NPR News: 02-08-2026 7AM EST
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
What recent decision did the Pentagon make regarding Harvard University?
The Pentagon says it's cutting ties with Harvard University. NPR's Shondalese Duster reports officials are accusing the Ivy League school of promoting anti-American ideals.
Defense Secretary Pete Hexef says the Pentagon is ending all professional military education. certificate programs, and fellowships with Harvard University. Heksev, who received a master's degree from Harvard but later denounced it, said in a video posted to social media that many officers received, quote, radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.
For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class. Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard.
Hexef said service members currently enrolled at the university will be able to finish their studies. Shondalese Duster, NPR News.
U.S. alpine skiing star Lindsey Vonn crashed at today's Women's Downhill at the Winter Olympics in Italy and is out of metal contention. Vonn landed a jump perpendicular to the slope and tumbled to a stop shortly below. Her condition is not yet known. The 41-year-old had retired from competitive skiing in 2019 after repeated injuries, but following a partial knee replacement, she returned to World Cup competition in 2024. Another round of dangerous winter weather is moving from the Great Lakes into the eastern U.S. today. NPR's Marie Andrusiewicz reports tens of millions of people are under extreme cold warnings.
An arctic air mass from eastern Canada is bringing the lowest temperatures so far this winter, in some cases as much as 30 degrees below average. In Boston overnight, temperatures dropped to single digits. In D.C., potentially damaging wind gusts reached up to 55 miles per hour. Forecasters are warning of the risk of hypothermia and frostbite, saying exposure to the extreme cold could be deadly.
NPR's Marie Andrusovich. China says it's conducted air and navy patrols around disputed waters in the South China Sea. NPR's Emily Fang reports the move is an attempt to push back against the Philippines, which claims territory in the area.
China's Southern Theater Command, which oversees the South China Sea, said it had deployed patrols all last week in the area to counter a country China left unnamed. Late last month, the U.S. and the Philippines joined up for a joint military patrol in the South China Sea. Both China and the Philippines have grown increasingly aggressive in contesting their overlapping claims, including accusing each other of boat ramming. And the two countries are now sparring diplomatically, trying in vain to agree on a code of conduct for the South China Sea. Emily Fang, NPR News.
This is NPR. The NFL and law enforcement are on the lookout in the San Francisco Bay Area for people selling unlicensed souvenirs on this Super Bowl Sunday. Steve Futterman reports the merch may violate trademark laws.
The NFL fiercely protects its league and team logos for good reason. Merchandise brings in billions of dollars each year in revenue. This week, law enforcement officials have been here describing efforts to stop the selling of counterfeit merchandise.
Everything from towels to hats, tons of jersey. I think jersey is usually the prime item that people want to buy.
Ivan Arvelo is director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. The big lure for these knockoffs, he says, are much lower prices.
And I get it. It's hard to turn down a good deal, right?
But producing these items is illegal. In the last year, officials have seized nearly $40 million in unlicensed NFL material. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in San Francisco.
The Puppy Bowl, the light-hearted, animal-themed event that airs ahead of the Super Bowl, returns today. Shelters from around the country are sending in adoptable dogs to vie for the cutest and most playful on the field. Some of the young contenders this year include Miss Coco, a Terrier Chow Chow mix, Button, a Boston Terrier Beagle, and Lobster Roll, a Bulldog Border Collie mix.
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