NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-05-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

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Am I a propagandist? A truth teller? An influencer? There's probably no more contested profession in the world today than mine, journalism. I'm Brian Reed, and on my show, Question Everything, we dive head first into the conflicts we're all facing over truth and who gets to tell it. Listen now to Question Everything, part of the NPR Podcast Network. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Trump has signed an executive order restricting federal funding of research, which he calls dangerous.

More from NPR's Rob Stein. Rob Stein The so-called gain of function research involves studying how viruses and other pathogens could cause a pandemic by spreading more easily or causing more serious illness. This research has long been controversial, but the controversy intensified because of accusations that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a virus that was created during gain-of-function research in China.

Many other scientists dispute that and fear a moratorium on funding will block research that could help prevent or respond to the next pandemic. Rob Stein in Peer News. More than a dozen former employees of the tech firm Palantir are speaking out against the company's work with the Trump administration. As NPR's Bobby Allen explains, Palantir technology is being used to identify real-time movements of migrants in the U.S. illegally. 13 ex-Palantir workers say the Trump administration is abusing the data mining tools they helped build.

The former employees note that Palantir's advanced surveillance software is helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement track migrants in real time. The letter, shared exclusively with NPR, says Palantir's own code of conduct says its software should not be used to violate people's rights. The letter says, quote, Early palatarians understood the ethical weight of building these technologies. These principles have now been violated and are rapidly being dismantled at Palantir Technologies and across Silicon Valley. Palantir and the White House did not return requests for comment. Bobby Allen, NPR News.

In one of the last wishes he made, Pope Francis requested one of his Pope-mobiles be turned into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip. MPR's Ruth Sherlock has this update. The Vatican's official media says the Pope-mobile that Pope Francis used during his 2014 visit to the Holy Land is being outfitted with diagnostic and emergency medical equipment to help young patients in Gaza. Health services have been decimated during Israel's war against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

The Pope revealed will carry things like suture kits and vaccines and be run by medical staff. The Catholic aid organization Caritas Jerusalem, which leads the initiative, has to navigate restrictions on access to Gaza, but ultimately plans to deploy the clinic to communities that now survive without health facilities. Pope Francis called the Holy Family Church in Gaza almost every day throughout the war, including from his hospital bed as he was critically ill with double pneumonia. Ruth Sherlock and PR News, Rome. It's the first Monday in May which means it's time for the annual Met Gala. This year's theme focuses on black designers with about 450 high-profile people from tech,

sports, art, entertainment, and more expected at the annual event. It's the first Met Gala in more than 20 years to have a menswear theme. Stocks gained ground on Wall Street today, the Dow up 98 points or Dow 98 points. Across the U.S., the pre-dawn sky will be lit up with an annual meteor shower called the Eta Aquarid early this morning. NPR's Jacqueline Diaz has more on when and how to spot the meteor showers.

It's time to roll out your picnic blanket and unfold those lawn chairs. Prepare for an early morning show. The Eta Aquarid's meteor shower will streak across the pre-dawn sky of May 6th, and according to the US space agency NASA, there will be a lot of opportunities to spot the meteors, as around 50 meteors per hour are expected at the peak of this shower. The best time to see everything is around 3am. That's when the moon will set

and the sky will be at its darkest. And Etta acquired's meteor shower will be easiest to spot as long as you are a good distance away from city and street lights. Jacqueline Diaz, NPR News. Shoe company Sketchers, which is famous for its ads-touting celebrities stepping into its no-ties shoes, is agreed to be acquired for $9 billion. The company will be taken private by the investment group 3G Capital. To privatize the company comes amid mounting concerns over how the Trump administration's tariffs on foreign goods will affect companies that produce much of their products overseas. $63 per share offer for Skechers represents a

30% premium to the company's 15-day volume weighted stock price. Critical futures prices have moved lower today, falling by more than a dollar a barrel. That was on continued worries about anticipated output hikes by OPEC and other producers. Whale dropped $1.16 a barrel, settled at $57.13 a barrel. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.

Look, we get it. When it comes to new music, there is a lot of it, and it all comes really fast. But on all songs considered, in Washington.