NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-14-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: December 14, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnson. Police in Rhode Island say a person of interest has been taken into custody in connection with a mass shooting at Brown University on Saturday. Ian Donis from Ocean State Media reports the attack left at least two people dead. A man in his 30s was arrested overnight in a hotel in Coventry about 25 miles from the shooting. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley says people can breathe a little easy. here. I think maybe intellectually, we knew it could happen anywhere, including here, but that's not the same as it happening in our community. This is an incredibly upsetting and emotional time for Providence, for Brown, for all of us. The shooter opened fire in a classroom where students were taking an exam. Two students were killed and nine other people, eight of them students were

injured. Investigators have yet to cite a motive. For NPR news, Ami and Donis in Providence, Rhode Island. The head of the United Nations is condemning a mass shooting that left at least 12 people dead at Bondi Beach in Sydney today. Adam Hancock reports the gunmen targeted members of the Jewish community during an event marking Hanukkah. UN chief Antonio Gutierrez has called Sunday shooting a heinous deadly attack on Jewish families. The gunmen shot at crowds on the beach during a mass celebration. Police say more than a thousand people were in attendance. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the shooting was an act of terrorism that has struck at the heart of the nation.

He described the attack as, quote, evil anti-Semitism. 29 people have been taken to hospitals following the shooting, including a child. One gunman was killed at the scene and a second suspect is in a critical condition. For NPR News, I'm Adam Hancock. U.S. special envoy, Steve Wickhoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are in Berlin today. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports their meeting with Ukrainian president, Volodemar Zelensky, and European leaders to discuss a plan aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting comes as the Kremlin reaffirms. It will give its blessing for a ceasefire only after

Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from parts of the Denedsk region that they still control. It's a demand that's likely to be rejected by Ukraine. Whitkoff and Kushner plan to meet with Zelensky as well as key European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz, French president Emmanuel Macron, and UK Prime Minister Kier Starmor. In related news, Germany's Mertz declared the era of Apax Americana over in his speech over the weekend, warning of a permanent U.S. withdrawal from Europe after the Trump administration published its national security strategy, a document that heavily criticized European leaders as being weak and ineffective.

Rob Schmitts and Pierre News, Berlin. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. President Trump is promising retaliation after two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed in an ambush in Syria. U.S. Central Command says three other service members were wounded in the attack by a lone gunman. The White House says it believes the Islamic State Group was responsible. Media mogul and democracy activist Jimmy Lai is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday. in Hong Kong. Lai is facing multiple charges for his activism. NPR's Emily Fang reports one carries a potential life sentence. Lai was first arrested in 2020 under Beijing's national

security law in Hong Kong, accused of colluding with foreign forces by contacting American politicians like President Trump and then Vice President Mike Pence as well as journalists. He had already spent years in prison on protest charges when his national security trial began in 2020. And while awaiting his verdict, his family says the 78-year-old's health has declined. Lai's work funding and organizing pro-democracy demonstrations came late in life. After arriving in Hong Kong as a refugee, he built a fortune in fast fashion, then started several successful media companies in Hong Kong in Taiwan before pivoting to politics. Emily Fang and Pure News.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is this year's Heisman Trophy winner. the first player from that state to claim college football's top individual honor. Mendoza led the Hoosiers to a perfect regular season capped by a win over Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. This is NPR News.