NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-20-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: September 21, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. President Trump is adding a $100,000 fee to H-1B visas, which are especially popular among big tech companies. And peers Maria Aspen has more. The H-1B visa program is intended for highly skilled workers, such as software engineers. Congress allows 85,000 of them to be issued every year through a lottery, and the competition is fierce. Amazon, Microsoft, and other big tech companies hire thousands of such workers every year,

and until now, it didn't cost them much. But President Trump and critics across the political spectrum say that companies abuse the program to exploit workers. Trump said in his executive order that companies use H-1B visas to replace American workers with lower-paid immigrants. And a study by the Economic Policy Institute found that most H-1B employers do pay migrant workers less than market rate salaries. Maria Aspen, NPR News, New York. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted this week to no longer recommend a combined shot for measles, mumps, rebella, and chicken pox. for children under the age of four. That's concerning to some public health officials, including those who dealt with a measles outbreak in Texas this year.

Samantha Larnett of Member Station KTTZ has more. Dr. Catherine Wells is the director of Lubbock Public Health, a major coordinator during the West Texas measles outbreak, two-thirds of the more than 700 confirmed cases or in children. She says that while the MMR and Chicken Pox vaccines remain as separate recommendations for children, parents will have fewer choices. We saw the impact of what happens when we have large unvaccinated populations. And in Texas, you know, vaccines very much a choice,

but we want to make sure that we have all those tools available so that parents can make those choices. The committee's recommendations will affect what health providers carry, what insurance will cover, and what's available through the federal Vaccines for Texas Children program. For NPR News, I'm Samantha Larned in Lubbock. A major cyber attack is affecting several European airports, including Brussels, Berlin, and London. Terry Schultz has more.

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 and 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. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

The songwriter and singer Sony Curtis has died. He was 88 years old. Curtis was best known for panning. the hit I Fought the Law and the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore show. Curtis died yesterday near at Nashville from a sudden illness, that's according to his family on Facebook, and Pierce Chloe Veltman has this remembrance. Sonny Curtis wrote, I fought the law in the late 1950s when he was a member of Buddy Holly's band The Crickets. It's since been covered by many artists including Green Day, Bruce Springsteen and The Clash.

Curtis also wrote and performed Love is All Around, the theme song for the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Sonny Curtis was born during the Great Depression to Cotton Farmers in Texas. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. An undettonated World War II era bomb forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes in Hong Kong. overnight, so experts could diffuse the large U.S.-made bomb that was found at a construction site in a busy residential and business district. Police say the bomb was around five feet long and it weighed around 1,000 pounds. Bombs from World War II are found from time to time in Hong Kong. The city was

occupied by Japanese forces during the war when it became Japan's base for military and shipping. The U.S. targeted Hong Kong to disrupt those supply lines and infrastructure. I'm Janine Herbstin, This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply.