NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-08-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

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Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. The NPR politics podcast makes politics a breeze. Every episode will break down the day's headlines into totally normal language and make sure that you walk away understanding what the day's news might mean for you. Take a deep breath and give politics another chance with the NPR politics podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Lyle from NPR News. I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump's touting a breakthrough on trade with the UK. He says the final details of an agreement will be drafted in the coming weeks. Britain's Prime Minister, Kirsten Armer joined Trump by speakerphone as Trump announced the deal

would give US companies better market access for beef, ethanol, machinery, industrial products, among others. Meanwhile, Trump predicts a tariffs deal is coming between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest economies. Right now, you can't get any higher. It's at 145. So we know it's coming down. I think we're going to have a very good relationship.

You know, I always got along very well with President Xi. So far, China's been resisting Trump's pressure. The U.S. and China are preparing for high-level talks in Switzerland this weekend. There have been fresh attacks today between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India. Pakistan's army spokesman says his country shot down a dozen Indian military drones that had killed a civilian and injured four Pakistani soldiers. NPR's Omkhar Kharindeqa reports this comes after India's most significant missile attacks on Pakistan in more than 50 years. Spokesperson Ahmad Sharif says the drones were hovering over major cities, including

Rawalpindi, the location of the Pakistani army headquarters. This is a serious, serious provocation. The latest accusations come after India struck multiple targets across Pakistan on Tuesday in what it says is retaliation for a militant attack in late April where gunmen killed 26 people. Pakistan denies any connection to that attack and says it will defend itself. Omkara Khandekar, NPR News, Mumbai. At the Vatican, a two-thirds majority vote remains elusive.

No one candidate has yet secured enough backing from cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis. Evident twice this morning when the chimney of the Sistine Chapel billowed more black smoke. And so, voting continues. NPR's Sarah 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. That's NPR's Sarah Ventry reporting. Cardinals, 133 of them are sequestered from the outside world. They're trying to find a candidate who can lead the 2,000-year-old church in an era when many, especially young people, are questioning the Vatican's credibility. U.S. stocks are trading higher this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 551 points or 1.3%. This is NPR News. Remains to be seen if the White House can or will follow through with plans to deport

migrants to Libya. NPR's Jimena Bustio is following. The deportations to Libya would be carried out by the US military, but it's not clear how many people or what nationalities would be sent under the deal. President Trump told reporters yesterday he didn't know about the plan and to ask the Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security did not respond to NPR's requests to confirm the plans. NPR's Jimena Bustia reporting amid federal layoffs and funding cuts, a group that manages

grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park says, it's grappling with how best to address a rising number of conflicts between humans and bears. From Montana Public Radio, Ellis Julin has details. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee is made up of state and federal agencies across Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. In a recent meeting, conversations around managing the region's growing bear population were marked by uncertainty, oversweeping layoffs and funding cuts under the Trump administration. Hillary Cooley with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

notes her agency's director has not yet been confirmed. We don't really know what our priorities are and don't have a direction. So there's some things that are on hold, in particular with the Grizzly program, but across the board until we have a director installed. The population is currently estimated at 1,050 bears, and the committee says there was a significant increase in human-bear conflicts in 2024. For NPR News, I'm Ellis Zhu-Lin in Missoula,

Montana. US stocks are trading higher, major market indices up more than 1%. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington. Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.