NPR News: 05-31-2026 9PM EDT
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. The U.S. military struck an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific. Empire Chandelier's Duster has more on the latest of multiple strikes in recent days.
U.S. Southern Command says it carried out a strike on a vessel along a drug-trafficking route in the eastern Pacific on Saturday. The U.S. military says the boat was operated by a designated terrorist organization and was, quote, engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three men who Southern Command calls narco-terrorists were killed. Video posted on social media by Southern Command shows a small boat floating in the ocean and then a cloud of smoke after the strikes. This is the fourth strike the U.S. military has conducted on alleged drug-smuggling boats in recent days. Since September, the U.S. military has targeted suspected drug smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, killing more than 200 people.
Criticism is growing around the legality of their attacks and whether they are even effective at stemming the flow of drugs. Shondalese Duster, NPR News.
President Trump is now set to kick off an event on the National Mall next month as part of the celebration of America's 250th birthday after a number of musical acts pulled out. And Pierce, Tamara Keith has more.
The Great American State Fair is meant to be a two-week-long World's Fair, complete with Ferris wheel. But as soon as the slate of nostalgic musical performers was announced, artists started pulling out, saying they didn't realize the association with Trump. Trump called them third-rate artists and said they would be replaced with the quote number one attraction anywhere in the world, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime. Trump even suggested making it a MAGA rally. In a statement, Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said Trump will now personally kick off the fair with an opening ceremony on June 24th. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
Senator Andy Kim tells CNN's State of the Union the solution to the escalating conflict at a privately owned ICE detention center in Newark is to treat detainees with dignity. He visited Delaney Hall, where protesters have alleged inhumane conditions, and says he was there when ICE deployed pepper balls last week. And here's Camilla Dominovsky reports.
Kim says detainees have described to him spoiled food and a lack of medical care. Homeland Security has denied the allegations, calling them lies and smears. On CNN's State of the Union Sunday, Kim called for better medical care, an investigation, and due process rights. What the detainees really focused on, it's not just about the conditions, it's about the fact that they are not getting their cases heard in courts. That's something we can fix. Homeland Security has threatened to pull Customs and Border Patrol out of area airports to provide security at Delaney Hall. Kim says the disruption to international travel would have economic repercussions nationwide. In Pierce, Camilla Domenoski, this is NPR.
Maine Democratic Senate nominee hopeful Graham Plattner's wife, Amy Gertner, addressed reports that he exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women. In a video of her posted by Plattner, she avoided speaking directly about the reported texts, calling it gossip and saying that marriage is hard. Plattner is seeking the Democratic nomination in one of the most closely watched Senate races, as Democrats hope to defeat longtime incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins and win control of the closely divided U.S. Senate. A right-wing lawyer who promised a security crackdown won the most votes in Colombia's first round presidential election today, but because no candidate got more than half of the ballots, the top two vote-getters will meet in a runoff next month.
John Otis has more.
Abelardo de la Espraya, a right-wing defense attorney who has never held elected office, won nearly 44% of the votes, according to official results. Coming in second, with about 41%, was Iván Cepeda, a left-wing senator and protege of outgoing President Gustavo Petro.
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