NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-09-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

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These days, there's a lot of news. It can be hard to keep up with what it means for you, your family, and your community. Consider This from NPR is a podcast that helps you make sense of the news. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a story and provide the context, backstory, and analysis you need to understand our rapidly changing world. Listen to the Consider This Podcast from NPR. Shea Stevens Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. Cheers among the thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square Thursday as white smoke billowed from the chimney at the Sistine Chapel.

After a second day of voting, the 133 cardinal electors chose American missionary Robert Prevost to succeed Pope Francis, as heard here through an interpreter Prevost called on the faithful to unite. Help us and all others to build bridges with dialogue, with meeting, to be one common people, living always in peace. Thank you to Pope Francis. Prevost has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV. The election of the new pope was received with joy in Mexico, one of the most Catholic countries in the world. NPR's Ada Peralta has reaction from Mexico City.

In Mexico City, all the bells at the Metropolitan Cathedral rang just after white smoke rose above St. Peter's Square. Faithful gathered in front of screens, and when the American Cardinal Robert Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, there was surprise, and then the giant organ began to play. Sixty-one-year-old Josefina Contreras was shaking with emotion. The Lord did not punish us, she said. The new pope spoke in Spanish, he cares about Latin America, and he will stand up to President

Trump, she said. That last bit could not be independently verified. Ada Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City. The U.S. and Britain have announced a limited trade deal that will give the U.K. some relief from President Trump's tariffs. NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from London. Speaking at a car factory in the British Midlands, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain is the first country to secure such a deal with the US. And in an era of global insecurity and instability, that is so important.

Starmer says the agreement would completely remove US tariffs on British steel and aluminum and bring tariffs on most British cars down from 27.5% to 10%. In return, the UK is removing a tariff on US ethanol imports. President Trump first announced the deal from the Oval Office with Starmer on speakerphone. Trump said it'll give US companies better market access for beef and machinery and that final details are still being written up. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. US Defense Secretary Pete Huckeseth has ordered the Pentagon to begin moving transgender service members out of the military.

It's part of President Trump's ban on transgender troops, estimated to be around 1,000. Hecasseth says that service members with gender dysphoria have 30 days to leave voluntarily or be dismissed. This is NPR. President Trump has fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden. According to an email obtained by the Associated Press, Hayden's 10-year term in the Post was set to expire next year. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries calls Hayden accomplished, principled, and distinguished,

and says her dismissal is the latest effort to ban books. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is preparing to defund a program that catalogs sea ice data. As Shelby Herbert of member station KUAC reports, scientists say the move could create a gap in climate research at a time when polar ice is dwindling to historic lows. Noah funds the Sea Ice Index, which is basically an interactive catalog of the long-term retreat of Arctic sea ice. Updates stopped rolling in on Tuesday. Rick Toman is a climate specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy in Fairbanks. He says the index allowed scientists to track how the ice was changing over time.

People ask me, you know, what's the sea ice concentration look like in the Bering Sea? What's the ice extent now compared to last year? In the short term, the answer is going to be, we don't know. Now, he says, climate scientists have one less important tool in their kit to study the Arctic, which is warming two to four times faster than the rest of the world. For NPR News, I'm Shelby Herbert in Fairbanks, Alaska. Singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson has been named Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

The 60th Annual ACM Awards was again hosted by country music legend Reba McEntire. This is NPR News. You may have heard that President Trump has issued an executive order seeking to block Reba McEntire. This is NPR News.