NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-16-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: November 16, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. Federal agents began an immigration crackdown Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina. The arrest brought out protesters and local officials criticized the raids saying they were scaring people. The Border Patrol is calling it Operation Charlotte's Web, and they say they're taking criminals off the street. But 17-year-old Elizabeth Fuentes says the operation will force her family to live in fear. My parents are immigrants, you know, it's not okay having to worry, like, if they're going to make it home or not. You know, it's just not okay at what they're doing right now. Critics say agents are also detaining U.S. citizens without warrants.

Los Angeles is experiencing a strong seasonal storm with several inches of rain falling across the region through Sunday. From L.A.S. Athaniel Martinez has more. In Malibu, local officials advised residents to seek higher ground and avoid moving water. Above the Palisades, burn, scar reports of rock slides and mud had people fearing the worst. Flash flood warning stretched from the far northwest of L. Lake County to its eastern edges Saturday. Streets flooded in Compton and Camarillo, and in the city of L.A., dozens of trees were knocked

down by high winds. Forecasters say the worst is over, and showers will taper off into the week as a new storm approaches. For NPR News, I'm Thaniel Martinez in Pasadena. Most Britons are deeply dissatisfied with democracy. That's according to new polling, Vicki Barker has more on our story from London. The nine-nation Ipsos survey found only 26% of Britons are satisfied with how their democracy is working. And more than half say the situation has worsened in the past five years.

Three out of four said they fear for the next five years and only one in five believe their governments doing a good job protecting democracy. Overall satisfaction with democracy remains low in all nine nations surveyed, including the U.S., with one exception, Sweden. Yet in all the countries surveyed only tiny minorities, 1 to 5%, said democracy is not worth keeping. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. Cities and states across the U.S. have begun to use artificial intelligence to improve road safety. Officials in Hawaii are distributing 1,000 dashboard cameras that are being used to monitor road conditions and to reduce traffic fatalities as well. And San Jose, California says it has a 97% success rate in identifying potholes by using cameras on the city's street sweepers. Thousands of people took to the streets in Mexico

City on Saturday to protest growing crime, corruption, and what they say is impunity for committing violent crime. The protest was organized by young people that was the latest in a series of protests by the group, which has received support from older members of the country's opposition party. Protesters were met with tear gas from Mexican police. You're listening to NPR News. The Pope met with prominent figures from the world of cinema at the Vatican Saturday. As NPR's Chloe Valpin 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. Vatka 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 favorite movies. Top of the Chicago-born Pontiffs list, It's a Wonderful Life.

Chloe Valtman, NPR News. Residents of a tent camp in Gaza are suffering this weekend as the first rainfall of winter flooded living quarters. Rips in the tents allowed many of them to become flooded. According to the UN, the camp holds as many as 450,000 displaced Palestinians. Gift Monday, and Croy Bethune scored Saturday to help the Washington Spirit beat the Portland Thorns 2-0, the spirit now advanced to the National Women's Soccer League finals for the second straight year. They

lost to the Orlando Pride in last year's final. Orlando takes on Gotham FC in Sunday's second semi-final match, which kicks off at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This message comes from Wise, the app

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