NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

NPR News: 11-18-2025 3AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. The U.S. House is set to vote today on a bipartisan bill to restore collective bargaining rights for most federal employees. As NPR's Andrews-Hugh reports, a majority of House lawmakers have signed a petition to force a vote. The bill was first introduced by Democratic Congressman Jared Golden of Maine in April after President Trump issued an executive order, terminating collective bargaining rights for roughly 1 million federal workers, citing national security concerns. The bill, called the Protect America's Workforce Act, would nullify that executive order. On Monday, two Republicans signed on to a discharge petition, reaching the necessary threshold to force a vote. One of them, Congressman Mike Lawler of New York, said in a statement,

every American deserves the right to have a voice in the workplace. Despite multiple lawsuits challenging Trump's executive order, some federal agencies have already canceled collective bargaining agreements while others are simply ignoring them. Andrea Shue, NPR News. For the past two months, the Trump administration has carried out deadly strikes on small suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. As NPR's Ryan Lucas report, it is a huge departure from decades-old U.S. policy. So I spoke with nine current and former officials for this story. They are all people who spent much of their careers focused on transnational criminal organizations.

in drug trafficking, so they have a lot of experience. They are not fans of drug cartels. They all question the legality of the Trump administration's military strikes. Many of them referred to the strikes as murder, and they point out that there's no due process here for the folks who are being killed. Now, the Trump administration, for its part, disagrees. It says these strikes are lawful and that the president is acting under his Article 2 powers as commander in chief and in self-defense. The Justice Department said in a statement that the administration is committed to ending drug trafficking and said that these leaks are from disgruntled employees. NPR's Ryan Lucas reporting. Indiana's Governor Mike Braun is ordering state lawmakers to

return to work to redraw the state's congressional map. From member station, WFY, Ben Thorpe reports that Indiana lawmakers say they don't have enough votes to do that. President Trump has for months called on Indiana lawmakers to draw maps that would favor Republicans. State lawmakers plan to address the issue during the first two weeks of December. But on Friday, Senate leadership said they did not have the votes to push forward. Over the weekend, Trump said he was disappointed in Indiana Governor Mike Braun and threatened any Republicans who opposed redistricting with a primary challenge. Following a call with the president, Braun said he was committed to passing maps that would ensure the mega agenda is successful. He said lawmakers must take a public vote on maps to counter Democratic redistricting in California and efforts underway in other states.

For NPR, I'm Ben Thorpe in Indianapolis. This is NPR. The UN Security Council has endorsed President Trump's 20-point peace plan for ending the war in Gaza. Russia and China abstained from Monday's vote. Under the plan, an international stabilization force would be deployed to Gaza for two years to protect civilians and to destroy Hamas military infrastructure. New research finds that drinking arsenic contaminated waste, water can significantly raise the risk of death from some chronic diseases. But as NPR's

Jonathan Lambert reports, reducing exposure can cut that risk in half even after years of consuming contaminated water. Across Bangladesh and many other countries, parts of the soil can have very high levels of naturally occurring arsenic. The element can leach into drinking water, which can cause all sorts of health problems, including cancer and heart disease. And because it has no taste, people can drink it for years without knowing. Since 2000, researchers have been studying the health of over 10,000 people exposed in Bangladesh. They've also tried to limit the amount of arsenic people ingest by labeling contaminated wells and drilling safer ones. New research in the journal JAMA suggests such interventions can pay off.

People whose exposure went from high to low levels had similar disease risk as those who never drank contaminated water. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. Alabama, Governor K. Ivey is trying to preserve PBS programming in her state. Ivy wants the board overseeing Alabama public television to delay any decision on severing ties with the public broadcaster. Alabama Educational Television Commissioners plan to meet today to consider dropping PBS. This is NPR.