NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-14-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

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Support for NPR and the following message come from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help NPR produce programming that meets the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression. Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. At least 15 people are dead, dozens injured in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration on a beach in Sydney, Australia. Police say there were two gunmen, a father and his son, and one of them was killed. In Pierce, Tamara Keith, reports President Trump praised a man who disarmed one of the gunmen. President Trump said the attack in Australia, non-Jewish families celebrating the first night of Hanukkah was terrible. And that was an anti-Semitic attack, obviously, and I just want to pay my respects to everybody. Trump said the man who was seen on video grabbing a gun from one of the shooters at great risk to himself was a very, very brave person.

Trump said he saved a lot of lives. The president was speaking at a holiday reception at the White House and offered an addendum to his usual Merry Christmas. Today we can very say loudly we celebrate Hanukkah. Because that was such a horrible attack. That was a purely anti-Semitic attack. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the White House. The investigation into the motive of the deadly attack on Brown University in Rhode Island yesterday

that left at least two people dead and nine injured continues. Police say they have a person of interest in custody, a man in his 20s, identified by sources as Benjamin Erickson. Paul C. Kelly Campus of Member Station, Ocean State Media, visited the campus and spoke to one student. The atmosphere there today was quiet and somber during the snowy day. Students I spoke with there were visibly distraught and shaken. A Brown University's med student, Anna Nguyen, said he was in the middle of exams when the lockdown order came in.

Unfortunately, this is like a second school shooting that I've been to. My last one was my undergrad. And I feel like something this unimaginable is happening way too often. But, you know, praying for everyone out there. And then hopefully there will be action in the future. Providence's mayor, Brett Smiley, says the shooting shook the city and the state to its core. The government is set to release the latest jobs data as well as the latest consumer inflation report this week. And here's Rafael NAM reports both were delayed by the government shutdown.

One of the many consequences of the government shutdown was that the Labor Department was no longer able to compile important economic reports. But with the shutdown now well over, the government is quickly canceled. catching up. Early this week, the Labor Department is set to release the latest employment data for November. That will be followed by the latest inflation data a few days later. Both reports were originally scheduled to come out earlier this month, in time for the Federal Reserve's policy meeting last week. Nonetheless, they will still provide critical information about the economy, even if it's just a little bit later. Rafael NOMM in PR News. U.S. Futures Contracts are trading higher at this hour. You're listening to

NPR News. A Kansas-based tribe has fired business leaders for accepting a $30 million federal contract with immigration enforcement. As Dylan Lison reports, tribal officials say the project doesn't align with its values. Prairie Band LLC is a business owned by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation that takes on federal contracts for projects like construction and design services. It had landed a contract to assist in the design of immigration detention centers for the federal government until October 26. In a statement on social media, the tribe said it acknowledged the contract did not align with its principles as a sovereign nation and that it had terminated senior members of the LLC's

leadership team. The tribe also says that it will reevaluate the company's review process for taking on federal contracts. However, it's unclear if the tribe will cancel the project. The tribe's announcement did not mention plans to end the deal. For NPR news, I'm Dylan Lyon in Overland Park, Kansas. At the weekend box office, Zootopia 2 took the top spot with an estimated $26 million in ticket sales. The Walt Disney animated sequel is this year's second film to cross $1 billion worldwide. In second place, five nights at Freddy's 2, with $19 million in its second weekend, with a domestic total of $95 million, that horror film cost a reported $36 million to produce. Asian markets are trading lower at this hour than Nikate. The main market in Japan is down nearly 1.5%. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

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