NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-14-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

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This message comes from Bayer. Science is a rigorous process that requires questions, testing, transparency, and results that can be proven. This approach is integral to every breakthrough Bayer brings forward. Innovations that save lives and feed the world. Science Delivers.com. Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. The investigation into the mass shooting at Brown University yesterday that left at least two people dead, nine others injured, eight of whom are hospitals. continues. Police and Providence have a person of interest in custody, a man in his 20s,

whom sources identify as Benjamin Erickson. He was taken into custody early today at a hotel about 20 miles from Brown's campus. The community is still reeling from yesterday's events, so a Christmas and menorah lighting ceremony that was already scheduled tonight for a nearby park shifted into a memorial for the victims. Natalia Cabral, student at Brown, attended. This goes to show that we need to address this a bit more across the nation. There are more school shootings happening than days in our year, and that's really an issue. Brown has canceled final exams and classes. Police in Sydney, Australia, USA, two suspected gunmen in the deadly shooting at a Hanukkah celebration on the Bondi beach today were a father and son.

At least 15 people died, dozens were wounded. This follows a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Australia. and Pierre Scott Horsley has more. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry tallied more than 3,600 anti-Jewish incidents in the country in the two years since the Hamas attack. The incidents ranged from anti-Israel graffiti to the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue.

Other countries have seen a similar rise in anti-Semitic attacks. Jewish leaders from around the world convened in Sydney this month to highlight the mounting concern. Some observers say it's important to distinguish between anti-Jewish incidents and criticism of Israel for its conduct of the war in Gaza. Earlier this year, Australia joined other countries in granting recognition to a Palestinian state, a move that Israel's prime minister accused of helping to fuel the anti-Semitic

fire. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the federal criminal trial begins tomorrow for a county judge, accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities when they showed up at her courtroom to arrest him. May Ann Silver from member station WUWM has more. Judge Hannah Dugan is pleaded not guilty to federal charges of obstructing a proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. Former prosecutor and Loyola Law School professor Lori Levinson says, a big issue for the jury will be Dugan's mindset on April 18th when ICE agents showed up at her courtroom.

Whether she was trying to impede an obstruct a proceeding or whether she was trying to do what she thought was her job, run her courtroom, deal with her cases, and try to keep from having the department. Department of Homeland Security interfere with that. Prosecutors will likely argue Dugan tried to impede ICE agents from making an arrest. While the defense is expected to make the case, she was trying to follow court protocol in uncharted waters. For NPR News, I'm Ayon Silver in Milwaukee. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Chile shifted sharply to the right after a far-right politician.

Jose Antonio Cast, leader of the Republican Party, won the second and final round of the country's presidential election. He's a vocal supporter of former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and he's the son of a former German Nazi. His victory comes amid widespread voter concern over rising crime, irregular migration, and economic uncertainty. Although the results are yet to be finally confirmed, the margin of victory could be as much as 20 percentage points. Researchers say the number of characters on TV who have had abortions have dropped 14% over the past two years. And here's Netta Ulibeer reports, the annual study looks at how abortion is represented on the small screen. 65 television plotlines dealt with abortion in 2025.

It can be within three to five days in the first trimester. Only three, including the pit on HBO, brought up abortion pills as a way to end a pregnancy, even though that's the most common method in the United States. The Pitt was also one of the few contemporary shows that depicted how hard getting an abortion can be. Not if you're here for medication abortion, you're past the mandate at the lemon we cut off. The abortion on-screen report comes from a research program

at the University of California, San Francisco. It says it found a significant rise in television shows that depict abortions as shameful, as well as a drop in abortion plot lines generally. Netta Ulippi, NPR News. U.S. Futures contracts are trading higher at this hour. Dow futures up about two-tenths of a percent. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News, in Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.

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