Weekly News Roundup - 5/9/25
A momentous decision in Vatican City // Rumeysa Ozturk released // Trump backpedals on tariffs
This is the 19th Weekly News Roundup of 2025. The archive for all weekly news roundups is here.
These weekly dispatches are designed for those who may not have time to do more than glance at the headlines, or those who want to stay informed without becoming obsessed by politics and news. These roundups are a targeted way to get a sense of the shape of the past week on the national level. Without such a map, we can be disoriented, not knowing where we have been over the past several days, or where we may be going.
But by spending concentrated, limited time thinking about the big picture, we can devote more of our time to where “agency and justice begin and end,” as Karen Swallow Prior put it: “on the ground, bodily, in community and real relationships, in flesh and blood.”
By the way, one of the main reasons I charge anything for this Substack is to keep some quality control on comments and to put a bit of a gate around my archives. After receiving some very thoughtful responses to my last post, it made me want to reduce the amount I charge to subscribe. Substack doesn't allow me to charge less than $5 a month, but I was able to lower the yearly subscription from $50 to $30, which is $2.50 a month. If I could, I'd charge $2 a month but I'm glad I had the thought to lower the yearly as low as possible.
Quotes of the Week
The economy is not the only thing that matters in politics, but it’s the first thing that matters. - Brendan Buck
the written word will not be as central to our societies as it was, and this has profound ramifications, because it isn’t just about swapping one tool of communication for another. It’s about how we use our intelligence. We can learn about where we’re headed by looking at how pre-literate people used their intelligence. - Ian Leslie
Mistakes are part of life, and not the least important part ... Our mistakes are not merely a necessary evil ... It is by making mistakes that we gain experience, not only for ourselves but for others ... We cannot avoid missing the point of almost everything we do. But what of it? Life is not a matter of getting something out of everything. - Thomas Merton (128)
In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. If they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. - Warren Buffet
We cannot master everything, taste everything, understand everything, drain every experience to its last dregs. But if we have the courage to let almost everything else go, we will probably be able to retain the one thing necessary for us — whatever it may be. If we are too eager to have everything, we will almost certainly miss even the one thing we need. - Thomas Merton (130)
How, then, can we tell whether America has crossed the line into authoritarianism? We propose a simple metric: the cost of opposing the government. In democracies, citizens are not punished for peacefully opposing those in power. They need not worry about publishing critical opinions, supporting opposition candidates or engaging in peaceful protest because they know they will not suffer retribution from the government. - Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way and Daniel Ziblatt
Big Stories This Week
The Catholic church chose a new pope: 69-year old Robert Prevost, who is the first American pope in the church's history. Prevost chooses the name Leo, and becomes Pope Leo XIV. He is widely seen as continuing the policies of Pope Francis, who sought to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's, which were stalled or reversed in many cases by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Leo, in his first remarks to a massive crowd in St. Peters Square that greets him with rapturous delight, refers directly to the efforts to make the Catholic church a "church of the synod," a reform from Vatican II that seeks to make the church more empowering of every member, more open to listening to those in the pews, seeking "the involvement of all the church in conversation and discernment of the church’s mission." Much resistance to this idea remains, and it is "a project for the decades," writes on Catholic journalist.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University student who was snatched off the sidewalk in late March in Boston by masked government agents in an incident caught on video, was released from a federal detention center on Friday, after a federal judge in Vermont ruled that it appeared likely the government had arrested her because she wrote an op-ed (which you can read here) that called on Tufts to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, apologize for University President Sunil Kumar’s statements, disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel." Ozturk is in the U.S. legally on a student visa, working on a doctoral dissertation doing "research on how adolescents used social media to benefit other people." She has not been charged with any crime. She testified that she was confined in a cell with 23 other women, in a space intended for 14 people. "It is unthinkable that a person in a free society could be snatched from the street, imprisoned, and threatened with deportation for expressing an opinion the government dislikes," the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) said in a legal brief supporting Ozturk's release. The government had accused Ozturk of "activities in support of Hamas" and of "creating a hostile environment for Jewish students," but had provided no evidence of its accusations.
President Trump took further steps back from his trade war, signing a deal with Britain and signaling he wants to reduce tariffs on China. China has shown no indication of backing off its own tariffs on U.S. goods, and has appeared ready to match Trump blow for blow in a trade war. “All bullies are just paper tigers,’’ the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said. “Kneeling only invites more bullying.’’ Trump's negotiations with himself ahead of talks with China indicate that his tariff blitzkrieg is not working as he intended.
India and Pakistan came close to the brink of war, as India launched missile strikes in retaliation for a terrorist attack on Indian tourists in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir weeks ago.
Week in Review
Saturday, May 3
United Airlines cuts 35 daily flights in and out of Newark International Airport, citing a shortage of air traffic controllers. "It’s now clear — and the FAA tells us — that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead,” United CEO Scott Kirby says in a letter to customers.
Sunday, May 4
"Don't you need to uphold the constitution of the United States as president?" a reporter asks President Trump during an extended TV interview with NBC News. Trump responds: "I don't know." He adds that his lawyers are "going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said."
