NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-18-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: February 18, 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 in Washington, I'm Korva Kuhlman. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has concluded a day of discussion with his Russian counterpart. The teams talked about moving toward a peace agreement for Ukraine.

But Ukraine was not invited to the talks. Neither were European officials. Rubio says there will have to be concessions to end the war in Ukraine. Trump administration officials have previously said Ukraine cannot get back all the territory that Russia invaded and that Ukraine cannot join NATO. These are both key Russian demands the Trump administration is agreeing to. Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen says Ukraine has also rejected President Trump's demand for much of Ukraine's key minerals. Can you imagine FDR in the middle of World War II saying to Churchill, you know, we're not going to continue to help you until you turn over half of your coal and mineral reserves.

That's not how you behave when you want to support a friend who's under attack by an authoritarian like Putin. He spoke to CNN. Hamas in Gaza says it will hand over the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday and six living hostages on Saturday. Israel had asked Hamas to speed up the hostage releases, and Pio's Daniel Estrin has more from Tel Aviv. Hamas says on Thursday it will give Israel the bodies of four hostages, including those

of the Bebas family. Shiri Bebas and her two young children, aged four and nearly one, when they were captured, have long been feared dead. On Saturday, Hamas says it will release all six living hostages it had committed to freeing by the end of February, including two hostages held in Gaza for about a decade. Next week, Hamas is expected to give Israel four more hostages' bodies. After that, 59 hostages will remain in Gaza, nearly half of them confirmed dead.

In return, Israel says it's allowing mobile homes into Gaza for those whose homes were destroyed, plus heavy machinery to retrieve bodies buried under rubble. Danielle Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Stocks opened lower this morning after the long holiday weekend. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 130 points in early trading. Investors in Constellation brands may be raising a glass. After news Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has taken a stake in the company.

Constellation sells spirits, wine and beer, including Mexican imports Corona and Modelo. Its shares had taken a beating on President Trump's threats of new import tariffs, so Buffett may have gotten a bargain. Southwest Airlines is cutting its corporate workforce, shedding more than 1,700 workers, including 15 percent of its senior management committee. It's the airline's first major layoff in more than half a century of operation. Southwest says in a statement it's trying to become a leaner, more agile organization. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow is now down about 125 points. This is NPR. The Energy Department has reversed the firings of many workers that it just sacked. The workers are responsible for overseeing the nation's nuclear weapons. Some employees say they were rehired within hours of being let go. Some members of Congress expressed alarm about mass layoffs at an agency that guards U.S. nuclear warheads and fights nuclear terrorism. A winter storm, warning, blankets much of Kentucky today, a few days after powerful storms raked the South. At least a dozen people died in Kentucky, one person was killed in

West Virginia, and another person perished in Georgia. Mexican singer Paquita La Del Barrio has died at the age of 77. As NPS Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports, the singer was known as a voice of heartbreak and rage. Paquita La del Barrio, which informally translates to Paquita from the block, became a star in Mexico in the 1980s. She was beloved for the disdain with which she sang about the men who broke her heart. Paquita said her music was inspired by her real relationships. For decades, her lyrics channeled her pain into feminist rage.

In the hit, Una Rata de Dos Patas, she famously compared an ex-lover to a cursed leech and a poisonous snake. Paquita Ladovario's team announced her passing, no cause of death was given. Mexico City's Department of Culture issued a statement celebrating her quote, unmistakable voice and unique style. Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento, NPR News. And I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, from Washington.