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

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

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Technologist Paul Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories. How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. We generated tens of images and then she saw two images that was like, that was it. Ideas about the future of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is signaling that he is moving ahead with President Donald Trump's proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza. He called it the only viable plan to ensure a different future for the region. The ceasefire in Gaza, meanwhile, remained shaky after almost collapsing last week,

according to NPR's Hadil al-Shalchi. The first phase actually expires at the beginning of March. An Israeli official who's familiar with the talks, but he couldn't speak publicly about them, told NPR that neither side has actually sat down to talk about what phase two would look like, and those negotiations were supposed to start a week ago. The official also said that Israel is planning to press for more hostages to be released this week. There are 73 hostages held by Hamas and Gaza right now, and Israel believes almost half

are dead already. NPR's Hadiya El-Shalchi. Vigils were held in cities across the former Soviet Union, Europe and North America today to honor the legacy of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny died a year ago today at the age of 47 in a remote Arctic prison colony in Russia. NPR's Charles Maines has more. Even from jail, Navalny worked for a more democratic and peaceful Russia. For that, his family and allies say he was murdered on orders of President Vladimir Putin,

a charge the Kremlin has vehemently denied. What is not in dispute, Russian authorities have continued to persecute Navalny's supporters, jailing dozens on supposed extremism charges and forcing many more into exile or silence. In Moscow, long lines formed outside the cemetery where Navalny's grave lies, but police prevented mourners from attending makeshift memorials elsewhere across Russia. In the year after Navalny's death, Russia's opposition has struggled to remain relevant, yet continued government pressure also suggests Navalny's ideas live on. Charles Maynes in PR News. Officials in Austria say the Saturday stabbing that killed a 14-year-old boy

and injured five other people was carried out by a man with possible connections to the Islamic State group. The 23-year-old suspect was arrested after the attack. Police say that he appears to have acted alone. Atlee State people have died this weekend because of severe weather in Kentucky. The state has experienced heavy rain, followed by snow showers. Stan Engel of Member Station WEKU reports. Over a thousand high water rescues have been conducted in Kentucky as crews respond to rising water levels. Additional help is now available since

President Trump granted Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear's request for a federal disaster declaration. Beshear says federal funds will be essential in recovering from this weather event. Think about the damages that we're going to have to our roads which we're already seeing, the mudslides, our water and wastewater systems, those will all be in the millions. The governor thanked FEMA officials for their help. Some of the hard-hit areas are the same ones still recovering from the deadly floods of 2022.

For NPR News, I'm Stan Engold in Richmond, Kentucky. And you're listening to NPR News. Colombian superstar Shakira has canceled her weekend concert in Lima, Peru. She said on social media that she's been hospitalized with an abdominal condition, and doctors say she's in no condition to perform. Peru is her second stop on her Latin American tour. One of the advances in cancer is that new treatments do less damage to healthier parts of the body and as NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, that's

allowing some patients to preserve their fertility. Studies show an alarming increase in women getting cancer at younger ages. For many of those young adults, preserving the ability to have children after treatment is a huge concern. That includes Maggie Laux, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 28 and always wanted her own children. After the initial shock of the diagnosis, that was the most present thing on my mind. And that was really almost even harder than the treatment for breast cancer. She is now age 40, cancer-free, and has had three children.

Yuki Noguchi, NPR News. Captain America, Brave New World is breathing some life into North American theaters this weekend. Disney says the film has already earned $88.5 million and it's expected to bring in more than $192 million globally by the end of Monday's President's Day holiday. Paddington in Peru, which is the third installment in that franchise, took second on its opening weekend with $13 million in ticket sales across North America, and the slasher movie Heart Eyes finished in third with $10 million.

I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.