NPR News: 11-29-2025 3PM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. In a post on social media, President Trump told pilots to consider the airspace over and around Venezuela closed. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, this is the latest ratcheting up in a pressure campaign on the regime of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.
The Trump administration has justified deadly airstrikes on Venezuelan boats in recent weeks as necessary to protect the American people from drug smuggling. Trump has also declared Maduro, the Venezuelan dictator, to be a narco-terrorist, which Maduro disputes. In remarks on Thanksgiving, Trump implied there would be more coming.
People aren't wanting to be delivering by sea, and we'll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier.
A U.S. official not authorized to speak on the record tells NPR training flights are being conducted in the southern Caribbean, but there's no indication military action against Venezuela is imminent. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
Some states are watching for a Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act that may spark a new wave of congressional redistricting. As NPR's Hansi Lewong reports... the timing of the court's decision could have implications for the gerrymandering fight ahead of next year's midterm elections.
It's not clear when the Supreme Court will issue its decision in a closely watched redistricting case out of Louisiana. But after the justices held a rare second hearing for the case in October, some court watchers say the court's conservative majority may soon issue a ruling that weakens the Voting Rights Act's protections against voting districts that dilute the power of racial minorities. That could lead to Republican-led states, particularly in the South, undoing districts where Black voters have a realistic opportunity of liking their preferred candidates, who are usually Democrats. But congressional maps for next year's midterms have to be finalized before a state's filing deadline for candidates running in the primary.
And those deadlines are coming up in December for Mississippi, in January for Alabama, and in February for Louisiana. Anzi Luong, NPR News.
On this Thanksgiving travel weekend, travelers are being met by snow and chilly temperatures. NPR's Ava Pukach reports.
This weekend's winter weather is bringing well below average temperatures to much of the eastern and central U.S., according to the National Weather Service. In North Carolina, temperatures dropped into the 20s Friday night. The Durham Rescue Mission says hundreds of people are seeking warm shelter and hot meals. Leon Davis is one of them.
For somebody that's out there in this type of weather, it can mean death. Because, I mean, the cold is nothing to play with.
The organization says it will continue to provide essential services as long as freezing temperatures persist. The National Weather Service says the cold front is expected to continue into Sunday for much of the U.S. Ava Pukach, NPR News.
This is NPR News. The Food and Drug Administration says it intends to require stricter evidence that vaccines are safe and effective. Commissioner Marty McCary says tougher regulation is needed because there's new evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause the deaths of at least 10 children. However, independent public health experts have doubts about such new evidence. They say the Trump administration has a history of making unsupported and misleading statements about vaccines. Pope Leo visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque today as part of the first trip of his papacy to Turkey and then Lebanon. NPR's Ruth Sherlock is traveling with the first American pope.
This was the first time Pope Leo has visited a Muslim place of worship since he became the leader of the Catholic Church. He removed his shoes as is customary for entering the vast religious space. He walked in white socks across the red carpeted floor as he was given a tour by the mosque's Imam and the Mufti of Istanbul. The Imam told reporters he invited Leo to pray, but the Pope declined. The Vatican said in a statement afterwards that, quote, the Pope experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening.
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