coming from the penguin waste. That gas creates particles that become the seeds for clouds to form. Researchers

say that could be cooling Antarctica, which matters to the rest of the planet because ice melting at the poles is causing sea levels to rise around the world. Lauren Sommer, NPR News. Weather officials say they're anticipating an above-average hurricane season. Forecasters have so far named at least 19 storms. Staffing and resources to track hurricanes is a major concern this season. That's after the Trump administration fired hundreds of employees and cut some climate research programs. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News in Washington.