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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. More than two million federal workers now have a few more days to decide whether to take the Trump administration up on its offer to stay on the job or leave now with nearly eight months of pay. Today, a federal judge in Boston pushed back tonight's midnight deadline to at least Monday.
Meanwhile, groups are suing over the administration's deferred resignation program. Max Steer, head of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, says Trump's actions targeting government workers will have far-reaching consequences for the American public.
You've got air traffic controllers and TSA employees. You go to the supermarket and buy your hamburger meat and expect to be able to serve your kids hamburgers without them getting sick. You get to drink the water without worrying about what's in it. We've got enemies in Russia and China. cyber attacks, and all those things are protected against by federal employees.
Max Steyer speaking to NPR's Here and Now. A federal judge is ordering the government to limit access to the U.S. Treasury Department's payment system. NPR's Shannon Bond reports unions representing federal workers sued the Treasury over fear sensitive data are being shared with the Trump administration's government cost-cutting team, helmed by tech mogul Elon Musk.
The judge's order allows two special government employees at Treasury who are connected to Musk's Doge team to continue accessing payment records on a read-only basis. But it bars them from sharing information outside the Treasury Department. Musk's Doge team has been seeking access to information and systems across federal agencies, raising worries highly sensitive data could be compromised.
The Treasury system processes trillions of dollars in federal spending every year and including Social Security and Medicare benefits. The judge's order is temporary while the union's lawsuit moves forward. Shannon Bond, NPR News.
The Israeli military says it has sentenced a soldier to seven months' imprisonment for abusing Palestinians detained during the war in Gaza. It's the first time Israel has convicted a soldier for conduct in this war, as NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The military says over three months, the soldier beat bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees and struck them with his weapon, which he documented with his cell phone. Other soldiers participated, but they were masked, and the army says it doesn't know who they are. The soldier was sentenced to seven months in prison in a plea bargain.
The Israeli military says it's the first conviction of a soldier during the Gaza war. and it says it shows a commitment to accountability. This case took place at a facility inside Israel, where there have been widespread accounts of severe abuse by soldiers, including life-threatening assault. No soldiers have been convicted for any abuses committed inside Gaza. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Ramallah.
U.S. stocks have ended the day mixed. The Dow closed down 125 points. This is NPR News. The Justice Department is suing Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago for allegedly standing in the way of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. After he returned to office, Trump took executive actions in line with his pledge of mass deportations and stronger border security.
People shopping for homes are finding lower mortgage rates this week. The finance giant Freddie Mac reports the average fixed rate on a 30-year mortgage fell to 6.89%. marking a third straight week of declines. Meanwhile, the rate on 15-year loans, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance, was just over 6% this week. For some, Sunday is Super Bowl. For others, it is actually Superb Owl.
NPR's Joe Hernandez reports on how an online typo spawned numerous internet memes and actually got more people, including football-loving fans, into birding.
Just move the B and suddenly you've changed Super Bowl to Superb Owl. The online joke was a category in the trivia show Jeopardy and even has its own subreddit with more than 400,000 members. With the big game just days away, the meme is taking off again. Tate Mason, director of the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, says that's because people have a deep connection to owls.
The Super Bowl, I'll say, has been around since 1967. Owls have been on planet Earth for over 52 million years.
Mason says people are attracted to owls for their large, forward-facing eyes and their sit-and-wait approach to ambushing prey. Part of what he says gives them a reputation for being wise. Joe Hernandez, NPR News.
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