NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-16-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: February 16, 2025

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There's been a lot of attention on loneliness lately. 16% of Americans report feeling lonely all or most of the time. The former Surgeon General even declared a loneliness epidemic. On It's Been a Minute, we're launching a new series called All the Lonely People, diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives and how our culture shapes it. That's on the It's Been a Minute podcast on NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Israel on a Mideast tour, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a trip to Saudi Arabia this week. This amid reports that the U.S. and

Russia will hold talks there on ending the war in Ukraine. Yesterday Rubio talked with his Russian counterpart and Piers Charles-Mains has more. In a call that Moscow said was initiated by the US, Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to maintain contacts on a host of issues, including Ukraine. Engagement between the top diplomats comes as both sides prepare for a meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with high-level delegations expected to gather in Saudi Arabia in the coming days. Following a call between the two leaders in the past week, Trump appeared to accede to Putin's demands Ukraine to end its ambitions to join NATO and relinquish territory to Moscow,

raising fears the US was cutting Ukraine out of the peace process altogether. In turn, the Kremlin now says its priority with the U.S. is discussing peace, not war. Charles Maynes, NPR News. Severe storms in the Southeast last night with heavy rains, high winds, and flooding left at least nine people dead, one in Georgia and eight in Kentucky.

Karen Zarr from member station WUKY has more. Kentucky has seen rain, snow and sleet causing flooding, mudslides and dangerous conditions in all of the state's 120 counties. Governor Andy Beshear says the emergency phase this state is in will last for several days. That's the type of event we're dealing with and we're going to be actively dealing with

this flood for probably the next week in different parts of at least getting things cleaned up. There are 19 active swift water rescue teams working around the clock and more than a thousand rescues were done within the first 24 hours of this storm. Because of the disaster declaration, FEMA is already on the ground. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zahr in Frankfort. President Trump's border czar Tom Homan calls allegations of a quid pro quo with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, quote, ridiculous. This after the Justice Department Friday ordered federal prosecutors to move to dismiss corruption charges against Adams, a move that led several prosecutors to resign.

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

I want to get the right to resign so we can get the public safety threat before they're released to the street. I want his help, especially the NYPD Intelligence Unit. Speaking there on CNN's State of the Union, you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Amid a nationwide increase in homelessness, many communities lack the services and the shelters to help them. As Connecticut Public Radio's Abigail Brone reports, it's taking a toll on the workers hired to help them. Nicole Baracliff answers the Emergency 211 Helpline in central Connecticut. Barakliff connects unhoused residents with resources to find them a temporary or permanent

home. She says that lately, her job has become more difficult, and that she often has to tell people there's no immediate shelter option, leaving her feeling defeated and burned out. Small success stories. They do help and they mean a lot. They make your heart happy, but there's just so many day to day, I feel like you just feel like you're never doing enough. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, providers are taking on some

of the trauma their unhoused clients share with them. And there are no standardized trainings that target secondary trauma or burnout. For NPR News, I'm Abigail Brown in Hartford. At the weekend box office, Captain America, Brave New World debuted in the top spot with an estimated $88 million in ticket sales. And despite unfavorable reviews, those numbers make it the biggest opening of the year so far. In second place, Paddington in Peru opened with an estimated $13 million in ticket sales.

It's the third installment in the beloved franchise of the marmalade-loving bear. That franchise has always been more of a hit overseas, and this installment followed suit, grossing $115 million internationally. I'm Janene Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. NPR covers from Washington.