NPR News: 02-17-2026 12PM EST
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
Who was Reverend Jesse Jackson and why is he being remembered?
Tributes abound today for the Reverend Jesse Jackson. His family, says Jackson, who battled progressive supernuclear palsy, died this morning. Jackson is being remembered as a protege of the late Martin Luther King Jr., who would continue to be a powerful force against racism and discrimination. He was also a powerful political force, one who paved the way for other African American leaders to such as the nation's first African-American president, Barack Obama. Jackson was a two-time presidential candidate in 1984 and again four years later, where he delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention that ended with this iconic refrain.
Keep hope alive! Keep hope alive! Keep hope alive!
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, he was 84 years old. A second round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran has ended in Geneva. Both sides entrenched on key issues ahead of the negotiations, which took place amid a U.S. military buildup in the Middle East. Here's NPR's Jackie Northam.
The indirect talks were between Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on the U.S. side and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi. Speaking afterwards, Adachi said the three-hour talks had made good progress and were more constructive than earlier negotiations, but that more work needed to be done. The U.S. has so far not commented on the talks. President Trump is firm that Iran possessed no nuclear weapons, and so zero enrichment. Tehran insists it has the right to enrich uranium for research and civilian purposes. but has indicated it's willing to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. It's unclear if or when another round of talks is scheduled.
Jackie Northam, NPR News.
Now to the Winter Olympics, which offers a full spectrum of athleticism from figure skating to curling. But as NPR's Jonathan Lambert tells us, one sport may have the best athletes, at least by one scientific measure.
For an athlete to work hard, their muscle cells need oxygen. The more oxygen they can get, the harder they can go. Scientists call the maximum amount of oxygen an athlete can use during exercise VO2 max. Scientists have measured VO2 max across all kinds of athletes, and cross-country skiers consistently rank towards the top. Stephen Seiler, an exercise physiologist at the University of Agder, explains why.
Cross-country skiing is the only sport that we're standing upright and we're using all four limbs at the same time.
That means their cardiovascular systems are working overtime to fuel all those muscles and fight gravity because they're upright. Years of this training can push a skier's VO2 max towards its upper limits. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News.
The Dow is up 53 point, a last check at 49,554. It's NPR News. As agencies under the Department of Homeland Security face another day of a shutdown during a funding standoff, one of the agency's chief spokespersons, Tricia McLaughlin, is leaving the DHS. That, according to a statement to NPR. Meanwhile, the funding dispute continues between the White House and congressional Democrats demanding changes to immigration enforcement operations. Hollywood continues to honor Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall, who died Sunday at the age of 95. He's being described today as a giant for memorable roles. It also earned him Oscar nominations, including The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Apostle, The Judge, and Tender Mercies, the 1983 film for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts this week, and PR's Aya Batraoui brings us this report from Old Cairo, Egypt.
I'm standing immediately next to a really big, beautiful mosque that's towering over me from the 1400s. And right across from us is this little store selling all this plastic stuff made in China to get ready for Ramadan. So some of the stuff I'm seeing now are like Ramadan Mubarak trays that you can serve food on. There's plastic cups with Ramadan Mubarak. There's even like tissue boxes for Ramadan.
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