NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-16-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: February 16, 2025

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Bella DiPaolo is glad if you're happily married, but she is perfectly happy being single. I would love to have someone who took care of my car or someone who cleaned up the dishes after dinner, but then I'd want them to leave. From yourself to your dog to your spouse are significant others. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The fate of Ukraine is the number one topic at the annual Munich security conference underway in Germany this weekend. The Trump administration is pushing for a rapid end to Russia's war on Ukraine.

And President Trump is pushing Ukraine for concessions. According to NPR's Dronika Kisus, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky says he won't negotiate with Russia without strong security guarantees. Zelensky admitted that he has a lot of work to do to convince President Trump and his team that Russia is dangerous. Speaking in Munich today,

Zelensky said he will not give up pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. He sees this Western alliance as Ukraine's strongest security guarantee against Russia. Though he did question why NATO is so cautious around Russian President Vladimir Putin That's NPR's Joanna Kokissis the board of open AI says it's turned down Elon Musk's more than 97 billion dollar offer to buy the company is NPR's Bobby Allen reports the bid comes amid Musk's ongoing lawsuit against the maker of chat GPT the board of OpenAI says it has unanimously rejected Musk's unsolicited proposal to take over the company. In a statement, Chairman Brett

Taylor says OpenAI is not for sale, calling Musk's offer an attempt to undercut one of his competitors. At the same time, Musk's lawyers are advancing a lawsuit against OpenAI seeking to stop the chat GPT maker from converting from a non-profit into a for-profit operation. OpenAI received some of its first funding from Musk, and the billionaire White House official says OpenAI is violating its founding principles as a research lab. But OpenAI has published emails from Musk when the company started showing him supporting the idea of converting to a for-profit business. Bobby Allen, NPR News.

A major storm system is hitting the south and parts of the east with heavy rainfall and freezing rain this weekend. Flash flood warnings have been issued for parts of several states including Kentucky, where there's widespread flooding across the state. Karen Zahr with Member Station WUKY reports. The rain began to fall early Saturday morning and has refused to let up across Kentucky, causing flash flooding, road closures, evacuations and landslides. Governor Andy Beshear says plans are in place for Kentucky and who had to leave their homes. We've already checked in that availability for our state parks if that's necessary for a couple of days

with people who might be displaced. This year declared a state of emergency ahead of the storms on Friday and members of the National Guard and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife have been deployed for swift water rescues. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in Lexington. Workers at an Amazon warehouse in North Carolina have rejected a proposal to form a union. The National Labor Relations Board says about three-quarters of employees at an Amazon fulfillment center in Garner, a town near Raleigh, voted against joining the grassroots union. The independent union is made up of former and current Amazon workers. You're listening to NPR News. Taylor Swift has broken another record,

this time overseas, as Vicki Barker reports from London. With the re-release of her 2023 live album Lover, Taylor Swift has overtaken Madonna as the female artist with the most number one albums in the UK. I've been the archster, has been the prey. With this, her 13th UK chart, Topper Swift is now tied with Elvis Presley for the international artists with the most number ones in Britain. And she's within touching distance

of her male competition. The Rolling Stones have had 14 UK No. 1s, Robbie Williams and the Beatles are the joint record holders with 15. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. Officials in India say at least 15 people were killed late Saturday in a stampede at a railway station in India's capital of New Delhi. The stampede took place as thousands of people were waiting to board a train to go to a Hindu festival in the northern part of that country. An investigation into the cause of the stampede has now

begun. The NAACP is urging black consumers to steer their spending to companies that have not pulled back from diversity, equity, and inclusion programs because of pressure from conservatives. DEI initiatives promote the social and economic advancement of people who have been historically underrepresented in society. The group is calling the program a buy-in rather than a boycott because the program supports companies that share their values. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. On the Throughline Podcast, the myth linking autism and vaccines was decades in the making. values. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.