NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-18-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

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Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts, perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart have concluded talks in Saudi Arabia. These focused on ending the war in Ukraine three years after Russia invaded.

Rubio says that ending the war will require concessions on all sides. Trump administration officials have already said Ukraine cannot join NATO and it cannot get back all its territory that Russia forcibly took. European leaders are dismayed as the Trump administration draws closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports there is fear a U.S. brokered peace in Ukraine won't prevent Russia from continuing its war in the future. Europe facing the Trump-Putin axis read the headline of newspaper Le Monde as talks between US and Russian officials got underway in Saudi Arabia without the Europeans. Former French NATO allied commander Jean-Paul Palomeros told BFM television it will take

a while for Europe to rev up its military production, but in the meantime, it must support Ukraine with what it has. If Putin wins, he said, Europe will continue to live under this threat and terror, and it will slow all the progress and integration we've achieved in Europe since 1949. Eleanor Beersley in Pierre News, Paris. A federal judge has temporarily paused the Trump administration's plan to slash funding from the National Institutes of Health. Areas that depend on health research for their economies are very concerned. Stephen Bissau of the Gulf States newsroom says one of the top recipients of NIH funding

is the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Biomedical research basically saved Birmingham's economy after the steel industry collapsed in the 70s and 80s. Economists warned that losing that funding could ripple across Alabama. UAB says life-saving research into things like cancer, Alzheimer's, and heart disease are in jeopardy. A federal judge has temporarily paused those cuts while lawsuits work their way through the courts.

Steven Bisaha reporting. A key civil rights organization is urging black Americans to choose not to support businesses that are ending commitments to diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces and opportunities. NPR's Kristen Wright has more. In recent months, a wave of big corporations like Walmart, McDonald's, and Meta decided to end DEI policies, citing a shift toward belonging for all and legal concerns. The NAACP is requesting Black Americans not to spend money at those businesses. The civil rights group issued the Black Consumer Advisory, saying the rollbacks erode progress

in creating an equitable society. It's calling on Black Americans to support businesses upholding their DEI commitments, as well as Black-owned businesses. President Trump ended DEI and accessibility programs in the federal government on Inauguration Day. Kristen Wright, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. 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. At least one person was killed in West Virginia and another in Georgia. U.S. and Canadian officials are investigating why a Delta plane overturned and landed on its roof yesterday in Toronto. Authorities say everyone aboard escaped and 18 people were hurt, at least two of them critically.

Costa Rica's government says it will accept migrants deported from the United States. That includes migrants from other nations. Costa Rican officials say these migrants are from Central Asia and India. The first group of deportees is expected to arrive tomorrow. This spring, movie audiences may think they're seeing double or even more than double. NPR's Bob Mandello has details. In a new mafia epic, Robert De Niro plays real-life mob boss Vito Genovese. Where do I start?

And also plays rival mob boss Frank Costello. You're going down a very dangerous road. And we ain't been down dangerous roads before. But you're not. We're right. De Niro meets De Niro in The Alto Nights. Michael B. Jordan has a similar double assignment in the thriller Sinners. You twins?

Nah, we cousins. Nope. Twin brothers named Smoke and Stack. And if double casting seems tricky, it's child's play next to what Robert Pattinson signed on for in the cloning movie Mickey 17. Every time I died, they just printed me out again. There are so many of him that one day he meets himself. Aaaaaah!

Multiples. Multiples of movie multiples coming soon to the multiplex. Bob Mandelo, NPR News. And I'm Korva Kuhlman, NPR News from Washington.