NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-16-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: November 16, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held. The House is expected to vote this week on legislation to force the Justice Department release of documents about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Several Republicans are expected to defy President Trump and support the bill. Its overall odds of success are slim, but four House Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Green, joined Democrats, signing a petition to let the vote proceed. Trump now calls Green a traitor. The Georgia Republican says he is stoking death threats against her. Asked on CNN about her past embrace of fiery rhetoric against others, Green says she has changed. I would like to say humbly, I'm sorry for taking part in the toxic politics.

It's very bad for our country. Their rift marking a fight over the future of the MAGA movement. Trump, accusing Green of lashing out because he did not support her political. political ambitions, which Green denies. Trump has issued two new pardons for people in connection to the investigation into the January 6th insurrection. NPR's Ava Pukatch reports. Trump issued a second pardon for Daniel Edward Wilson. Wilson had already been pardoned for his actions on January 6, 2021, when on his first day in office, Trump granted clemency to everyone charged or convicted for the attack. But Wilson had remained behind bars due to a suffering.

separate conviction for illegally possessing six guns and nearly 4,800 rounds of ammunition. After the second pardon, he was released from prison where he had been serving a five-year sentence. Trump also pardoned Suzanne Ellen Kay, who was convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents who were investigating whether she was at the Capitol on January 6. She was released last year after serving 18 months. Eva Pugatch and PR News, Washington. A vast majority of children in Gaza are showing signs of anxiety and aggression after more than two years of war. That's according to a new report by the United Nations.

And despite a fragile ceasefire, daily military strikes do go on. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports. The report found that more than 90% of children in Gaza exhibit aggressive behavior or violence. Sadness and withdrawal, as well as disturbed sleep, are also common. The war has led to the collapse of education, health, and social systems, and repeated displacement and trauma have broken down a sense of safety and stability. Children will require sustained long-term care to recover, the report says. Humanitarian organizations, including the UN, have stepped up efforts to address mental health services for children in Gaza as a fragile ceasefire is holding in its second month. But there is still daily and deadly bombardment by Israel in Gaza, which Israel says is to dismantle infrastructure.

used by militants. Kat Lansdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. This is NPR News. Ecuadorians grappling with a surge in violent crime vote today to decide whether to allow the U.S. to put military bases in their country. Ecuador's president says the return of foreign military bases is central to fighting organized crime. And in Chile, voters cast their ballots for a new president and Congress in a polarized general election, polls suggesting that no candidate will win outright in this first round,

prompting a runoff next month between the top two candidates. John Bartlett reports from the capital Santiago. It feels like a long time since Chileans voted to make left-wing former student leader Gabrielle Boric, president in 2022. This electoral cycle has been dominated by fears over public security, illegal immigration, and international organized crime. Two far-right candidates, Jose Antonio Kast and Johannes Kaiser, have prospered with promises of harsh crackdowns on crime and border security.

But polls show that Janet Hara, a Communist Party politician, is likely to win today's first round of voting with her promises to expand the welfare state. The two candidates with the most votes will face off in a runoff election next month, with polls suggesting that that would be a divisive showdown between a communist and an ultra-conservative. For NPR News, I'm John Bartlett in Santiago, Chile. In Australia, a recall of coloured sand widely used by school kids, kids has led to the temporary closure of some 70 schools. Trace amounts of asbestos were found

in samples. Regulators say the risk is low. It could become airborne and be inhaled, but school is out tomorrow as inspectors work to clear classrooms. This is NPR News.