Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noraram.
A cruise ship at the center of the hunt of virus outbreak is now anchored off Spain's
Canary Islands.
“The passengers, including 17 Americans, are being flown home on planes chartered by their”
countries. Public health experts are raising new concerns about whether the U.S. is prepared to respond to another major disease outbreak. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports. The outbreak has flooded social media sites with posts falsely comparing hunt of virus
to COVID-19 and spreading misleading claims about transmission. Dr. Seema Yasmin, a former CDC disease specialist, says the broader concern is the nation's weakened public health infrastructure. We have seen the dismantling and defunding of public health and we are not ready for the
next emerging passage in the next flu.
So people's concerns make sense. Yasmin says U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization is another major concern. President Trump told reporters last week that the situation is "under very good control," Windsor Johnston and PR News.
“Traditionally, the political party not in the White House gains congressional seats in”
the midterm election. Democrats have been optimistic about their chances this year, but mostly Republican lead states are trying to redaw congressional lines to their advantage. And the Virginia State Supreme Court struck down a redistricting plan that would have favored Democrats.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingle, a Democrat, told CNN she still likes their chances. We had an election state Senate seat in Michigan this past week that the candidate won by 19 points in a district that was a one-point district. It reflects the anger, the fear that people want, aren't happy with what they have that we've seen in over 200 elections since President Trump was elected.
She said if the election were held today, the Democrats would win back the House. A lot of moms will get a break from cooking this mother's day. It's one of the busiest days of the year for eating out. NPR's Scott Horsesley reports.
“Gas prices are high and people are feeling grumpy about the economy, but that won't stop”
families from treating mom this weekend with flowers, greeting cards, restaurant meals and other gifts. David Miller, who oversees operations at 70 Cameron Mitchell restaurants, expects to do a brisk, brunch business today, even as customers economize at other times of the week. There's no doubt since the war has started and certainly since gas prices have gone through
the roof. It is affected some of our business. The gas too was going out for a $120 dinner, maybe it's not going out for $60 dinner.
The National Retail Federation expects Mother's Day spending to hit a record $38 billion.
Scott Horsesley and Pierre News, Washington. And you're listening to NPR News in Washington. Climate experts say most of the U.S. is experiencing drought conditions, and that could spark an intense summer wildfire season, especially in western states. NPR's Lawrence Summer reports under the Trump administration, wildfire prevention work
has fallen behind. Many U.S. forests are overgrown with vegetation, which puts them at risk of extreme wildfires that kill trees and spread into communities. So the forest service does work every year to reduce that risk. They often set controlled burns during the cool season, which clears out the underbrush.
In 2025, the Trump administration burned only about half the area that was burned in recent years. In a statement, the forest service says that's because staff was occupied fighting wildfires last year. But some wildfire experts say the work slowed down after the Trump administration tried
to shrink the agency last year, leading to the loss of thousands of employees, Lawrence Summer, and PR News. British Prime Minister Kyrs Stormer is resisting calls that he resign after his labor party's losses in local elections last week. He told the observer newspaper he's not going to walk away from the job he was
elected to do, and plunged the country into chaos. A former minister in his government is threatening to seek support for a leadership contest. After heavy losses for Stormer's center left party in local elections across England, and in legislative votes in Scotland and Wales, it's your vision week. This year's song contest is taking place in Vienna, Austria, home to Mozart, Beethoven,
Schubert and Strauss, musicians from 35 countries will perform. I'm Laura Rom, and PR News in Washington. Every single complex society is as ever existed in the history of the world so far as collapsed. Do we think we're in different? Are we doomed?
The new podcast about the end of the world? I don't like where this is headed. I'm Ben Bradford, join me for "Are We Doved," part of the NPR Network. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
