NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-02-2026 12AM EST

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

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Do you ever feel like no matter how many hours of sleep you got, you're still fatigued? We have to be able to differentiate sleep from the different ways that we can rest. On the Life Kid podcast, the seven types of rest and why each one is important to living a full, healthy life. Listen to the Life Kid podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, D.C., I'm Dale Wilman. A preschooler and his father who were arrested during President Donald Trump's latest immigration crackdown were back home in Minneapolis Sunday morning after a federal judge ordered their release. As Matt Seppick, a Minnesota public radio reports, officials at the

boys' school say federal agents tried to use him as bait to lure other adults outside. Liam Conejo Ramos was photographed wearing a blue hat with bunny ears and a Spider-Man backpack when masked ice agents pulled him from his dad's car on January 20th after school. Local school officials say agents led the five-year-old to his front door and directed him to knock to see if anyone else was home. Ice flew the boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, to a Texas detention center. In ordering their release Saturday, Judge Fred Beery called the move a, quote, perfidious lust for unbridled power that's, quote, bereft of human decency. Attorneys say the family from Ecuador is focusing on finding peace. They entered the U.S.

legally in 2024 to seek asylum, their lawyers said. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepik in Minneapolis. The partial government shutdown is continuing. The Senate passed a spending measures Friday night that would keep the doors open until October for everything but the Department of Homeland Security. That funding would continue for two weeks to allow discussions related to ICE. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson says the House should also vote soon, as NPR's Luke Garrett tells us. Speaker Johnson said the president negotiated this Senate funding package. This deal is Trump's deal. Johnson went on to say Trump himself does support some changes to DHS. He himself has already acknowledged the leader Schumer

in the Senate, and I'm sure he'll say the same to House Democrats, that some of the reforms and the processes are fine with them. For example, we want body cameras on immigration and customs enforcement agents. But Johnson made clear he and Trump won't budge on the issue of DHS agents hiding their identities with masks. They cite officer safety. MPR's Luke Garrett. A Russian drone attack on a Ukrainian energy company bus has killed at least 12 cold mine workers and injured 16 more people. MPR's Geronika Kisis reports from Kiev. that the attack came hours after Ukraine's president said talks to end the war would continue later this week. The coal miners worked for Detak, Ukraine's largest private energy company.

DTEC's spokesman Pablo Biloddad told NPR that this is the deadliest attack on the company's worker since Russia's full-scale invasion began. Ukraine's energy minister, Denis Mihal, called it, quote, a cynical and targeted attack on energy workers. In another part of South Central Ukraine, at least six, six people were injured after a Russian attack on a maternity hospital in the city of Zaporizia. Meanwhile, Trump administration envoy, Steve Whitkoff, said this weekend that talks with Russia have been, quote, productive. Joanna Kekisis, NPR News, Kiv.

And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. It's another night of frigid temperatures for much of the east coast tonight. South Florida has not seen such low temperatures since 1980. and hundreds of flights to North Carolina were canceled this weekend because of the cold. Preparations are underway for critical testing of NASA spacecraft for the Artemis II mission to send four astronauts around the moon. As NPR's Chandelis Duster reports, NASA says fuel testing for the Artemis II mission could begin on Monday. Pre-launch testing, known as a wet dress rehearsal, was previously delayed because of freezing temperatures at the launch pad in Florida. More than 700,000 gallons of fuel is set to be loaded into the rocket.

Launch teams will also practice removing the fuel from the rocket and will conduct the launch countdown. The four astronauts who will fly around the moon will not be on the spacecraft during the pre-launch test. The astronauts have been in quarantine in Houston to limit exposure to illnesses since late January. NASA says the chance for the Artemis II mission to launch will take place no earlier than next week. There are also launch opportunities in March and April. Shandalee's Duster, NPR News. The survival thriller Send Help was at the top of the box office this weekend. The Sam Ramey Flick debuted with $20 million in North American ticket sales.

The sci-fi horror film Iron Long came in second with $17.9 million in sales. The movie was directed by YouTuber Marky Plyer. The documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, meanwhile, did better than expected, with $7 million in ticket sales. Amazon spent $75 million to purchase the rights to the story as well as market it. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News, Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps.

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