NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-13-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: February 13, 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 in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. A federal judge is refusing to block a Trump administration proposal that would allow government workers to resign while receiving pay and benefits through the fiscal year.

As NPR's Andrea Shue reports, it means that the offer can move forward. The Trump administration had given workers a choice. They could offer their resignations now in exchange for pay and benefits through the end of September. The expectation was they'd be on leave most of that time. Or they could remain in their positions and risk being laid off as Trump downsizes the federal workforce. Labor unions representing civil servants asked the court to block the offer, calling it unlawful.

U.S. District Judge George O'Toole declined that request, finding that the unions didn't have standing to bring the case because they are not directly affected. He did not rule on the legality of the deferred resignation program. The unions called the ruling a setback, but not the end of the fight. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Tulsi Gabbard was sworn in

as head of national intelligence Wednesday, just hours after her Senate confirmation. At a White House ceremony, Gabbard promised to focus on what she called a mandate from voters. To refocus our intelligence community by empowering the great patriots who have chosen to serve our country in this way

and focus on ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people. Gabbard says public trust in U.S. national intelligence has eroded because the agencies have been politicized and used as weapons. President Trump says he and Russian leader Putin will negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump declined to say whether Ukrainian President Zelensky would play any equal role in the process.

He spoke with both Putin and Zelensky by phone on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was in Kyiv to discuss a partnership deal between the U.S. and Ukraine on mining rare earth minerals. Major retailers across the nation have started limiting the number of eggs people can buy. As NPR's Ayanna Archie reports, the chicken supply has been decimated by a widespread bird flu outbreak. At Trader Joe's, customers can only buy one or two dozen a day. The limit is in effect at all locations so that the company can, quote, ensure that as many of our customers who need eggs are able to purchase them.

Kroger said it has not implemented a limit nationally, but some of its divisions have capped purchases to no more than two dozen a day for each customer. It hasn't yet specified which divisions are enforcing the restrictions. Food economics experts say stores don't like the appearance of empty shelves, so retailers might ration their supplies to avoid the alternative, which would be hiking egg prices even more so fewer people buy them. Ayanna Archie, NPR News. A Pacific storm is prompting evacuation warnings for parts of Los Angeles County that were

devastated by wildfires in January. Forecasters say the storm's heaviest rainfall is expected to begin Thursday morning and could cause flooding and mudslides. This is NPR. The Denver Public School System is challenging the Trump administration's policy of allowing immigration enforcement agent raids there. The lawsuit argues that the school system is being forced to divert vital educational resources.

It also says the policy has caused a drop in school attendance. Thousands of artists from around the world have signed an open letter asking auction house Christie's to cancel an upcoming sale of art made using artificial intelligence. As NPR's Chloe Veltman reports, Christie's augmented intelligence sale is being billed as the first of its kind at a major auction house. The letter asks Christie's not to go ahead with the auction, which features pieces by such prominent art world figures as Refik Anadol and Holly Herndon, on the grounds that much of it was created using AI models known to be trained on unlicensed copyrighted work.

These models and the companies behind them exploit human artists using their work without permission or payment to build commercial AI products that compete with them, the letter states. In an email to NPR, Christie compete with them, the letter states. In an email to NPR, Christie's did not address the letter's main issue, but said AI is being used to enhance the featured artist's bodies of work. Augmented Intelligence is scheduled to open for bidding online and at Christie's New York on February 20th. Chloe Veltman, NPR News.

An explosion at a department store in Taiwan has killed at least one person and injured several others. Authorities say the blast occurred in the food court of a store in Taichung City. The cause is under investigation. U.S. futures are higher in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR News. On the Throughline Podcast, the myth linking autism and vaccines was decades in the making and was a major moment for vaccine hesitancy in America, tapping into fears involving the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government. No matter how many studies you do showing that this is not a problem, it's very hard

to unring the bell. Listen to Thru Line from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts.