NPR News: 05-06-2026 8AM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. President Trump is claiming, quote, great progress toward an agreement with Iran. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports he is pausing the U.S. military operation to help guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The announcement to pause what Trump calls Project Freedom came just hours after the president expressed frustration to reporters that Iranian leaders had yet to capitulate after two months of a U.S. military and economic pressure campaign. They should wave the white flag of surrender. In hockey, they say, uncle, right? When are they going to cry uncle? But by the afternoon, the president was saying they were close to a deal. And he was calling off the action at the request of the Pakistani mediators to see if an agreement can be finalized and signed. Trump emphasized that the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports would remain in effect. Franco, Ordonez, NPR News. More than 30 people are dead after Russia targeted several cities across eastern Ukraine. Ukraine responded with drone strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea. The attacks came hours before a Ukrainian ceasefire went into effect NPR Charles Means reports from Moscow Kiev said it was imposing an open ceasefire as of midnight Wednesday In effect, it's a challenge to Moscow to extend its own proposed truce May 8th and 9th, when Russia commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Russian fears of Ukrainian drone attacks have already forced the Kremlin to scale back its annual military parade on Red Square this Saturday. Russian authorities say the restrictions are temporary measures in the interests of public safety. Analysts say the blackouts have focused growing public frustration with the war in Ukraine itself now in its fifth year. Charles Maines, NPR News, Moscow. Indiana and Ohio held primaries yesterday. In Ohio, former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown won his race to take on incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Husted. Brown is trying to return to the Senate. He lost his seat in 2024. In Michigan, Democrats won a special election for a seat in the state Senate. They'll keep control of the Michigan chamber through the end of the year. From member station WCMU, Rick Brewer reports. The 35th state Senate district is considered a key bellwether in Michigan politics Republicans used Governor Gretchen Whitmer record delay calling this special election to try and mobilize voters among other strategies But they weren enough to defeat Democrat Shedrick Green a retired Marine and fire captain, from racking up roughly 60% of the vote in the Purple District. This is a win for affordability. For people who do everything right but still struggle because their wages aren't keeping up with the soaring prices. Leaders in the Michigan Democratic Party said the win gives them huge momentum going into the November midterms. Rick Brewer reporting. You're listening to NPR. Five major publishers, along with best-selling author Scott Turow, have joined a class-action lawsuit against big tech company Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports they allege Meta built generative AI models using stolen copyrighted works. The plaintiffs argue Meta copied materials from notorious pirate websites to train its Lama language model, with Mark Zuckerberg's personal authorisation to do so. In a statement to NPR, author Scott Turow condemns Meta for violating copyright laws. Quote, The bold future promised by AI has been created with stolen words. The publishers and author are seeking statutory damages a permanent injunction against further use of their works and an order requiring the tech giant to destroy all infringing copies of copyrighted materials Meta notes that courts have found some training AI on copyrighted material can qualify as fair use and says it plans to fight the lawsuit aggressively. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. The iconic rock band, The Rolling Stones, are going to release a new album this summer. It's titled Foreign Tongues, and the Stones dropped one track from the album this week. Here's a taste. The single is called In the Stars. The Rolling Stones' new album is going to drop this summer on July 10th. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.