NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-08-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korovak-Hulman. President Trump says he's reached a new trade deal with the United Kingdom. It's the first major trade deal reached since Trump imposed his global tariffs. With this deal, the UK joins the United States in affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade. The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers.

The president's press conference is still underway at the White House. Roman Catholic cardinals are again gathered in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. They're choosing the next pope. They did not select a pope in the first round of voting yesterday, and they sent up black smoke through the chapel's chimney to signal the results of their vote. They held another round of voting this morning, and again, they sent up black smoke, noting that no pope has been selected. And Pierre-Sara Ventry is in St. Peter's Square.

We are now in the afternoon of the second day of the conclave, where 133 cardinal electors will decide who among them is the next pope. In the meantime, there are thousands of people milling around St. Peter's Square, all anxiously awaiting smoke. And there is just kind of a mood of excitement and a little bit of electricity in the crowd, whether people are religious or not, whether they're Catholic or not. Everyone I've spoken to is excited to be here for this historical moment. And Piers Sereventri at the Vatican. A new documentary identifies the Israeli soldier who allegedly killed a Palestinian American journalist in 2022. Her killing in the Israeli occupied West Bank sparked international condemnation and a U.S. inquiry. And Piers Daniel Estrin has more from Tel Aviv.

The film Who Killed Shirin, which debuted in New York, presents new claims in the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shirin Abu Akhleh. A 20-year-old soldier is named in the film as being responsible for her killing in the Jenin refugee camp. The soldier was killed in the same area during a military raid last year. The Israeli military says there is no definitive determination of who killed the journalist. A U.S. government review after her death determined an Israeli soldier unintentionally killed her. A former U.S. official in the film who spoke to NPR anonymously to discuss internal government deliberations says the initial U.S. assessment was that her killing was intentional and that

those findings were changed. Danielle Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Fresh violence is being reported between Pakistan and India today. Pakistani officials claim they shot down more than two dozen Indian drones today that flew over major Pakistani cities. This comes after India fired missiles into Pakistan this week in retaliation for the killings of 26 civilians. This is NPR. The UN says relief operations in Sudan are in serious jeopardy.

The rebel Rapid Support Forces have attacked the eastern city of Port Sudan for days, it sheltering about a quarter of a million refugees. The UN cannot fly planes filled with aid into Port Sudan. Eighty years ago today, in 1945, the Allies announced they had accepted Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender. This ended World War II in Europe. It became known as Victory in Europe, or VE Day.

NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from London, there are memorials and moments of silence today across Europe. It's been eight decades to the day since British Prime Minister Winston Churchill went on the radio to announce the unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe. Across Britain, there are tea parties in the street for VE Day's 80th anniversary and pubs are staying open two hours later in celebration of the

greatest generation. In France, there's a wreath-laying ceremony in front of a statue of wartime general Charles de Gaulle. But there are also fears for Europe's future security amid the war in Ukraine and fraying relations with the United States. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is scheduled to hold a news conference later today. He is expected to announce plans to address problems in the nation's air traffic control system. This comes after an air traffic outage was reported last week at Newark's airport in New Jersey. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.