Monday, May 5
"The Trump administration has asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit from three Republican-led states seeking to cut off telehealth access to the abortion medication mifepristone," the AP reports.
The Trump administration escalates its confrontation with Harvard University, saying the school will receive no federal grant unless it complies with the government's demands for changes to its operations. Harvard responds with a statement that says the government is attempting to “impose unprecedented and improper control over Harvard University" and says it will “continue to defend against illegal government overreach aimed at stifling research and innovation that make Americans safer and more secure.”
The Trump administration rescinds grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and begins cutting the endowment's staff.
Tuesday, May 6
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose Liberal party pulled off a shock upset in recent elections due to Trump's comments about making Canada the 51st state in the U.S., visits the White House and says that Canada is "not for sale." Trump responds: "Time will tell."
Two separate federal judges rule in different cases that the Trump administration "improperly used an 18th century wartime law to try to speed the deportations of people his administration labels members of a Venezuelan gang."
Trump says the U.S. will stop bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen, in return for a promise that the militants will stop attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Wednesday, May 7
Conflict between India and Pakistan erupts, with a major missile strike by India on Pakistan-controlled Kashmir that kills 31 people. It is retaliation for an attack by militants last month that killed 26 tourists, most of them Indian.
An Israeli strike in Gaza kills at least 92 people, as the war enters its 20th month. More than 52,000 people have been killed in Gaza during that time, and an Israeli blockade of Gaza is raising serious concerns about starvation.
The Trump administration invokes the "state secrets privilege" to avoid answering questions from a federal judge about why it mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
A federal appeals court upholds a Vermont judge's order that Rumeysa Ozturk must be moved out of a prison facility in Louisiana and sent to a facility in Vermont while legal proceedings unfold regarding her detention.
The Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged, citing concerns about higher unemployment and higher inflation risks.
Republicans in Congress begins backing off at least part of their plan to cut Medicaid.
The College of Cardinals begins its conclave in Rome at the Vatican to choose a new pope, but ends the day without a result.
Thursday, May 8
The Catholic Church elects its first American pope ever, as the conclave choose Chicago-born Robert Prevost as pontiff. A massive crowd in St. Peters Square erupts as Pope Leo XIV emerges onto a balcony overlooking the throng.
Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer agree to a trade deal that avoids high tariffs, though a 10% U.S. tariffs on British goods will remain. A British tariff on U.S. goods is lowered to 1.8% from 5.1%.
India fires attack drones into Pakistan, killing two civilians.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will no longer track and report the cost of extreme weather, due to what its website says are "evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes."
Friday, May 9
Pope Leo presides over his first mass as the church's leader and as Bishop of Rome, with the same cardinals who elected him the day before, inside the Sistine Chapel.
Rumeysa Ozturk is released from prison in Louisiana.
Trump floats the idea of reducing tariffs on Chinese goods to 80%, down from the current 145%, ahead of scheduled talks between the U.S. and China in Geneva.
Interesting Reads
The New Pope Might Be Somewhat Like the Old Pope, by David Gibson for The New York Times (gift link)
Leo XIV, an American and Peruvian pope, by Thomas Reese for Religion News Service
Pope’s Childhood in a Changing Chicago Tells a Story of Catholic America, by Ruth Graham and Julie Bosman for The New York Times
No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines, by Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way and Daniel Ziblatt for The New York Times (gift link)
Europe Alone and in Shock on V-E Day, by Roger Cohen for The New York Times
Hunger and malnutrition are rising across Gaza as Israel’s blockade leaves mothers with few options, by Mohammed Jahjouh and Sarah El Deeb for The Associated Press
Flourishing or Floundering? How Young People See Their Lives, by Ryan Burge for Graphs About Religion
The Vatican Financial Mess Pope Francis Couldn’t Fix, by Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson and Stacy Meichtry for The Wall Street Journal
Seven Features Of Post-Literate Politics, by Ian Leslie for The Ruffian
As US and China begin trade talks in Geneva, Trump’s tariff hammer looks less mighty than he claims, by Paul Wiseman and Didi Tang for The Association Press
Pence rebuffs Trump on tariffs, Russia and January 6 pardons in CNN interview, by Eric Bradner for CNN
A retreat to Chiari, and then pain. Lots of pain, by Chris Arnade for Walking the World
The Blogger Who Hates America, by Cathy Young for Persuasion
It's Not Really About Glennon by Kirsten Powers for Changing the Channel
Read The Atlantic’s Interview With Donald Trump, by Jeffrey Goldberg for The Atlantic
From Philosophy to Power: The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right, by Paul Leslie for Salmagundi
Why a Maine newspaper opened its own cafe, by Jules Walkup for The Bangor Daily News
First Canada, Now Australia: The Trump Factor Boosts Another World Leader in an Election, by Mike Cherney for The Wall Street Journal
On getting a dumb phone, by Drew Brown for Slow Faith
What France can teach the left, by David Wallace-Wells for The New York Times
Pay Attention to What Happened in Newark, by James Fallows for Breaking the News