NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-12-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shays Stevens. The House Rules Committee is debating over a Senate-passed funding measure to end the government shut down. The Senate has already passed the bill. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are facing a backlash after eight of them compromised with Republicans, as NPR's Dominica Montanaro reports. Democrats are going to have a lot of work to do to heal this divide within their base, but they're banking on voters having short-term memories and that the issue landscape is, going to continue to benefit them. We saw Democrats win sweeping victories last week, and voters said affordability was their top issue. That's likely to carry through to next year's midterm

elections, and during the shutdown, Democrats were able to elevate health care as an important issue, too. As part of the deal to reopen the government, Senate moderates say they were promised to vote on extending health care subsidies sometime next month, and if Republicans block those subsidies, the GOP will own higher health care costs. Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington. has extended its order blocking full SNAP payments for two more days amid signs that Congress may soon vote to end the shutdown. The delay gives lawmakers more time to resolve differences over a short-term spending plan to continue fiscal year 2025 funding levels. Some states are already providing full monthly allocations to residents who rely on SNAP to buy groceries.

The record lows being reported in the southeast and the first snow of the season may make it seem as if winter has come early to parts of the U.S., but NPR's Giles Snyder reports that the freezing temperatures are on the way out. The National Weather Service says the unseasonably cold weather will gradually come to an end. Four cancer state temperatures will moderate toward normal for the second part of the week in the southeast, which was hit by a major cold snap that affected states like Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. Significant snow fell further north. I see interstate bridges led to multiple interstate crashes. in West Virginia. NPR's Giles Snyder. Baby formula maker, Byheart, is recalling all of its

products. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, the move comes amid an outbreak of infant botulism, a serious illness caused by bacterial toxin. Since August, at least 15 infants in at least 12 states have been hospitalized with botulism after consuming Byhart's infant formula. No deaths have been reported. The voluntary recall includes Byhart's Whole Nutrition Infant Formula and its anywhere pouches of powdered formula. Over the weekend, Byhart had announced it was recalling two lots of its infant formula. On Tuesday, the company said its decision to expand the recall to all of its products came amid an ongoing investigation with, quote, too many unanswered questions. It said the safety of infants is its biggest priority. Byhart says all of its products should be discarded.

The company says it's collaborating closely with the Food and Drug Administration. Maria Godoy and PR News. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. A rare full blackout in the Dominican Republic is being blamed on a series of failures in the transmission system for the Caribbean nation's electrical grid. According to the state-owned Dominican Electricity Transmission Commission, two power plants shut down triggering a cascade of failures,

but the country's energy minister says the exact cause is not clear. The blackout has paralyzed business and transactions. transportation. It also calls hospitals, banks, and other institutions to rely on generators. Iraq has held parliamentary elections that were largely peaceful. Jane Arraf has the story from Amman. An election boycott by the movement led by Shia leader Mukta da Sutter led to relatively low turnout. As in other elections, Iran-backed parties dominated the political scene in central in South Iraq. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani, who came to power with support. from Iran-backed parties, but also maintains good relations with the U.S., is hoping for a second

term. Initial results are expected Wednesday. But because Iraq's political scene is so fragmented, it will likely take weeks or even months of backroom negotiations to determine which coalition has the most support and the right to choose the president and prime minister. For NPR News, I'm Jane Araf in Amman. Thailand says it has paused the implementation. of a U.S. brokered ceasefire with Cambodia pending an apology for a landmine explosion. The Thai Prime Minister is accusing Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the truce that was signed just last month. This is NPR News.

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