NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The House of Representatives is expected to take up a measure that would force the Justice Department to release all its files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department has said there is nothing worth releasing. The co-author of the House measure is California Democratic Congressman Rocana. He says he has not personally reviewed the files but has spoken with victims' lawyers. There are photographs of lewd acts that took place. There are interview memorandum with rich and powerful men who either engaged in sex trafficking or actually showed up to Epstein's island.

There is numerous emails and records from Epstein's own computers that would show who was friends with him and taking money from him despite knowing that he abused underage girls. He spoke to NPRs, all things considered. Kana is expected to hold a press event today that will feature women who have accused Epstein of abuse. The UN Security Council approved a U.S. authored plan creating an international stabilization force for security in Gaza. The vote was a crucial next step in a fragile ceasefire that is holding in its second month. This follows more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf has more from Tel Aviv. Ahead of the vote, both Israel and Hamas expressed issues with the resolution, which

envisions a possible path to an independent Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted earlier this week that there can be no such state, saying it would be a win for Hamas. Hamas said the resolution does not meet, quote, the Palestinian people's political and humanitarian demands and rights. But after the vote, Netanyahu welcomed its approval in a statement in English, saying that, quote, President Trump's plan will lead to peace. The Palestinian authority, which governs much of the occupied West Bank and would play a role in the plan, also praised its approval. U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Walts, called it just the beginning. Katlonsdorf NPR News, Tel Aviv.

An investment company owned by billionaire Peter Thiel has sold its $100 million stake in chipmaker invidia. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, this move is adding to investor fears that the artificial intelligence industry is in a financial bubble. Peter Thiel's hedge fund selling off a massive investment in NVIDIA came after SoftBank did the same last week. Together, the moves are stoking investor concern that the AI industry is in a speculative bubble that could soon pop. Tech firms are pouring billions into AI data centers and infrastructure. The payoff is uncertain. Wall Street trader Michael Burry has become a prominent voice in the AI bubble discourse. Burry made hundreds of millions of dollars by betting against the housing market before the subprime mortgage crash and was a central figure in the book The Big Short.

Burry recently revealed that his asset management company is betting against Nvidia. He wrote on X, sometimes we see bubbles. Bobby Allen and PR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. In Maryland, transit officials say it will take twice as much money to rebuild the collapsed key bridge. The new cost projection, at least $4.3 billion. The Baltimore Bridge fell apart. When it was hit by a cargo ship last year in March, six people were killed.

The U.S. Postal Service says it will raise some prices for shipping next year. The rates for priority mail will rise by more than 6.5% in mid-January. There are other shipping price increases. But the Postal Service says the price of a first-class stamp will stay at 78 cents for a standard-sized rectangular envelope. Athletes are working hard to qualify for next February's Winter Olympics. They'll be held in northern Italy in Milan, Cortina. That includes the U.S. Curling Olympic team.

And Pierre Ping Huang reports from the team trials in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In curling, players slide heavy stones over a shoot of ice. The goal is to reach a target on the other end and to keep their opponent stones off. Cynthia Benning, a superfan from Albuquerque, New Mexico, says the game is like chess on ice. The team is always thinking like two, three moves ahead, just like you're doing chess. Benning was in the stands with a sign that said curling is life, and a cowbell she rang for good shots. Her favorite team didn't make it to the finals, but she got what she came for, hours and hours of high-level curling. The winning team, captained by 24-year-old Danny Casper, heads to an Olympic qualifying event in Canada next month.

Ping Huang, NPR News, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. And I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, from Washington.