NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-10-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

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At the Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar indeed performed his smash diss track Not Like Us and brought out Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams, and SZA. We're recapping the Super Bowl, including why we saw so many celebrities in commercials this year. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Hamas says it will delay the next planned release of Israeli hostages, citing violations by Israel in the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Israel in turn accused Hamas of violating the agreement.

NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports from Tel Aviv. The next scheduled release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees is supposed to be this Saturday. But Hamas has postponed it, quote, until further notice, according to a statement on the group's Telegram channel. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz called the announcement, quote, a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement and said that he had asked the Israeli military to prepare at the highest level of readiness for any possible scenario in Gaza. It comes as talks about the next phase of the increasingly fragile ceasefire deal had

begun in Doha over the weekend and after President Trump doubled down on a plan to have the U.S. take over Gaza and relocate the Palestinians there elsewhere. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. On his first overseas trip since he was elected, Vice President JD Vance is attending an artificial intelligence summit in Paris. He's expected to challenge Europe's efforts to increase AI technology oversight. The gatherings drawn tech and political leaders from around the globe include China, where the recent unveiling of the budget-friendly DeepSeek chatbot shook up America's big tech.

The presence of China's special envoy at today's gathering in France signals high stakes for the AI summit. President Trump is threatening new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, and PR Scott Horsley reports rising metal prices are also putting pressure on the penny. President Trump says he plans to announce a 25% tax on all imported steel and aluminum, extending a trade battle he launched during his first term in the White House. The move has the potential to boost domestic steel and aluminum makers while also raising costs for businesses and consumers that buy steel and aluminum, ranging from automakers to soda pop and beer drinkers.

President Trump says he's directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies. The government's been losing money on the coins, which each cost more than a penny to make. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. 22 states are suing the Trump administration to halt funding cuts for medical research grants. From Embers Station, KQED, here's Sarah Hussaini. The NIH says it's capping money for facilities and administrative costs at 15 percent to align with the amount some private funders permit. Stanford University Professor Benjamin Good says the future of his research on the gut microbiome is now in jeopardy without money for secure data storage, janitorial services, and chemical safety training, among

many other functions. The science we do, I think it's extremely important. It's very basic science, and it's not something that companies support right now. In a statement, Stanford says cuts to research on its campus will amount to $160 million per year. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Hosseini. This is NPR News. A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration failed to fully follow a court order to lift

a freeze on federal spending. Today, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell cites evidence that some federal grants and loans are still not going out to their recipients. The National Endowment for the Arts, which provides support to arts organizations in all 50 states, has changed its grant guidelines for 2026 to align with the administration's executive orders. This affects groups with DEI programs or ones which promote gender ideology. And a program designed to provide arts for underserved groups has been canceled.

Jeff London has details. At $210 million, the NEA is a drop in the federal budget, but a lifeline for many arts organizations. And the new guidelines mean that to get funding, these groups will need to change policies that are often intrinsic to their missions. Challenge America is a program which funded arts projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved groups and communities that may have limited access to the arts relative to geography, ethnicity, economic status, and or disability.

It's been canceled outright. Meanwhile, the endowment is encouraging applications for America 250, celebrating the semi-quincentennial of the United States. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. At last check on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 210 points or more than 1%. The S&P was up 42 points and the Dow has gained 145 points. It's NPR. Planet money is there.

From California's most expensive fires ever. That was my home home. Yeah. I grew up there. It's ashes. To the potentially largest deportation in U.S. history. They're going to come to the businesses. They're going to come to the restaurants. They're going to come here. Planet Money. We go to the places at the center of the story. The Planet Money podcast from NPR.