NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-17-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

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Hey, it's Amartines. I work on a news show. And yeah, the news can feel like a lot on any given day. But you just can't ignore las noticias when important world-changing events are happening. So that is where the Up First podcast comes in. Every single morning in under 15 minutes, we take the news and boil it down to three essential stories so you can keep up without feeling stressed out. Listen to the Up First 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 remains 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. That's NPR's Hadil El-Shalchi reporting. European leaders will meet in Paris today for a crisis summit on Ukraine. That meeting is in response to President Trump's plan to negotiate an end to the war directly with Russia. News that Europe and Kiev would be excluded from talks this week in Saudi Arabia has been

met with anger and disbelief. NATO and EU officials are also expected to join the summit. The BBC's Andrew Harding has more in this report from Paris. French officials are trying to make this emergency summit sound almost routine. An informal opportunity for European leaders to discuss a joint response to America's abrupt and unilateral moves to end the war in Ukraine. The French Foreign Minister told a radio station here that we must keep our cool and not be intimidated. But there is no hiding the anger and the confusion triggered by Washington's suggestion that it may sideline both Europe and Ukraine to cut a peace deal directly with Russia's President

Putin. Heavy flooding over the weekend swept across much of the Midwest. A lot of the worst flooding was in Kentucky. That's where eight people died in the floodwaters. Meanwhile, near the Kentucky state line, more than 100 residents in southwest Virginia were rescued from rising floodwaters. Roxy Tautive, Member Station Radio IQ, reports. Nineteen-year-old Kylie Hensley recalls watching a family yelling for help from their front door in Hurley, Virginia.

One of our neighbors ended up having a John boat that we could get to them with, and we used a kayak paddle. They had pets and cats and dogs. We were able to save them too. In a video Hensley recorded, the sound of rushing floodwaters can be heard as her neighbor paddled to rescue the family. Across southwest Virginia, schools and churches opened emergency shelters for displaced residents. With more snow expected later

this week, crews are working to restore power to the thousands of residents who lost power during the storm. For NPR News, I'm Roxie Todd in Pulaski, Virginia. And you're listening to NPR News. Opposition lawmakers in Argentina are threatening to impeach that country's president over his endorsements of what appears to have been a cryptocurrency scam. The far-right libertarian leader promoted and then pulled his endorsement of a crypto coin. It then took a stunning crash just hours after being launched. NPR's Carrie Khan has more on our story. Friday night, President Javier Millet posted on X an endorsement of a new crypto coin called Libra.

The currency launched just hours before the president's post promised to strengthen the Argentine economy. Under an hour of Millet's promotion, the coin rose to nearly $5 in value. However, soon it plunged to under a dollar. Saturday, Millet deleted the tweet, denied relation to the coin, and blamed critics for attacking him. Observers say the coin launch is a so-called rug pull where developers attract investors, then bolt. Millet's crypto move echoes similar steps by President Trump, a close ally. Days before his inauguration, Trump released a namesake coin which has since plummeted in value. Carrie Cahn, NPR News.

The latest story in the Marvel movie franchise took the number one slot in North American movie theaters this weekend. Captain America, Brave New World has already brought in $88.5 million in ticket sales, and Disney estimates it will reach more than $190 million internationally by the end of the President's Day holiday. Paddington in Peru debuted in second place with a $13 million total, and the slasher movie Heart Eyes was in third with $10 million. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. 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 card 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.