NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-21-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Korova Coleman, the Vatican says Pope Francis has died in his residence today. He was 88 years old. Francis had been in poor health recently and was recovering from severe pneumonia. But he delighted faithful worshippers only yesterday. He rode the Pope Mobile in St. Peter's Square to bless people on Easter Sunday. World leaders have offered condolences this morning. President Trump said, rest in peace, Pope Francis.

When a pope dies, there are official procedures that are followed. That ranges from announcing his death to electing a new head of the Roman Catholic Church. And Piers Jason DeRose explains the process. After a pope dies, a series of Vatican officials gets word before the death is announced to the public. The pope's funeral is usually scheduled within the next four to six days, allowing cardinals time to travel to Rome. Then, between 15 and 20 days after the pope's death, all cardinals under the age of 80 enter

a conclave held in the Sistine Chapel behind sealed doors. They participate in four rounds of balloting every day until someone receives two-thirds of the vote. The ballots of the final vote are burned with a special chemical to produce white smoke, announcing to the world the conclave has chosen the new head of the Roman Catholic Church. Jason Derose, NPR News. Thousands of protesters turned out at hundreds of events over the weekend in the U.S. They gathered to protest President Trump's policies. Others demonstrated at Tesla showrooms in

the U.S. to oppose Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He's been overseeing Trump's government cost-cutting entity, Doge. NPR's Juliana Kim reports there are more protesters turning out. A hallmark of this protest movement is that demonstrators are joining together with a long and varying list of grievances. You know, it's immigration, it's federal funding cuts, foreign policy. It's too soon to tell how long the momentum will last, but researchers at Harvard's Crowd Counting Consortium said in a Guardian op-ed that between January 22nd and the end of March,

street protests have more than doubled compared to the same time frame eight years ago. NPR's Juliana Kim reporting. Stocks opened lower this morning as investors brace for some big tech earnings reports this week. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 660 points in early trading. Tesla is due to report earnings tomorrow. The electric carmaker has already announced a 13% drop in first quarter auto sales. Google's parent company is set to report earnings on Thursday.

The search engine giant was hit last week with a second adverse court ruling when a judge found it built an illegal monopoly in its web advertising business. With President Trump's trade war sowing doubts about the U.S. economy, some investors are putting their bets on Europe and Asia. Billions of dollars flowed out of U.S. stock funds last week, while funds in Europe and Asia were attracting new money. Asian stocks were mixed overnight, up in Shanghai and Seoul, but down in Tokyo. Hong Kong's market was closed.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News. The White House is hosting the annual Easter Egg Roll today. However, there are ethics questions being raised NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports that for the first time the White House has accepted corporate Sponsorships for the event the event is being put together by an outside production company called harbinger They solicited sponsorships that will include meta Amazon and YouTube which are providing things like photo experiences a reading nook and

a stage, according to the White House. But promoting private companies at the White House through things like sponsorships has sparked concerns of ethics violations. And it's a departure from the norm for how the Easter egg roll has typically been organized. The potential conflict of interest comes not long after President Trump used the White House to promote cars from Tesla, a company run by his close adviser Elon Musk. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News. China is warning other countries against making trade deals with the Trump administration,

especially deals that harm Chinese interests. Several countries have launched talks with President Trump and his trade team, including Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. Some of Trump's tariffs have been put on pause, but others remain in place, such as the worldwide 10% tariffs, and others targeting steel and aluminum. Repeating our top story,

the Vatican says that Pope Francis has died at his residence today. He had just blessed worshipers in St. Peter's Square yesterday who had gathered to celebrate Easter Sunday. Pope Francis was 88 years old. The Vatican says the body of the pontiff will be placed in a coffin later today. This will be in a ceremony at the chapel of the hotel where he lived. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.