NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-23-2026 12AM EST

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

NPR News: 02-23-2026 12AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. The Mexican Army has killed the leader of one of that country's most powerful cartels known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The death came during an operation to arrest the man known as El Mancho, and the operation led to immediate fighting between other cartels hoping to gain from El Mentiono's death. American Jeff Jones is in Puerto Vallarta, where he says the damage has been immense. I've been told that over 17 buses in Puerto Vallayarta, have been set on fire. Multiple cars, taxis, cars have been shot at, and smoke continued billowing throughout the day. Finally, later this afternoon, the military sent in some helicopter,

one helicopter, I should say that I saw, a marine helicopter flying around, and things this evening so far have been fairly quiet. The Trump administration had labeled the cartel a terrorist organization. Tens of millions of people are under blizzard warnings, says a massive winter storm batters the northeast at this hour. Reporter Steve Kastenbaum says New York is getting buried for the second time in less than a month. The sound of snowblowers echoed across the city as the sun fell. The snow accumulation increased and winds picked up here. Earlier in the day, Mayor Zeran Mondani issued a travel ban declaring that New Yorkers had to be off the streets. Tonight, through the morning hours. The state of emergency closes the streets, highways, and bridges of New York City

for all traffic. Forecasters said if this storm stays on its predicted track, when all is said and done, the city could be buried beneath 18 and 24 inches of snow. It prompted the school's chancellor to issue a rare snow day, meaning 940,000 public school students will have the day off on Monday. For NPR news, I'm Steve Kastenbaum in New York. The Prime Minister of Greenland has rejected President Trump's offer to send a hospital ship to that country. As Terry Schultz reports, Trump announced the ship's deployment on social media, alleging there are many people who are sick and not being taken care of in Greenland. Greenland's Prime Minister, Yens Frederick Nielsen, says his answer is no thank you to President Trump's intention

to send a U.S. hospital ship to the semi-autonomous Danish island. Nielsen explains in a Facebook post that a fundamental part of society, in Greenland is that there is a public health service where treatment is freely available to all citizens. He adds that Greenlanders are always open to dialogue and cooperation, but he suggests a conversation rather than what he termed a more or less random outburst on social media. It's not clear if Trump's post saying the hospital ship is on its way was sparked by the medical evacuation of a U.S. service member from a submarine to a hospital in the Greenlandic capital on Saturday. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz.

And you're listening to NPR News. Anti-government protests have begun once again at some universities in Iran. They come weeks after a deadly crackdown on previous demonstrations that killed thousands. Iran's state news agency says the protest took place at five universities in Tehran and one in the city of Mashad. Iran's government has not yet commented on this latest round of demonstrations. The Winter Olympics have ended in Italy. The final competitive event saw the U.S. beat K. Canada for the men's hockey gold medal. Steve Futterman in Milan looks back at the past two weeks

of Olympic competition. For the U.S., it couldn't have ended better, capturing its first gold medal in men's hockey since the 1980 miracle on ice. That was the 12th gold for the Americans here, more than they have ever won at a winter Olympics. There were other memorable U.S. performers, the American women taking the women's hockey gold, Michaela Schifrin winning the women's slalom, and the Lisa Liu taking golden women's figure skating. Not everything went as planned for the U.S. Ilya Melanin imploded in his free skate and went from first to eighth. Who was the biggest star during the two weeks?

It would be hard to top Norway's cross-country skier, Johannes Klebo. He won six gold medals, the most ever by an athlete in a single winter games. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Milan. The action thriller won battle after another, led the British BAFTA Awards in Wins Sunday. The politically charged movie won six prizes, including Best Picture, and Paul Thomas Anderson won for Best Director. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the

globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get wise. Download the Wise app today, or visit Wise.com. T's and Cs apply.