NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-16-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 16, 2025

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Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts, perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in washington i'm norah rom secretary of state marco rubio was in the middle east his first trip there as the nation's top diplomat he's there for talks about the future of gaza npr's hadil el shalchi reports from

tel aviv on the table a plan for a post-war gaza marco rubio met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his first trip to the region as U.S. Secretary of State. And I also thank him for America's unequivocal blacking for Israel's policy in Gaza in moving forward. President Donald Trump's proposal shocked the Arab world when he said he wanted to displace the population of Gaza to other countries and redevelop the strip under U.S. ownership. Rubio is next traveling to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, where he says he's willing to hear alternative options to Trump's plan.

This comes in the last stages of phase one of a shaky ceasefire that has seen 19 Hamas-held Israeli hostages freed and over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released from Israeli jails. Hadeel Alshalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. The Justice Department last week ordered federal prosecutors to move to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. Several prosecutors resigned over that decision. A few days later, Adams met with border czar Tom Homan

and agreed to allow immigration agents access to the prison on Rikers Island. Homan said the two events are not related, that he had been seeking Adams' cooperation for months. I'm not asking his officers to be immigration officers. I'm not going to push them to enforce immigration law. I told him I want to arrest the bad guy. I want to arrest the public safety threats.

I want to get to Rikers Island so we can get the public safety threat before they're released to this tree. I want his help, especially the NYPD intelligence unit. Homan was interviewed on CNN's State of the Union. Heavy rain in the southeast has led to flooding and high water rescues. At least one person is confirmed dead in Kentucky, where the governor says President Trump has approved an emergency

disaster declaration. At the same time, Southern California is cleaning up after its own heavy rain last week. NPR's Amy Hald reports. Rain over burn scars led to mudslides trapping cars in the Los Angeles area. The fire department responded and a member had his vehicle swept off the road and into the ocean by debris flow, according to a spokesman. Mud has even seeped into homes, including Jill Forders near Pasadena. Oh my god, this is so much worse than I ever could have imagined. That same system moved eastward, says forecaster Bob Orvac. We developed and was responsible for all the heavy rain that occurred across parts of Arkansas,

Tennessee, Kentucky. Kentucky's governor says historic flooding closed hundreds of roads. responsible for all the heavy rain that occurred across parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky. Kentucky's governor says historic flooding closed hundreds of roads. By Sunday, winds were picking up all along the East Coast, bringing the risk of outages. And in the northern plains, Arctic air is bringing life-threatening cold into the negative 30s. Amy Held, NPR News. This is NPR News. A 14-year-old boy has been killed and five people wounded in a knife attack in southern Austria. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports. Police in Villach, a town near

Austria's border with Slovenia and Italy, say the suspect is a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker who was detained at the scene. Austria's interior minister said the perpetrator was linked to the Islamic State group. The attack took place on Saturday afternoon near the town's main square. A delivery worker, also a Syrian man, who had witnessed the attack as he was driving by deliberately rammed his truck into the suspect. Please say this prevented more injuries. Please say the suspect had a temporary residence permit and was waiting a decision on his asylum application. Rob Schmitz, then Peer News, Munich. In the U.S., Georgia's Port of Brunswick has become the nation's busiest port for autos

and heavy equipment. For Member Station WABE, Marlon Hyde reports. The Port of Brunswick handled more than 2 million tons of auto and heavy equipment last year and also led the country in vehicle cargo exports like cars, trucks, and buses at 600,000 tons, according to USA Trade Online. This comes after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last March that led to cargo being diverted to ports across the East Coast. Port officials say they're expanding capacity as auto manufacturers are looking to do more

of their business through Georgia. Construction on a new berth that can handle larger vessels carrying auto imports is expected to start this summer. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Haag in Atlanta. Amazon workers at a warehouse in North Carolina have rejected joining a union. The vote was nearly three to one against unionizing. Amazon is among NPR's recent financial supporters. And I'm NPR's Noor Aram in Washington.