NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-14-2025 11PM EST

Episode Date: November 15, 2025

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On the ThruLine podcast from NPR, how survivors of the Bosnian genocide got their day in court. How do you even go about finding thousands of victims and establishing who they were and what happened to them? Listen to ThruLine in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR news, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump has removed tariffs on a lengthy list of items. The reversal of some of his sweeping import taxes comes after Democrats won several high-profile seats in last week's elections. Many of the winning candidates focused on affordability during their campaigns.

MPR's Danielle Kurtzleben has more. The long list of items that tariffs will be removed from includes foods like fruits and vegetables, beef, and coffee. American importers paid those tariffs with many passing costs onto U.S. consumers. removing these tariffs could therefore lower the higher prices the tariffs caused. The tariffs that will be removed are the sweeping country-by-country tariffs Trump first introduced in April, calling them reciprocal tariffs. Recent polls have shown Americans' approval of Trump on the economy,

typically a strong issue for him, has slipped. Consumer confidence has also declined. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. Air traffic controllers have been paid for the first time in more than a month. As NPR's Joel Rose reports, the Federal Aviation Administration says controllers received the first installment of their back pay from the government shutdown today. Air traffic controllers received about 70% of the take-home pay they earned during the shutdown, according to the Department of Transportation. They're supposed to get the rest later this month,

including any overtime or shift differential pay they've earned. Those can be significant sums because many controllers work six days a week with mandatory overtime. Controllers had been required to work without pay since the shutdown began. Some took on second jobs, and many called out sick, leading to staffing shortages at many air traffic control facilities. But most controllers now seem to be back at work, with only a handful of staffing shortages reported in recent days. Joel Rose and PR News, Washington. A federal judge has signed off on Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy plan.

The plan involves settling lawsuits against the company at the center of the nation's opioid crisis. MPR's Sydney Lepkin has more on our story. The Sackler family will pay up to $7 billion to Purdue's creditors as part of a restructuring plan, a federal judge said he would approve in the coming days. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York heard from people affected by the opioid crisis as well as nearly 20 expert witnesses, according to a statement from Purdue. The plan will also provide a pool of up to $865 million to compensate individual victims.

Purdue will dissolve as part of the arrangement and emerge as a new company, NOAAFarma. It will focus on providing opioid use disorder treatments and overdose reversal medicines with no obligation to maximize profits. The new company will not involve the Sacklers. Sidney Lufkin and PR News. The Pentagon said Friday that it launched another attack in the Caribbean on a boat officials say was carrying drugs. Four people were killed in that attack. Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth announced the attack on Friday, even though it occurred last Monday. That was one day after two other similar attacks by U.S. forces. Stocks closed mixed today on Wall Street, and you're listening to NPR News.

Russia says Ukraine has attacked a key oil port city along the southern Black Sea. At least four people were injured in that strike. It comes during a number of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia's energy sector. And Pierce Charles Mainz reports from Moscow. The attack took place in the city of Noveracizk, one of Russia's largest oil export ports, with local officials declaring a state of emergency amid damage to a docked ship, apartment buildings, and an oil depot. While some media reports said the attack forced a full halt to all oil deliveries,

Local officials said only the fire crews at resulting blazes from the drones under control. The incident comes just days after Russian president, Vladimir Putin, authorized the use of reservists to better protect critical infrastructure. Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, has justified past strikes on Russian energy, saying they cut into the Kremlin's ability to finance the war against Ukraine over the long term. Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow. Shareholders of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are backing the proposed $85 billion merger of the two railroads. If approved by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, it would create the nation's

first coast-to-coast rail network. The proposed merger is also won the support of the largest rail union, along with hundreds of shippers. But competing railroad BNSF says the merger would hurt competition and lead to higher rates. Police in Oakland, California, say Laney College football coach John Beam died Friday after being shot on the campus the day before. It was the second shooting at an Oakland school in two days. A suspect has been arrested. in that shooting. Lainey is known for his role in the 2020 Netflix documentary, Last Chance You. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.

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