NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-16-2025 1PM EDT

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

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Tariffs, recessions, how Colombian drug cartels gave us blueberries all year long. That's the kind of thing the Planet Money podcast explains. I'm Sarah Gonzalez and on Planet Money, we help you understand the economy and how things all around you came to be the way they are. Para que sepas. So you know. Listen to the Planet Money podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump's domestic priorities wrapped up in what he has called a big, beautiful bill are stuck in the GOP-led House. Today, it failed to make it out of the Budget Committee dampening supporters' hopes of getting the bill to the Senate by Memorial Day.

President Trump's returning home with defense and economic agreements secured this week during his stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Doug Silliman is president of the Arab Gulf States Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Washington D.C., weighing in on the significance of Trump's visit. I think the real purpose of the trip was to show Americans that President Trump is able to deliver economically particularly in light of all of the uncertainty that his tariff policy and other trade policies have created and he tried to do This in the Gulf by getting large pledges for investment from the Gulf in the United States The Middle East was Trump's first major international trip of his second term

The Middle East was Trump's first major international trip of his second term Russian and Ukrainian officials met today in Istanbul for their first direct peace talks in more than three years The meeting hosted by Turkey took place a day later than planned and amid lowered expectations Gokce Sarakchalo reports. Ukraine has held firm on key demands Including full Russian withdrawal while the Kremlin insists on keeping occupied territory. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, speaking later at a European summit in Albania, says a full, unconditional and honest ceasefire is urgently needed. But he criticised Russia for sending a lower-level delegation instead of President Vladimir Putin saying it shows Moscow isn't serious about ending the war.

For NPR News, I'm Gokya Sarachova in Istanbul. There's no public transit train service in New Jersey today. The rail agency and a key labor union have failed to reach a new contract. Bruce Convice reports the rail workers are now on strike. Bruce Convice, U.S. Rail Workers' Association, News 4. More than 450 train engineers walked off the job demanding a larger pay increase. The train engineers earn an average gross salary of $135,000 per year, according to New Jersey Transit, but union officials dispute that figure. Exactly how large of a pay increase the engineers want is unclear, but union leaders say that

engineers at other regional rail services get at least $10 more per hour. Those rail companies, as well as New Jersey Transit bus service, are not affected by the strike. The two sides actually shook hands on a deal back in March, but the union membership voted it down overwhelmingly in April. New Jersey Transit officials are urging its customers to work from home if at all possible. For NPR News, I'm Bruce Confiser in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 200 points, or roughly half a percent,

at 42,545. This is NPR News. Pope Leo XIV has made his first address to diplomats from around the world. In his speech to ambassadors appointed to the Vatican, and peer through Sherlock says the Pope, expressed his position on a wide range of topics. The Pope spoke in support of migrants, saying their dignity must be respected. Pope Leo XIV, who is both a U. a US and Peruvian citizen, described himself as a quote, descendant of immigrants and called for compassion and solidarity with displaced people. He addressed social issues too, stating the church's more traditional position on marriage,

affirming it as a stable union between a man and a woman. He reaffirmed the church's position against abortion. He said there must be, quote, respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome. The University of Tennessee is paying tribute to civil rights pioneer Rita Sanders-Geyer. She received an honorary doctorate from the College of Law during this week's commencement ceremonies, decades after she filed a class action lawsuit against the state to end racial discrimination against non-white students and faculty in higher education. Rita Sanders-Geyer I know that I stand as a representative of all of those who have shared the work that

I've done. Kyer's efforts in 1968 and later help bring about change in higher education across the southern U.S. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington. The scary new movie Sinners from the director of Black Panther finds Michael B. Jordan playing twin brothers. News in Washington.