NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-15-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: November 16, 2025

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There's a battle playing out over who should control American universities. We're going to bankrupt these universities. In season one, we were guessing what was to come. Now we know. We want $500 million from Harvard. It's season two of The Harvard Plan. This time, it really is personal. Listen to On the Media, wherever you get your podcasts.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiyvone. A U.S. military official tells NPR the world's largest aircraft, carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, will arrive in the Northern Caribbean tomorrow amid increasing tensions with Venezuela. The U.S. has conducted multiple strikes on boats in the region saying they were ferrying drugs. Border Patrol agents have begun carrying out immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nick Delacanal from Member Station WFA.E has details. Agents were filmed smashing a man's car window and pulling him from a vehicle in South Charlotte. On the city's east side, restaurants locked their doors as agents chased a man into a laundromat

and tackled an employee at a nearby car repair shop. The shop's owner, who didn't want her name used for fear of retribution, said the man was her lead mechanic. The business depends on clients. If my workers are taken, I can't, I got to close my business today. Just blocks away, a woman filmed agents who stopped her landscaping crew as they were putting up Christmas lights, then let them go after questioning. For NPR news, I'm Nick Delac-Kinnell in Charlotte. The nation's aviation system is gradually returning to normal after the government shutdown, but some effects linger.

NPR's Joel Rose reports that air traffic reductions of 3% persist at dozens of major airports. Aviation regulators say there's been a rapid decline in staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities over the past week. That's given the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration the confidence that more air traffic controllers are coming to work. Regulators lowered air traffic reductions at dozens of major airports from 6% of flights to 3% through the weekend, but they did not lift them entirely. The FAA said the restrictions were necessary to keep the airspace safe as the agency grappled with widespread staffing shortages of air traffic

controllers during the government shutdown. But with the government reopened, air traffic controllers have finally received some of the back pay they earned, and most are now back on the job. Joel Rose, NPR News. Washington. The season's first heavy rainfall has deluged Gaza flooding tents and hampering recovery after two years of war. The UN says the needs are immense, and PR's Lauren Freya reports. Wind and rain are hampering efforts to stay warm and dry in places like Al-Muwasi, where up to half a million displaced Palestinians are staying, mostly in temporary tents. A spokesperson for Gaza's civil defense agency, Mahmoud Basal, says rain has inundated those makeshift shelters.

statement, Hamas decried what it called Israel's continued obstruction of humanitarian aid into the strip. Israel says it opened a border crossing this week into northern Gaza, where the UN declared a famine last summer. The UN now says, quote, full and sustained opening of existing and additional crossings is required, and that the transport of aid within Gaza remains limited and highly congested. Lauren Freyer, NPR News Tel Aviv. This is NPR. The Pope met with prominent figures from the world of cinema at the Vatican today. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports Pope Leo delivered an address about the power of movies to bring hope and safeguard human dignity.

Kate Blanchett, Vigo Mortensen and Spike Lee were among those present as Pope Leo delivered a speech in Italian about the transformative power of cinema. Vatican News shared a video of the event and provided an interpreter. It is wonderful to see that when the magic light of cinema illuminates the darkness, It simultaneously ignites the eyes of the soul. The Pope said that movies aren't just about entertainment. They also help people pursue meaning, justice and beauty. He also lamented the widespread closure of cinemas

and urged filmmakers and institutions to work together to promote the social and cultural value of moviegoing. The speech came just a few days after the Pope talked a variety about his favourite movies. Top of the Chicago-born Pontiffs list, It's a Wonderful Life. and NPR News. Millions of YouTube TV subscribers have had their news and sports programming restored after the settlement of a fee dispute between Disney and YouTube.

The standoff, which went on for roughly two weeks, had interrupted access on YouTube TV to Disney-owned networks like ABC and ESPN. The agreement came literally hours before sports event fans were gearing up for a weekend of watching their favorite college teams meet on the gridiron. Alphabet, which owns YouTube TV and Google, is a financial supporter of NPR. I'm Luis Skiyvone, NPR News, Washington. 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.