NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-04-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. A man believed to be responsible for placing pipe bombs near the U.S. Capitol complex nearly five years ago is now in federal custody. A law enforcement source tells NPR's Kerry Johnson, there's been a breakthrough in the longstanding mystery. The FBI has spent years searching for the person who put bombs near the Democratic and Republican Committee headquarters hours before the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Now a federal law enforcement source says authorities think they have identified the culprit. A news conference is planned in Washington to share more information about the case. FBI agents conducted a thousand interviews and reviewed nearly 40,000 video files. But the alleged bomber remained elusive for years despite a half-million dollar reward. New leaders of the FBI and the Justice Department intensified their focus on the case this year. Carrie Johnson, NPR News.

As Gaza marks nearly eight weeks of a fragile ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes continue. In Parazana Saba reports that Gaza health officials say six people were killed, including two children, in the latest air strike. In the city of Hanyunis, an Israeliirstrike hit Najat, which means survival in Arabic. It's a tent camp near a hospital for displaced families redistributed homes and safety. The survival camp has turned into a mass grave. In addition to the deaths, dozens other were injured, many of the tensed-housed hospital staff and their families. The Israeli military said it targeted the Hamas militant and respond to a cyber incident in southern Gaza,

a gun battle between Hamas and Israeli forces that wounded several Israeli soldiers. It is the latest in many violations since the ceasefire began. Gaza health officials say more than 360 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire was declared in October. And as Babo and Pira News, Gaza City. On Wall Street, stocks are trading lower this morning amid mixed signals on the job market. And P.R. Scott Horsley has more. A consulting firm that tracks layoff notices says U.S. employers announced more than 71,000 job cuts last month. That's fewer potential pink slips that announced in October, but more than this time last year.

That's according to a tally compiled by the outplacement firm, Challenger Gray, and Christmas. New applications for unemployment benefits, which are often seen as a proxy for layoffs, fell last week. The Thanksgiving holiday may have affected those numbers. As of mid-November, some 1.8 million people were receiving some form of jobless assistance. Asian stocks were mixed overnight, up in Tokyo and Hong Kong, but down in Shanghai and Seoul. Scott Horsley in Parenthood, Washington. And on Wall Street, the Dow is down 63 points. The NASDAQ down 47. The S&P 500 is down 5 points for the Dow. That's down 1 tenth of a percent. NASDAQ is down about two-tenths of a percent. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are set to hear a classified briefing today from Navy Admiral Mitch Bradley, who reportedly issued orders to fire on survivors of an attack on an alleged drugboat. This amid the investigation on how Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth handled the military operation in international waters near Venezuela. Lawmakers won a full accounting after the Washington Post reported that in September, Bradley ordered an attack on two survivors to comply with Heggseth's directive to kill everybody. Federal employees are still recovering after the longest-ever government shutdown. Adrian Scobaland, with member station KNAU, reports one non-profit near Grand Canyon National

Park wants to improve morale by providing free meals to federal workers. The Grand Canyon Conservancy is hosting meals for residents of Grand Canyon. Village and Tucson throughout the holiday season. Kim Acker, who works for the Interior Department, says she's been through several government shutdowns. It's hard on your morale, it's hard on your confidence, it's hard on your bank account. Akker had a medical emergency shortly after she was furloughed. Now she's unsure if federal employment is reliable. You know, I'm looking at tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and it really made me think, can I afford to be missing paychecks. Acre says while the free meals help, she still worries she could be

furloughed again next year. The budget resolution only lasts until the end of January. For NPR news, I'm Adrian Scabland in Tucson, Arizona. And I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington.