NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-19-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, Nimeshaye Stevens. The House and Senate have voted to release all government records on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Green says the effort is meant to help Epstein's victims. These victims and these survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and the cabal of rich, powerful elites, that expands not just here in the United States of America, but to other countries as well. we're putting them last. And that is exactly what Americans want. Maryland Congressman Jimmy Raskin says that House Speaker Mike Johnson cannot blame Democrats for the delay in getting the information released.

The speaker says, why now? Why now? Well, Mr. Speaker, you are the one who refused to swear in Adelita Grohava for 50 days. We would have done it 50 days ago, but she provided the 218 signature on the discharge petition. Johnson and all but one other Republican voted. to release the Epstein files. President Trump welcomed Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House Tuesday,

where the two leaders discussed a number of agreements. The U.S. plans to sell fighter jets to Riyadh, and the Saudis are promising hundreds of billions of dollars worth of investments in the U.S. The U.S. has added 10 items to its critical minerals list, including two compounds used to fertilize crops. From the Mountain West News Bureau, Hannah Mersbach, has more.

Todd Fornsstrom, the president of Wyoming's Farm Bureau, grows alfalfa, wheat, corn, and beans. He says potash and phosphate are critical plant foods. So if you don't have plant food, your crops are going to suffer because of it. Fornstrom says changing trade policies have meant big price swings. Potash is largely imported from Canada. A lot of phosphate is produced in the U.S., but some comes from China. Adding the compounds to the federal mineral list could mean streamlined mining permits domestically and more efforts to protect imports.

Copper, uranium, and a form of coal also made the list. For NPR News, I'm Hannah Mersbach in Jackson, Wyoming. A federal judge is temporarily blocked a Texas law requiring 10 commandments displays in public schools across the state. The Texas Newsroom, Lucille's Vasquez, has more. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia says it would be, quote, impractical, if not impossible, to protect Texas students from unwelcome religious displays without blocking the law. The bill went into effect in September, but it's already sparked multiple legal challenges. Federal judges and separate cases have blocked the law for 25 school districts across

Texas. But in total, the state is home to just over 1,200 districts, and the rulings have mainly impacted the state's largest cities. Similar laws in Louisiana and Arkansas have also been struck down by federal courts. For NPR News, I'm Lucio Vosquez in Houston. listening to NPR. A new report finds that China has funneled billions of dollars in loans to U.S. companies over the past 25 years. According to the research lab aid data at Virginia's William and Mary College, the loans were channeled nearly $200 billion through offshore shell companies in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere.

It says the funds were then used by Chinese companies to buy stakes in U.S. businesses. Aid data also says the lenders reported to China's central government and often work to advance China's strategic goals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other prominent Israeli leaders are condemning the settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. As NPR's Katlonsdorf reports, such attacks rarely face any 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 Sindhil, 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 condemned 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, Tel Aviv. U.S. futures are virtually unchanged in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR News.

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