NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-17-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

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Donald Trump is back in the White House and making a lot of moves very quickly. Keep track of everything going on in Washington with the NPR Politics Podcast. Every day we break down the latest news and explain why it matters to you. The NPR Politics Podcast. Listen every day. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. European leaders wrapped up a meeting today in Paris with a vow to continue supporting Ukraine but were divided over certain questions going forward. MPR's Aldous Beardsley reports the Europeans came together after the Trump administration

left them out of upcoming negotiations with Russia to end the war. Europeans fear the Trump administration will give too much away in negotiations with President Vladimir Putin. the Trump administration will give too much away in negotiations with President Vladimir Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the gathering, says they agree that Russia must end its aggression and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he's ready to send troops to guarantee a peace

as long as America would provide a backstop. Macron said he's open to that scenario, but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says any discussion on peacekeepers is completely premature given the war still rages on with all its brutality. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. The Department of Energy has rescinded the firings of many workers responsible for overseeing the nation's nuclear weapons. NPR's Jeff Bromfield reports the reversal came within hours of mass terminations.

Over the weekend, several employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration told NPR they'd been hastily rehired after being fired last Thursday. Sources inside the agency said hundreds were fired at first, but in a statement sent late Sunday night a Department of Energy spokesperson said that fewer than 50 employees ultimately lost their jobs. Those jobs were in quote, primarily administrative and clerical roles. Members of Congress were alarmed after learning of the mass layoffs at the agency, which oversees America's nuclear warheads and combats nuclear

terrorism. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News, Washington. A major winter storm system has killed at least 11 people in Kentucky, where the governor says there are many more people still unaccounted for. As Karen Zahra of Member Station WUKY reports, parts of the state received more than six inches of rain. Damage is widespread across the state, but emergency management says Pike County in Eastern Kentucky is among the hardest hit.

It's the same area that was underwater for weeks during flooding in 2022. Governor Andy Beshear has been surveying the damage. We will dig out. We will muck out. We'll rebuild every single structure that's here. Air and water rescues are continuing. In neighboring Martin County, Bisher said more than 200 residents of two apartment complexes were evacuated by helicopter and water rescue teams after floodwaters rose, trapping them. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in Pikeville, Kentucky.

US financial markets are closed today for the President's Day holiday. There was trading on overseas markets. Stocks were up in Germany and Britain. Nikkei was also higher. This is NPR. At least 18 people were hurt after a Delta Airlines plane from Minneapolis coming in for a landing in Toronto ended up on the runway upside down. Officials at Toronto's Pearson airport say all of the 80 passengers and crew aboard the plane are accounted for, and according to initial reports there were no fatalities. It's not yet known what caused the incident.

Delta says it cancelled its flights to and from the airport for the rest of the evening. New research finds periods of extreme stress can cause unexpected heart attack like cardiovascular problems. NPR's Alison Arby reports on stress cardiomyopathy, also known as broken heart syndrome. Broken heart syndrome can come on after a stressful emotional or physical shock,

everything from the loss of a loved one to a bad breakup or a scary event. Symptoms include shortness of breath and chest pain. The key difference is that there are no serious blockages in the arteries. Instead, Dr. Grant Reed, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, says broken heart syndrome is caused by a weakening of the heart muscle linked

to a rise in stress hormones, including adrenaline. And that adrenaline surge causes the heart muscle to weaken in a certain way. It's almost like the heart is overworked for that period of time and then it weakens. With time and medications, most people with broken heart syndrome make a full recovery. Allison Albrey, NPR News. Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek says it's temporarily pausing downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea while it works with local authorities to address privacy issues. South Korea's Personal Information

Protection Commission says DeepSeek's apps were removed from the local version of Apple's app store as well. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from NYU Langone. The NYU Langone Health app gives you access to your electronic health record. Keep track of your visits, lab results, and images all in one place. Better health starts with a better health system.