NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-16-2025 12PM 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 Noor Ram. The nation's governors are gathering in Washington this week. It comes as several states have sued the Trump administration on its efforts to reshape the federal government and its workforce.

NPR's Deepa Shivram has more. Thousands of government employees, including probationary workers or recent recent hires are getting laid off as billionaire Elon Musk tries to cut government spending with his unit the Department of Government Efficiency. Speaking alongside Musk, President Trump says Doge has found billions of dollars in waste and fraud but didn't provide evidence for where those numbers are coming from. The website for Doge says receipts for quote savings are coming over the weekend but haven't been posted. 14 states sued Trump and Musk for Musk's quote unchecked power over the government and its workforce. The White House for its part says that Musk is complying with federal laws.

Deepa Sivaram, NPR News. Heavy rains are causing flooding in much of Kentucky, including areas ravaged by a once-in-a-century flood in 2022. At least one person has died in the state. John McGarry of Member Station WEKY reports. There's little rest for weary first responders in much of Kentucky this weekend. In the southeastern county of Floyd, Emergency Management Director Brian White says there have been a lot of rescues but no reported injuries or deaths. Some makers have actually issued declarations evacuating some localized towns and stuff.

And we got like a law enforcement out helping mitigate the process and all this and that to get people up to higher ground that'll leave their residence in some danger right now. White says several trees and power lines are down too. For NPR News, I'm John McGarry in Versailles, Kentucky. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Jerusalem, where he met today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Later, the two men said the U.S. and Israel are both determined to counter the threats posed by Iran.

Rubio said Iran is behind every terrorist group, every act of violence in the region. I think it's important to constantly point that whether we talk about Hamas or we talk about Hezbollah or we talk about violence in the West Bank or we talk about destabilization in Syria or we talk about any of these issues, the militias in Iraq, they all have behind them one common theme, Iran. And that must be addressed. Rubio also said he endorses Israel's war aims in the Gaza Strip that Hamas must be eradicated. The French foreign minister says France will host a summit of European leaders tomorrow to discuss the war in Ukraine and European security. It's in response to President Trump's

decision to negotiate an end to the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaving out European nations. European President, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he won't be part of any settlement that leaves out Ukraine in the negotiations. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. A South African man considered the world's first openly gay Amman has been killed in a suspected hit, Kate Bartlett reports. Musine Hendricks was shot multiple times in his car

on Saturday in the eastern Cape city of Kwebukha, South African police said. Officials say two masked men who opened fire fled the scene. Hendricks, who had received international press coverage and been the focus of a documentary, had previously alluded to threats against him. The website of his mask said that it provides, quote, a safe space in which queer Muslims and marginalized women can practice Islam. For NPR News, I'm Kate Butler in Johannesburg.

A sustainable aviation fuel company in Montana will soon receive the first installment of a nearly 1.7 billion dollar loan from the federal government to increase production. This comes after weeks of delay stemming from the administration's spending freeze. Montana Public Radio's Ellis Julin reports. Montana renewables was selected to receive a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Biden administration's funding of clean energy development. The actual disbursement of the loan faced an uncertain future after President Trump took office and issued executive orders freezing all dollars associated with Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

Montana Renewables is the first company to receive payment of an energy department loan since a federal funding freeze happened late last month. The company will soon receive the first payment for half the loan, $782 million. The money will expand the company's production of alternative jet fuel derived from a combination of animal fats and vegetable oils. For NPR News, I'm Ellis Zhu Lin in Missoula, Montana. And I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.