NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-08-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

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Know that fizzy feeling you get when you read something really good, watch the movie everyone's been talking about, or catch the show that the internet can't get over? At the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we chase that feeling four times a week. We'll serve you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, and more. From lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between, catch the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. Black smoke began billowing out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican just a few minutes ago. NPR's Jason

DeRose reports from Rome on the decision by the Roman Catholic College of Cardinals. Black smoke indicates the Cardinals have voted but not elected a new pope. People waiting in St. Peter's Square and around the world know the signs. Black smoke means nobody received the two-thirds supermajority needed to be elected. White smoke means Cardinals have made their decision. When that happens, they sing a hymn of praise and pay homage to the new pope. Then, a short while later, he appears on the balcony above St. Peter's Square and addresses the city and the world. Jason DeRose, NPR News, Rome. Again, no pope has yet been selected.

President Trump says this morning he'll announce a new trade deal with a major U.S. trading partner. He did not offer details. NPR's Danielle Kurtz-Levin reports this would be the first trade deal announced since Trump imposed an array of tariffs worldwide. In a social media post, Trump wrote that he will announce, quote, a major trade deal with representatives of a big and highly respected country. The White House did not give further information in response to NPR's questions.

Earlier this year, Trump announced tariffs on goods from most countries, including high tariffs on some major trading partners. He soon paused those imposing a blanket 10% tariff on most goods, saying he would negotiate tariffs country by country. This would be the first such deal. Trump's highest tariffs of 145% are on Chinese goods. US and Chinese officials will meet this weekend to discuss their trade war. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. The State Department is telling all its staff and the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan,

to shelter in place. The U.S. Consulate says there are reports of drone explosions and possible airspace incursions. This comes as India and Pakistan step up their conflict. Three former Memphis, Tennessee police officers have been acquitted in the killing of black motorist Tyree Nichols. The violent traffic stop in 2023 was caught on camera. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports lawyers for Nichols' family say this is a devastating miscarriage and denial of justice. A jury pulled from Chattanooga found fired Memphis police detectives Tadaria Sweeney, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith not guilty. District Attorney Steve Mulroy was at a loss after the verdict, given the video evidence

showing officers repeatedly beating and kicking Nichols and leaving him gasping for his life with no medical attention. I personally think any fair-minded person who watches the video would come to the conclusion that everybody there had some responsibility for Tigran Nichols death. The ex-officer still faced sentencing on federal civil rights convictions. Nichols' family is pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Memphis.

Debbie Elliott, NPR News. This is NPR. Countries in Europe are holding celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Russia is also marking the day. Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow for memorial events. President Xi is being joined by more than two dozen other world leaders in Russia for the day. A new study has found that well over 99 percent of the Earth's deep sea floor remains unseen by human eyes. NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce reports this is a region of the globe that is cold, dark,

and difficult to reach. More than half of the planet's surface is covered by the deep ocean. Sonar can map the shape of the seaafloor, but seeing what's happening there means sending lights and a camera down into the dark. Katie Croft-Bell is with a nonprofit called the Ocean Discovery League. She recently made a database of all the expeditions that send any kind of probe down to see how much of the deep seafloor has actually been seen since the 1950s. It ends up being an area of less than the size of Rhode Island.

In the journal Science Advances, she and her colleagues report that most of the explored areas are with 200 nautical miles of the United States, Japan, and New Zealand, so it's a fairly narrow sample of the global seafloor. Nell Greenfield-Boice, NPR News. Again, our top story. Black smoke streamed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican just a few minutes ago. It signaled that the 133 cardinal electors have not come to a two-thirds agreement about who the next pontiff should be. It's NPR. 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.