NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

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Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Senate quickly passed the House-approved bill to release files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. NPR's Claudio Grisales reports senators agreed under unanimous consent to send it to President Trump. In an extremely rare scene in Republican-controlled Washington, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer moved to approve the bipartisan bill under a voice vote with no objections. The Senate has now passed the Epstein bill as soon as it comes over from the House. House Republican leaders said they voted to approve the plan with the expectation the Senate would amend it to address their concerns. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after the overwhelming House vote of 427 to 1, that was no longer necessary. And this way, the senators did not have to have their votes recorded. In a major reversal, Trump in recent days said he'd signed the bill when it reaches his desk. Claude Rizales, NPR News, the Capitol.

U.S. immigration officials deported 50 people to Ukraine in the largest deportation flight since the Russian invasion. NPR's Jimenez-Bustillo reports. About 80 people were being prepared to board a deportation flight headed to the Polish border with Ukraine. But only 50 people ended up in Ukraine, Ukrainian border officials said. lawyers for some of the men raised concerns that international law doesn't allow deportations to places where people could face violence or torture. The Trump administration has brokered deportation deals with countries with notorious human rights records or those facing conflicts, as it seeks to ramp up mass deportations.

South Sudan, Libya, Swatini, Rwanda, El Salvador, among others, have agreed to take in deportees from the United States regardless of the migrants' nationalities. Jimenez-Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. of starting a blaze that eventually turned into the deadly palisades fire has been ordered to remain in custody as he awaits trial. Steve Futterman reports. During the hearing, attorneys presented different views on whether the man accused Jonathan Rindernecht is a flight risk. Prosecutors argued that he has significant ties to France, where he was raised and where his parents live, and also to Indonesia. Defense attorneys called those claims rhetoric and said Rinderneck doesn't even have

a current passport. In the end, the judge, ruled that he will remain in custody. Rinderneck is accused of starting a fire just past midnight on January 1st. Fire crews put out the flames, but it continued to smolder underground and came back to life a week later as the Palisades fire, destroying more than 6,800 structures and leading to the deaths of at least 12 people. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. The federal court has blocked Texas from using a congressional map that would give Republicans an edge in winning five more seats in Congress, Texas quickly appealed the ruling. This is NPR News from Washington. Meta has fended off a challenge to its business that could have forced the tech

giant to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. A judge ruled that the company does not hold a monopoly in social networking. The decision follows two separate rulings that branded Google in a legal monopoly in both search and online advertising. Lucifer is the name of a new species of native bee discovered in Australia. Researchers decided on the name because the females in the species have horns on their head. NPR's Acadia Riddle reports. Researcher Kit Prendergast was collecting native bees in a remote part of Western Australia when she first saw this new species. She says native bees are underappreciated and many are unknown and unnamed. That's why it was important to her to name this one. I really wanted to

get the message out there about native bees and needing to raise. awareness about their conservation and how many aren't, you know, surveyed or described. It's unclear what Lucifer uses its horns for. Prendergast says it could be for defending the nest or gathering pollen. She notes that Lucifer in Latin translates to bringing light. She hopes this Lucifer will bring light to the importance of studying native bees. Katie Riddell, NPR News. A wild dolphin named Mimmo has been delighting Venetians for months with acrobatic flips.

Experts want to move him after wounds indicated he'd likely been hit by a boat propeller. Agencies used acoustic devices to nudge memo out to sea and it worked briefly, but he came back within an hour. U.S. stocks closed down today. This is NPR News. 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.