NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-17-2025 7AM 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 in Washington, Onkorva Coleman, Russia says it is sending top diplomats

to Saudi Arabia to meet US officials to talk about the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin says they'll also discuss today a potential meeting between President Trump and President Putin. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Saudi Arabia, but the State Department has not publicly released an agenda or said with whom Rubio is meeting. Ukrainian President Zelensky says his country must have a role in any peace talks, and European nations are saying the same thing. So NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports leaders of eight European nations and the head of NATO are gathering in Paris today for their own meeting on Ukraine.

On the agenda is increasing military spending, which might mean discarding long-established EU limits on budget deficits and authorizing massive spending. They will speak of how to guarantee any peace. In an editorial in a British newspaper yesterday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain would be ready to send troops to ensure a peace deal. This morning, Sweden said it, too, could send troops, and France Starmer said Britain would be ready to send troops to ensure a peace deal. This morning, Sweden said it too could send troops, and France has also said it would send troops.

NPR's Eleanor Beersley reporting. The nation's governors are gathering in Washington this week. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports this comes as several states have sued the Trump administration over its efforts to reshape the federal government and workforce. Thousands of government employees, including probationary workers or 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 Shivaram, NPR News. Powerful storms in the South killed 10 people over the weekend. Nine people died in Kentucky

and another person perished in Georgia. Widespread flooding in Kentucky is expected to continue today. For Member Station WEKU, Shepard Snyder has more. The National Weather Service says river levels across the region were already high after a round of precipitation early last week. Meteorologist Alex Vorst says Saturday's rainfall worsened the situation. We throw anywhere from four to five, six inches of rain on top of what was already high water issues anyways. And it just really culminated in widespread flooding. NWS reports Central and Western Kentucky got the heaviest rainfall. Communities in the eastern Kentucky mountains have also been affected, including denser population centers like Hazard and Pikeville. For NPR News, I'm Shepard Snyder in Lexington, Kentucky.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Rebels in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have captured the second largest city in DRC. The city is Bukavu. It's home to about a million people. The rebels are backed by neighboring Rwanda. They've captured the city of Goma as well. The Rwandan-backed rebels say they plan to march on the Congolese capital and take it

over. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his country's top entrepreneurs today in a closely watched symposium. And Piers Awen-Sau reports, investors are looking for clues about Beijing's stance on the private sector. Business leaders from Huawei, Xiaomi, battery maker CATL, and electric vehicle giant BYD were seen applauding and taking notes, according to state media.

Notably, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, who was sidelined by the government four years ago, appeared in public alongside Mr. Xi for the first time. Chinese media also reported that Deep Six founder attended. While details of the discussions and the full attended list remain undisclosed, this was Xi's first meeting with corporate leaders since U.S.-China trade tensions escalated under Trump. The event has sparked optimism that Beijing may be shifting its focus back to private enterprise. Al Wenzhao, NPR News, Beijing. The Vatican says that Pope Francis spent a quiet night resting at a hospital in Rome.

Francis has been there since Friday after he was admitted for the treatment of persistent bronchitis. Doctors say they prescribed absolute rest for the pontiff. He canceled all of his weekend activities, including his regular Sunday blessing. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News. Planet Money is there. From California's most expensive fires ever. blessing. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.