NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-18-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

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Technologist Paul Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories. How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. We generated tens of images and then she saw two images that was like, that was it. Ideas about the future of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. of memory. That's on the Ted Radio Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. Delta Airlines says 18 people are injured, at least one critically after a commuter plane crashed at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. The Delta plane arriving from Minneapolis with 80 people on board flipped over as it landed. NPR's Jackie Northam reports. Videos on social media show the Delta Airlines commuter plane upside down on

the snowy tarmac shortly after landing in Toronto. Emergency crews worked to put out a fire while passengers and crew got off, according to Toronto police. The airport says arrivals and departures have been temporarily stopped. Since the flight took off from Minneapolis, national transportation safety boards in the U.S. and Canada will work together to determine the cause of the crash. Winds were gusting about 40 miles an hour. There's been heavy snowfall in the area for the past three weeks, and a winter travel advisory was in effect. Jackie Northam, NPR News.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael Michael McFaul, says the Trump administration is making a mistake by meeting with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia without Ukraine and Europe on board. It's a mistake. It's symbolically a mistake. There should be talks with our colleagues in Ukraine first, substantial talks, not just the kind of episodic conversations they've had, including in Munich. Second, we should talk to our European allies first, and then we should go to a meeting

with the Russians with a consolidated agreed position. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to meet in Riyadh Tuesday with top US officials, including Secretary of State Marko Rubio. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will not recognize any agreements without Ukraine at the table. European leaders held emergency talks in Paris on Monday and made concerns that they could be sidelined. Forecasters are warning of life-threatening cold in the Rockies and northern plains, saying

temperatures in parts of North Dakota could drop to 60 below. Extreme cold warnings have been posted across 11 states stretching from Canada to Oklahoma and Central Texas. A cold follows deadly weekend flooding. At least 13 people were killed, including 11 in Kentucky. Karen Zara, member station WUKY, reports that parts of Kentucky received more than six inches of rain. Damage is widespread across the state, but emergency management says Pike County in eastern Kentucky is among the hardest hit. It's the same area that was underwater for weeks

during flooding in 2022. Governor Andy Beshear has been surveying the damage. We will dig out, we will muck out, we'll rebuild every single structure that's here." Air and water rescues are continuing. In neighboring Martin County, Bichir said more than 200 residents of two apartment complexes were evacuated by helicopter and water rescue teams after floodwaters rose, trapping them. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zarr in Pikeville, Kentucky. This is NPR. New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she will meet with key leaders Tuesday amid turmoil in the New York City mayor's office.

Four top deputies to Mayor Eric Adams have announced their resignations amid the push by the Trump administration's Justice Department to withdraw corruption charges against Adams. Adams confirmed the resignations in a statement the situation has also led to multiple Justice Department resignations. The Mexican singer Paquita La del Barrio has died. She was 77 years old and was a giant voice of heartbreak and rage, as NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports.

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 La del Barrio'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. Pope Francis remains hospitalized in Rome with what the Vatican says is a complex respiratory infection. In an update on the Pope's health, the Vatican says Francis is stable, does not have a fever, but that he will remain in the hospital for as long as necessary. This is NPR. There's been a lot of attention on loneliness lately.

16% of Americans report feeling lonely all or most of the time. The former surgeon general even declared a loneliness epidemic. On It's Been A Minute, we're launching a new series called All the Lonely People, diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives and how our culture shapes it. That's on the It's Been A Minute podcast on NPR.