NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-18-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Saudi Arabia for a series of high-level talks with Russian officials about ending the war in Ukraine. The talks are expected to get underway this hour. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he did not know about the discussions and says Ukraine is not taking part in them. MPR's Joanna Kikissis reports from Kyiv. Speaking to Ukrainian reporters via video link from Abu Dhabi, Zelensky said his visit

to the region was planned before the U.S.-Russia talks materialized. This is an official visit, Zelensky said, and it has nothing to do with what's happening in Saudi Arabia with the representatives of the US and Russia He said Ukraine feels any negotiations that do not involve Ukraine will have no results and that Ukrainians cannot recognize Those agreements he also said he wants Europeans at the negotiating table something Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected. Zelensky is planning to travel to Saudi Arabia later this week. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kiev. Back in the U.S., thousands of people across the country protested against actions by President

Trump and Elon Musk on the President's Day holiday. NPR's Chandelier Stuster was at a protest in the nation's Capitol and has more. Amid frigid temperatures and 20 mile per hour wind gusts, large crowds gathered at the Capitol reflecting pool. Chanting, do your job, protesters demanded lawmakers take action against mass firings at governmental agencies. Suzanne, a resident of Maryland who requested that her last name be withheld because she fears retaliation against her family, says she and her husband, who is a federal employee with a financial regulatory agency, are worried he will be laid off.

Currently his paychecks are going through, but we're looking to plan B as an alternative on how to support our family, our children. The protests were organized by the 50-51 movement, which means 50 protests, 50 states, one movement. Chandelis Duster, NPR News. The death toll from widespread flooding in Kentucky is rising. Governor Andy Beshear says at least 12 people were killed in his state following heavy rain over the weekend.

Justin Hicks is with Kentucky Public Radio. Western Kentucky got the most rain, so it's a little bit flatter, but it got seven inches of rain in just a day, which is just a ton of rain. The most lasting damage is actually in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, who got several inches less rain. But that's just because of the topography. Flash flooding happens when the water races down mountains. That's where it's really been more significant. In West Virginia, one death has

been confirmed, but officials say several people remain missing. Governor Patrick Morrissey has asked President Trump to issue a disaster declaration. This is NPR News. Israel says it will keep some of its troops in southern Lebanon despite Tuesday's deadline to withdraw under a ceasefire deal with the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli military says its forces will remain in five strategic locations across the border from communities in northern Israel. A military spokesman says it's a temporary measure that was approved by the U.S.-led body monitoring the truce.

Lebanon's government has expressed frustration, and Hezbollah's leader has said Israel has no pretext to maintain troops in southern Lebanon and is calling on the Lebanese state to force Israel to leave. Several talks on the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza have yet to start. A new report finds about 5 billion people or 60 percent of the world's population does not have access to high quality medical oxygen. NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel reports. Medical oxygen is used for a whole host of reasons, from babies born prematurely to patients with heart failure, asthma, or pneumonia. The shortage of safe, high-quality, and affordable oxygen is most acute in low- and middle-income

countries. The report, which is the first of its kind, found that the lack of medical oxygen is contributing to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths each year, and it's reducing the quality of life for millions more. The report found that fixing the shortfall will cost almost $7 billion a year, but the authors say it's as cost-effective as childhood vaccinations. Plus, it helps with pandemic preparedness. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News.