Today is Monday, May 12, 2025.
It is the 132nd day of the year.
233 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: Some odds and ends following the shocking introduction of the world’s first American pope.
DIDDY’s defense wants to play the blame game and BILL BELICHICK supports his girlfriend’s pageant dreams. More in SHOWBIZ.
“Suits” spinoff gets axed and QUENTIN TARANTINO shares what movies he’d take to a deserted island. Details in CASTING CALL.
PRINCE HARRY wanders the neighborhood in ROYALS.
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TARIFF TALK
Expect big movements in the market this week as more details of a revamped global trade scheme come into focus.
On Sunday, following negotiations over the weekend in Switzerland, Secretary of the Treasury SCOTT BESSENT reported “substantial progress” with more details to be announced some time today.
US Trade Representative JAMIESON GREER likewise added, “the President declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs, and we’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency.” [via The White House]
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As the dust settles on the election of the first American-born Pope, ROBERT PREVOST (now POPE LEO XIV), in history, some interesting odds and ends:
– Despite the sacred oaths of secrecy, news has leaked to the Wall Street Journal that then-Cardinal Prevost won the vote by more than 100 votes, a comfortable margin on the 89-vote threshold needed.
– Fox Sports believes it’s unearthed footage of il Papa attending game one of the 2005 World Series to cheer on his hometown favorite White Sox. Watch >
– Father Bob-turned-Leo XIV will live in the Apostolic Palace, the traditional dwelling for the Pontiff. His predecessor, the Jesuit POPE FRANCIS, who committed to a life of poverty as part of joining the order, opted for simpler apartments next door.
– In a meeting with cardinals over the weekend, Pope Leo named artificial intelligence technology as a threat to workers, especially in the context of defending “human dignity, justice and labor.” Amen, Father Bob.
– Leo’s childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, had been on the market for about $200,000 before last week’s news. The owner has since pulled the listing; the broker says he’s received seven-figure offers.
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The life partner of notorious convicted fraudster ELIZABETH HOLMES appears to be working on building a company doing the same kind of work as Holmes’ doomed THERANOS.
BILLY EVANS, who shares two children with Holmes, is raising money to develop medical diagnostic technology; Theranos promised to deliver extensive personal medical information to a patient from a single drop of blood.
In images of the technology currently in development by Evans’ outfit obtained by the New York Times, the machine to do the testing looks an awful lot like the box Theranos was selling. Evans says he intends to continue developing the tech in “stealth mode” with a group of about ten employees.
Holmes has about 7 years left on her sentence, though it could be earlier with consistent good behavior. She’s held in Texas. [via NYT]
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FOLLOW UP: The decades-long saga of the stranded Kosmos 482 landing craft came to an end some time early Saturday.
The ship has been in orbit since the early 1970s, after an attempt by the Soviets to send it to Venus failed, leaving it stranded in space. Its design to withstand the harsh atmosphere of Venus left astronomers and astrophysicists wondering if it would survive re-entry into Earth.
It certainly may have, but if it did, no one spotted it, but where it crashed depends on who you ask. Russia’s space agency says it hit the ocean near Indonesia. US Space Force said it re-entered a few thousand miles away, closer to Guam. [via Space]
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Liam and Olivia continue their reign as top baby names for the eighth and sixth year in a row, respectively, based on 2024 applications for Social Security cards.
Emma and Noah came in second, also for the sixth consecutive year.
Rounding out the top 10 for boys are Oliver, Theodore, James, Henry, Mateo, Elijah, Lucas, and William for boys, while the girl names rounding out the list include Amelia, Charlotte, Mia, Sophia, Isabella, Evelyn, Ava, and Sofia.
FOR THE RECORD: There were 3.61 million babies born in the U.S. in 2024, a slight increase from 2023’s 3.59 million.
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