NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-20-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: September 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Russia is denying charges that again violated NATO airspace, this time with several fighter jets accused of flying over the skies of NATO member state, Estonia. NPR's Charles Mainz reports. Russia's defense ministry said three-mig fighter jets were on a scheduled flight from northwest Russia to the exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and never deviated from their dedicated flight path. NATO tells a different story. It says Alliance fighter jets scramble to intercept the Russian planes after they entered Estonia's airspace for a full 12 minutes in what Estonian authorities called an

unprecedentedly brazen incursion. The incident comes just a week after NATO fighter jets fired on more than 20 Russian drones spotted over the skies of member state Poland. Russia denied intentionally targeting that NATO member. The Western governments suggest Russia was likely out to probe NATO's Eastern defenses. Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow. A cyber attack is disrupting several major European airports, targeting check-in and boarding systems. It began last night forcing airports to process check-ins and boarding manually, causing significant delays. The Pentagon is imposing new rules for reporters covering the military. Officials confirmed to NPR journalists must sign a pledge not to gather information, including unclassified documents,

that has not been authorized for release. Those who don't comply will lose their press credentials. NPR's David Fulkenfleck reports this appears to run fowl of the First Amendment. The federal government cannot tell you what you can or can't say publicly with some very small limitations like defamation and other things like that. This is protection from the government, not just of journalists, but of any citizen, any person in the public sphere. And the idea is that it's not just that speech that is pleasing is protected.

It's not just that speech that is tidy or kind. It's to protect dissent. and to protect, as the years evolved, reporting that people in power might not want to be public. NPR's David Fulkenflick. President Trump has announced a new $100,000 fee for visas for high-skilled foreign workers. NPR's Adrian Florido reports. The new fee will make it much more expensive for American companies that want to hire foreign workers. In the Oval Office on Friday, President Trump said that will incentivize companies to pursue foreign workers

only if they truly cannot find Americans to do the job. The H-1B visa program is for high-skilled workers like software engineers. Most of them come to the U.S. to work for large tech firms, but some conservatives have alleged the program incentivizes companies to bring in foreign workers who accept lower salaries than Americans do. The visas currently cost companies that can get them a few hundred dollars each. Trump said the new $100,000 fee per worker per year will raise billions for the U.S. Treasury. Adrian Florido and Pierre News. And you're listening to NPR News reporting from Washington. President Trump says he's fired the top federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia.

Eric Seabird had been investigating some of Trump's perceived political enemies, including New York Attorney General Tish James and former FBI director Jim Comey. But Seabird had expressed doubt that criminal charges should be filed. Tonight, Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny will close out a series of shows with a final concert in San Juan. The event has attracted music lovers and injected millions into the island's economy. Kavan Antonio Hedari reports from San Juan. More than 500,000 fans of the reggaeton star have attended the 30 concert series on the island. It closes this weekend with an extra show, time to coincide with the anniversary of Hurricane Maria,

which made landfall on September 20th, 2017, and devastated the island and its power grid. A U.S. territory, Puerto Rico's economy and pride, have received a substantial boost from the concert series. Bad Bunny, born Benito Martinez Ocasio, decided to skip the United States in his world tour, which kicks off in November in protest of the Trump administration's immigration raids. For NPR News, I'm Kevan Antonio Haydari in San Juan. It's not yet October, but it's already October Fest in Munich, Germany. It builds itself as the largest folk festival in the world. It began today and runs through October 5th.

Visitors can view exhibits, ride what's called a classic family-friendly ghost train, and eat pretzels in several variations. And there's beer. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News in Washington.