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

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

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This message comes from Wondery. At 24 years old, Monika Lewinsky was in a scandal that defined who she was for the entire world. And now, she's ready to draw from her own experience on what it means to redefine yourself on her new podcast, Reclaiming with Monika Lewinsky. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Russia and the U.S. are agreeing to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine, though without input from the country where the fighting is actually taking place. During a meeting in Saudi Arabia today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two sides have agreed to pursue goals, including restoring their respective embassies and creating a

high-level team to support Ukrainian peace talks. Questioned about the lack of Ukrainian participation at the talks, President Trump largely skirted the fact it was Russia's invasion that started the war. I hear that, you know, they're upset about not having a seat. Well, they've had a seat for three years, and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily. Just a half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted angrily,

saying he's now canceled a planned visit to Saudi Arabia. President Trump's drive to cut federal spending is delivering a blow to some rural efforts to recruit and retain teachers. Nebraska's public media's Cassidy Arena reports the future of one program focused on addressing brain drain for rural educators has been cut short.

The goal of the project through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kansas State University was to identify communities having difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers, particularly in rural districts. But now the Department of Education has ordered them to return funding meant to last for three to five years. Project specialist Courtney Johnson says she knew they'd be on the chopping block. The quickness and the impersonality, the dispassionate form letter that we received, that was tough.

But the worst part was having to tell the students. The project had to rescind 16 full-ride scholarships to students. Studies show high-poverty rural districts have some of the highest rates of teacher turnover. For NPR News, I'm Cassidy Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. Measles cases continue to rise in West Texas, with confirmed cases more than doubling there over the past week. From our station KTTZ in Lubbock, Texas, Samantha Larned reports that measles outbreaks were recorded in at least five counties in the region with 58 confirmed cases. The measles outbreak was originally identified in rural Gaines County along Texas border

with New Mexico. Dr. Ron Cook is the public health authority with the city of Lubbock. With cases on the rise, including at least four among vaccinated individuals, he says the focus is on containing the outbreak. Right now it's based on exposure and they're not knowing that you had measles or ever been vaccinated. If this thing were to really get carried away, then we would offer booster doses for many different people. Cook says that the state of Texas has vaccine reserves on hand if the measles outbreak continues

spreading. For now, cases are expected to rise as more people get tested. For NPR News, I'm Samantha Larned in Lubbock. Stocks close higher on Wall Street today. The Dow is up 10 points. The Nasdaq rose 14 points. You're listening to NPR. A coalition of unions are going to court seeking to try and block

Amman Musk and his Doge team from gaining access to sensitive taxpayer information at the Internal Revenue Service. However, what Musk or Doge are looking for is not entirely clear. At least one of the suits groups have filed seeks to prevent the action, arguing that tax state enjoys special privacy protections under the law. Those opposed to granting Doge access have also pointed to the potential unlawful use of taxpayer records to maliciously target people. In the mountains of Colorado, a snowmobiler survived an avalanche despite being completely

buried for an hour, Colorado Public Radio's Stina Sieg reports. Stina Sieg When the man was lost in the slide, his friend tried to find him, then called 911. A rescue team dug up the victim, cold but conscious. Ethan Green is the director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Being buried for an hour and coming out alive, that is very unusual. And so that is very lucky for all of us that, you know, these guys get to go home to their families and we don't have that wake of grief and pain that ripples through their communities.

Green says the victim deployed an avalanche airbag which can keep someone from being buried deeply under snow. For NPR News, I'm Steena Sieg in Grand Junction, Colorado. The Vatican says Pope Francis has now been diagnosed with double pneumonia, though officials say the pond remains in good spirits. New tests are showing further complications in the condition of the 88-year-old pope, who has been hospitalized since last week. The Vatican says the pope's respiratory infection also involves bronchitis.

I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. Donald Trump is back in the White House and making a lot of moves very quickly. Washington.