NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-17-2025 4AM EST

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump now says that House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files because he says Republicans have nothing to hide. In a social media post-Sunday night, he again called the issue a Democrat hoax intended to deflect from the great success of the Republican Party. As NPR's Luke Garrett reports, the president's announcement came after lawmakers gathered enough support to take steps to move forward with the release. Republican Representative Thomas Massey of Kentucky helped gathers.

gather the 218 signatures needed to force the vote. On ABC News, Massey cautions his fellow Republicans that this ballot record will live on beyond President Trump. In 2030, he's not going to be the president, and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don't vote to release these files, and the president can't protect you. Trump called Massey a loser. That's NPR's Luke Garrett. Several Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are vowing to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state. NPR's At Lawnsdorf reports. Speaking at a government meeting, Netanyahu reiterated his stance against Palestinian independence.

Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed whatsoever, he said. The UN Security Council is set to vote on a U.S. drafted resolution for an international stabilization force in Gaza as part of President Trump's 20-point peace plan that went into effect last month. Part of that resolution includes language that leaves the door open for Palestinian statehood. something insisted on by many of the countries expected to contribute troops to the stabilization force. Netanyahu and many Israeli leaders have long opposed statehood, saying it would be a reward for Hamas. Kat Lansdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Ukraine is working on resuming prisoner exchanges with Russia.

As NPR's Polina Litvanova reports, the efforts could result in the return of 1,200 prisoners. Ukraine's Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustam Omerov, announced that he has had consultations with Turkey and the United States. Arab Emirates on the resumption of the POWs exchanges between Ukraine and Russia. In his post on social media, Umeirov wrote, this would help to activate the agreements the two countries made during the direct talks in Istanbul. Ukraine hopes to return home more than 1,000 people before Christmas. The last prisoner exchange was in October. So far, such swaps are the only progress Ukraine and Russia have achieved

since their direct negotiations renewed in spring. Polina Litwinova, NPR News, Kyiv. The Department of State says it will designate Cartel de Los Sol as a foreign terrorist organization later this month. The Trump administration claims the cartel is led by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking officials. In a news release, the State Department said Maduro does not represent Venezuela's government. The designation comes as the U.S. has increased its military presence off Venezuela's coast. You're listening to NPR News. In Asia, the Niki Index dropped two-tenths of a percent in trading Monday after China cautioned citizens against visiting Japan.

Tourism and retail stocks were hardest hit. Two retail stocks dropped 10%. S&P 500 futures, meanwhile, were up by four-tenths of a percent, while NASDAQ futures rose seven-tenths. European and footsie futures fell about one-tenth of a percent. An AI safety expert is warning that Character A.I.'s plan to ban chat. bots for kids should be rolled out more carefully. He says it would protect the teens who've developed relationships with the bots. April Dembski, a member station KQED, has our reports. Character AI says its ban on chat bots for youth under 18 will take full effect on November 25th.

UC Berkeley bioethics professor Jody Halpern celebrated the move, but once parents to know, the weeks after separation from an AI companion could be a vulnerable time for self-harm or suicidal thinking. Parents do not realize that their kids love these bots and that they might feel like their best friend just died or their boyfriend just died. Character AI said the company is moving slowly and has communicated the upcoming changes widely on its app, Reddit, and Discord. So kids would have time to adjust to the new paradigm. For NPR news, I'm April Domboski in San Francisco. An auction in Germany offering artifacts from the Holocaust for sale has been canceled. The auction was to include letters from concentration camps.

prisoners, as well as other documents, a Holocaust survivors group is called the cancellation and described at the auction as cynical. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.