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

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

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This message comes from the NBC News original podcast, Here's the Scoop. Every evening, join NBC News reporters for a deep dive into the day's top stories, from the front page to the zeitgeist in 15 minutes or less. Search, Here's the Scoop to follow now. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. In Australia, authorities are warning that the death toll from the shooting attack on a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach could rise further, As Christina Cucolia reports at least 16 people are confirmed dead, including one of the alleged gunmen.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the victims and laid flowers near the site of the attack. He denounced the violence against members of the Jewish community. What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of any Semitism, an act of terrorism. Police in the state of New South Wales say the youngest victim was 10 years old. Dozens more people have been hospitalized. Among them is one of the alleged gunmen. A 24-year-old man who police say is suspected of carrying out the attack with his 50-year-old father, who authorities say was killed at the scene.

Raids have been carried out at two homes linked to the men, an investigation is ongoing with help from federal police and Australia's domestic intelligence agency. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukala in Melbourne. Authorities in Rhode Island, meanwhile, say they've detained a person of interest in connection to a mass shooting at Brown University yesterday. Police say he's a man in his 20s. The attack left at least two people dead and nine others injured.

NPR's Joe Hernandez has more. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley announced Sunday morning that a person of interest was in custody. Smiley said the shooting, which occurred at a Brown University building where final exams were taking place, came as a shock to the city. I think maybe intellectually we knew it could happen anywhere, including here, but that's not the same as it happening in our community. The Ivy League School canceled exams. after the shooting, and authorities said Sunday morning they had lifted the shelter-in-place order for

the campus. Joe Hernandez NPR News. Following the shooting, Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee ordered flags at state buildings to be lowered to half-staff. The first winter storm of the season has hit the New York metropolitan area. Bruce Convizer reports from New Jersey. As the snow started falling forecasters were predicting two to three inches across much of New Jersey. By mid-morning, a large swath of the state was buried under six inches of snow. Travel disruptions were relatively limited as the storm hit early Sunday, but more than 80 flights were canceled at the three New York City area airports. The snowstorm will clear out but will be followed by strong winds in a blast of Arctic air. Temperatures will struggle to break through the freezing point over the next two days.

For NPR news, I'm Bruce Confeiser in Greenbrook, New Jersey. Chulay's government is moving sharply to the right after ultra-conservative presidential candidate, Jose Antonio Cast won that country's presidential runoff election on Sunday. He promised to crack down on increasing crime in that country. He also says he'll deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status. He defeated the candidate of the left-wing governing coalition by more than 15 percentage points. You're listening to NPR News. The Hong Kong activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai has been found guilty on all national security charges by three judges.

in Hong Kong. As NPR's Emily Fang reports, Lai could now face life in prison. Lai was arrested in 2020 and has been in prison since then, and his national security trial has been closely watched. Beijing has accused him of masterminding large-scale anti-government protests, which broke out in 2019. And now a Hong Kong court has found he colluded with foreign forces, a crime punishable by life imprisonment under Beijing's national security law in the region. Specifically, he was found guilty of meeting with American officials hawkish on China, and he was also found guilty of publishing seditious materials through his popular tabloid Apple Daily, which was forced to shut down in 2021.

A date for his sentencing will be announced later. Emily Fang and Peer News. A state of emergency has been declared in two municipalities in Guatemala after criminal gangs attacked a military post and a police station on Saturday. At least five people were killed in those attacks. The country's president says the gangs are trying to take. take control of the region. In its third weekend, Zootopia 2 has regained the number one spot at the nation's box offices,

bringing in $26.3 million in ticket sales. According to Disney, the movie has already grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide, thanks to a strong showing in China. Five nights at Freddy's Part 2 dropped a second, bringing in 15.4 million. That's a 70% drop from its debut, and Wicked for Good held down third, bringing in $8.6 million in ticket sales. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.