NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-13-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: September 13, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rom. Authorities in Utah say they're preparing charges against a 22-year-old man accused of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk this week. NPR's Bobby Allen reports, Tyler Robinson is being held without bail in a county jail. Law enforcement apprehended Robinson following a tip received from a member of Robinson's family. As a young man, Robinson excelled in school and received a college scholarship, but dropped out after one semester. Offline, he grew up in a small Utah town where hunting was commonplace.

Online, he spent a lot of time in corners of the internet that celebrate edgy and trollish humor. Whatever led to Robinson allegedly targeting Kirk, it should shock Americans' conscience, says Utah Governor Spencer Cox. It is also much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American exception. experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. Authorities have vowed to seek the death penalty against Robinson. Bobby Allen and

PR News, Oram, Utah. Louisiana health officials say the state is experiencing the worst outbreak of pertussis, also known as Woopinghoff, in 35 years. As NPR, Selina Simmons-Duffin reports, one of the state's senators is now asking for help from Health Secretary Robert of Kennedy Jr. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy is a physician, and he chairs the Help Committee, which oversees the Department of Health and Human Services. Cassidy cast a key vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, despite voicing concerns about Kennedy's history of anti-vaccine activism. A letter from Cassidy to Kennedy this week hints at a growing rift. Cassidy lays out the scope of the pertussis outbreak in his state. Two babies have died. He says

the DTAP vaccine is safe and effective and it protects babies against dying. from pertussis. Cassidy goes on, quote, I ask that you publicly reaffirm your support for the DTAP vaccine and says Kennedy's public support will save lives. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News, Washington. The Department of Homeland Security says an ICE officer shot and killed a man in the Chicago area yesterday. A statement says, as officers were attempting to detain him, he drove his car at them, one

fired at him after being dragged by his vehicle. He's in stable condition. Ozzie Lopez lives in the neighborhood and cause the incident tragic. It's just crazy that this is what is getting to. You know, this is for someone had to flee for their lives and then in the process, lost their life, and then someone else got hurt in the process where, you know, it doesn't look good in either side. The man who died was identified as a 38-year-old cook from Mexico.

You're listening to NPR News. News in Washington. Calm is returning to Nepal after days of protests after the appointment of an interim prime minister. New elections will be held March 5th. The demonstration started Monday over a social media ban and turned violent. At least 51 people died. A controversial far-right activist in the UK is using the assassination of Charlie Cook to mobilize support for what's expected to be Britain's largest far-right demonstration in decades. Vicki Barker reports.

Ahead of Saturdays March and rally in central London, the anti-immigrant anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson posted a photo of Charlie Kirk, superimposed above the U.S. and UK flags. Speakers at his Unite the Kingdom event include former Trump advisor Steve Bannon as well as far-right politicians from Germany and Poland. A counter-demonstration by the group Stand Up to Racism was taking place a few. few hundred yards away. More than 1,600 police officers have been assigned to keep the groups apart, and Scotland Yard has reassured Muslim Londoners that officers would be on hand to make sure they feel safe. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. A ceremony was held today in Nagasaki, Japan, at the site of a World War II prison camp. Dozens of people came from the Netherlands. Relatives of Dutch prisoners who suffered abuse and starvation there during

the war. Their names have been engraved on a stone monument that was erected 10 years ago as a symbol of reconciliation and peace. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.