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

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The U.S. House has approved a bill compelling the Justice Department to release all documents on the late-convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The vote was 427 to 1. Today's outcome marks a rare moment of unity between Republicans and Democrats. It's also an important moment for Epstein's accusers who'd spent years fighting for justice. Before today's vote, Jenna Lisa Jones railed against President Trump. who'd long resisted the House vote then did in about face over the weekend and accused Democrats of fueling a hoax targeting him.

I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. It is not about you, President Trump. You are our president. Please start acting like it. Show some class. Show some real leadership. Show that you actually care about the people other than yourself. I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been an national,

embarrassment. President Trump maintains he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes. Epstein's accomplice, Gillan Maxwell, is in prison on sex trafficking charges. The measure that passed the House today now goes to the Senate, where some lawmakers are pushing for amendments to put further guardrails around what information can be released. Metup has prevailed in the government's anti-trust lawsuit. Today, a U.S. District Judge ruled the Federal Trade Commission failed to show that Facebook's parent company tightened its dominance of social media with the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp

in 2012 and 2014, respectively. The FTC had argued in favor of breaking up meta. A federal court has blocked Texas from using the congressional map that Republican lawmakers passed over the summer at the urging of President Trump. The map would give the GOP an edge in winning five more seats in the U.S. House.

Today's development is a major blow to Trump's effort to maintain the GOP's. narrow hold on the U.S. House and next year's midterm elections. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other prominent Israeli officials condemn violent settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which have been on the rise in recent weeks. And PR's Kat-Lonsdorf reports such attacks rarely face legal consequences. Israeli settlers stormed a village outside the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, torching cars and homes Monday evening. In another part of the West Bank in the town of

Sinjil, settlers shot live ammunition at several people. according to the mayor. They're the latest in what the UN says is now an average of eight settler attacks a day in the territory, an all-time high that is coincided with the Palestinian olive harvest. Israeli defense minister Israel-Katz condemn the violence, saying he gives, quote, full backing to security forces in the West Bank to act against the perpetrators. Netanyahu also gave his full support to law enforcement and the military to counteract the attacks. Still, such settler violence is rarely prosecuted.

Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Televents. this is NPR researchers say early vaccinations of infants against measles surged in Texas in the first few months of the year amid a record outbreak that quickly spread statewide NPR's Maria Godoy reports on a new analysis published in the journal JAMA Network Open. Children usually get their first dose of the measles vaccine between the ages of 12 and 15 months. But in March of this year, as a massive measles. outbreak spread rapidly in Texas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that infants in the state get their first dose early, between six and 11 months of age. Now, an analysis finds that in the months after that recommendation, early vaccinations

among Texas children spiked by 20%. By contrast, less than 1% of kids in the state got an early first dose in prior years. In a related commentary, researchers say this rapid early uptake of the state, the vaccine likely contributed to the slowing of measles transmission in Texas by May of this year. Maria Godoy and PR News. Amazon's Zook's Robo Taxis will be giving free rides in parts of San Francisco as it attempts to compete with Waymo's progress in the arena of self-driving taxi service. Amazon Zook service is expected to be restricted to a handful of major neighborhoods and city. It will also be limited to people who put their names on a waiting list.

for the Robotaxies. Roughly three months ago, the Amazon-owned company launched its first ride hailing service in Las Vegas. The Dow is down 286 points or more than half a percent. It's NPR News.