NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-20-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: September 20, 2025

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I'm Peter Sagle. NPR is very serious. Mostly. It treats newsmakers with all due respect, almost all the time. It brings you the most important information about the issues that really matter, usually. And it never asks famous people about things they don't know anything about, except once in a while. Join us for the great exception. Listen to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the news quiz from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. The Secretary of Defense has announced a new rule that would require members of the press to sign a pledge in order to get access to the Pentagon. NPR's Alana Wise has more. The new rule would have the media vow not to gather any information, including unclassified documents that haven't been explicitly cleared for release. Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth wrote in a statement on social media

that reporters could quote follow the rules or go. home. Earlier this year, Hexeth announced that reporters would no longer be allowed to walk the halls of the Pentagon without an approved escort. These changes marked an unprecedented shift from years of a free press, even among administrations that were notoriously hostile to media. Journalists and free speech proponents quickly denounced the new Pentagon rule as an attack on the First Amendment. Hexeth is falling in line with a broader Trump administration practice to limit reporter access from traditional spaces, including the White House. Alana Wise, NPR News, Washington.

A major cyber attack is affecting several European airports, including in Brussels, Berlin, and London. Terry Schultz reports. Brussels Airport says the target of the cyber attack appears to have been a third-party provider of boarding and check-in systems. The attack began Friday night, the airport says on its website, rendering automated check-in and boarding systems inoperable. That's causing delays in case. cancellations in Brussels with tens of thousands of people scheduled out to fly this weekend.

Heathrow Airport in London and Berlin's Brandenburg Airport have also announced problems caused by the attack. Passengers are being advised to check their flights before heading to the airport, while officials say they're trying to resolve the attack as quickly as possible. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz. Israeli airstrikes across Gaza City continue as the Israeli military forces residents out of the area, home to about one million people. The health officials say at least 34 more Palestinians were killed yesterday from airstrikes. The situation is deterioring rapidly for civilians who are unable to get out of Gaza City. NPR's Anasbaba reports.

In the heart of Gaza City, thirst is now spreading faster than the fear of bombs. The municipality says 75% of central water wells have been destroyed or damaged by Israel, leaving hundreds of thousands with little or no access to clean water. Families still trapped north of the city have been unable to evacuate or forced to walk as far as 15 miles to reach the south. Evacuating is expensive as much as $6,000 to secure a vehicle out and detain to stay. Some have even returned home after failing to find a safe place in the southern Gaza. That is what Al-Jamaela family did. After failing to find safety, they returned to their home early Saturday.

Hours later, an Israeli earthquake killed all nine members according to Gaza's civil defense. And as Bobo, NPR News, Gaza City. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said today, Russia launched a major drone and missile attack against Ukraine overnight, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings. At least three people were killed. A federal judge has ruled in favor of the ACLU

in several arts and theater organizations that had sued the National Endowment for the Arts. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports. The National Endowment for the Arts, or NEA, funds thousands of arts groups across the country through a competitive process. Earlier this year, it required applicants to agree to not use federal funds to, quote, promote gender ideology. The ACLU sued the NEA on behalf of Rhode Island Latino Arts, National Queer Theater, and other theater groups. In his opinion, U.S. Senior District Court Judge William Smith said the grant process violence, the First Amendment because it is, quote, a viewpoint-based restriction on private speech.

He also said the rule broke federal law because it didn't explain how promoting gender ideology is related to artistic merit. The NEA has not responded to NPR's request for comment. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington. Farm Aid celebrates its 40th anniversary today. The all-day celebration of music and family farms was started by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellon, during the farm crisis in the 1980s. It's to raise money and raise awareness of the challenges facing the family farm. The three will perform again this year. Farm Aid raises more than a million dollars every year. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News in Washington.