NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-07-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

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This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what. To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Matiglay. Today's the day more than 130 Roman Catholic

Cardinal electors assemble at the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to begin the process of selecting a new pope. They gathered for mass in St. Peter's Basilica about an hour ago, ahead of choosing a successor to Pope Francis. He died last month at the age of 88. Pakistan's prime minister is calling today's missile attack by India an act of war. At least 26 people were killed, including a child.

As Betsy Joles reports from The Hork, Pakistan is vowing to respond. The Prime Minister Shibha Sharif described the attack as quote cowardly in a post on X and said it would not go unpunished. Pakistan briefly closed parts of its airspace in two major cities while schools have been shut in Punjab, the province where some of the strikes took place. That's Betsy Joles reporting. Tensions between India and Pakistan have been high since militants killed more than two dozen people in Indian controlled Kashmir last month. They were mostly Hindu tourists. Pakistan denies supporting that attack.

The Trump administration says the U.S. and China will be holding talks in Switzerland this week ahead of potential trade negotiations. Charisse Pham has more from Hong Kong. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer will meet Beijing's lead economic representative, He Li-Feng, in Switzerland. The meetings could potentially pave the way for broader trade talks. The U.S. and China have been locked in a tit-for-tat trade war. Both sides have imposed hefty tariffs on each other's goods, making trade between the two nations near impossible. Investors and global policymakers will be looking for any signs of an off-ramp as the

ongoing trade war threatens a global recession. A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said that China's door remains open for negotiation, but that it will not, quote, sacrifice its principles for just any agreement. For NPR News, I'm Cherise Pham in Hong Kong. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold U.S. interest rates steady when the Fed wraps up its latest policy meeting today. NPR's Scott Horsley has more. Inflation has been coming down in recent months, thanks in part to lower gasoline prices.

According to the Fed's preferred inflation yardstick, prices in March were up just 2.3% from a year ago. But with President Trump ordering 10% taxes on nearly everything the U.S. imports and higher taxes on imports from China, there's a risk that price hikes could accelerate once again, so the Fed is likely to be cautious about further cuts in interest rates. The central bank also feels little urgency about cutting rates since so far the job market has been surprisingly resilient. U.S. employers added 177,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate held steady at

a low 4.2 percent. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News from Washington. Columbia University in New York says it's laying off nearly 180 employees. Officials say the move is in response to President Trump canceling $400 million in federal grants because of concerns about how the university handled student protests against the war in Gaza. A spokesperson at Columbia did not say whether additional layoffs were possible.

Jury selection is underway in New York in the sex trafficking trial of Sean Diddy Combs. As NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports, the rapper and record producer has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts against him. More than a dozen potential jurors say they have watched or seen screen grabs of a video obtained by CNN that shows Sean Diddy Combs kicking and dragging one of his ex-partners in a hotel hallway. Regardless, many say they'll be able to remain impartial and will only be informed by the evidence presented in court.

Some jurors, however, have been dismissed because they say they might be biased against Combs. Combs' attorneys express frustration in court about how the video is impacting jury selection. Combs is pleaded not guilty on all charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering, conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento, NPR News. Wall Street is coming off a down day of trading after the Commerce Department reported the Dave Maddingley, NPR News. These days, with all the information coming at you, it can be hard to know what's accurate, tariffs. I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington.