NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

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6-7, like the numbers 6 and 7, is a kids meme that parents are trying to make sense of. My dad is trying to understand what 6-7 is. I kind of feel bad for the parents. But is there more that kids, parents, and the rest of us should know about these two numbers? To find out, listen to the It's Been a Minute podcast on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Defense Secretary Pete Hegset says he will not publicly release video of a deadly secondary U.S. airstrike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean. We're also going to tomorrow allow the Hask and Sask to see the unedited video of the September 2nd.

But in keeping with longstanding Department of War Policy, Department of Defense policy, of course we're not going to release a top secret, full unedited video of that to the general public. Hegsaid says the U.S. is effectively at war with drug traffickers and that the strike was lawful. Critics say the September attack crossed a line pointing to reports that two people who survived the initial strike were later targeted and killed as they clung to the burning wreckage. One of the men involved in the mass shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach has been identified as an Indian national. NPR's Dia Hadid reports that's according to a statement by Indian. and State Police. Telangana State Police said in a statement that 50-year-old Sajid Akram hailed from the capital of the southern state, Hyderabad.

The police said he'd left India in 1988 and only returned six times, most recently in 2022. The police said he had limited contact with his Indian family and had not returned for his father's funeral. His son, an alleged accomplice, Navid Akram, is in a critical condition in hospital. The shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism against the Jewish community. It occurred as a Hanukkah celebration was taking place. Those killed include a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl. Dear Hadid, NPR News, New Delhi. President Trump says

his administration will treat the street drug fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. It's part of a broader effort by Trump to militarize the war on drugs. But as NPR's Brian Mann reports, many addiction experts say the strategy won't slow drug overdose deaths. in the U.S. Trump's executive order describes street fentanyl as a chemical weapon, but many drug policy experts say fentanyl would be difficult to use as a weapon, and it's never happened before in the U.S. Jeffrey Singer is a physician and an expert on addiction at the Cato Institute.

I don't know how you could equate smugglers meeting market demand and selling something illegal to people who want to buy it as an act of war. Trump had already classified drug cartels as terrorist organizations and launched military strikes against alleged drugboats. Deaths from street fentanyl were already declining in the U.S. before Trump militarized the response dropping 27 percent last year, according to federal data. Brian Mann, NPR News.

Stogs are trading mixed on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow was down 323 points. The NASDAQAZE up 15. This is NPR News in Washington. The guilty verdict against Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai is drawing criticism from around the world, as well as renewed lobbying from President Trump to secure his release. NPR's Emily Fang reports a court in Hong Kong found Lai guilty on all counts this week.

President Trump said he'd raised Jimmy Lai's case personally with China's leader Xi Jinping. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release. The United Kingdom also summoned China's ambassador to London in protest over the verdict, and the European Union called the prosecution politically motivated. Lai has been in prison since 2020. He was arrested on national security charges after meeting with Western leaders, hawkish on China, and he was also found guilty of sedition this week by publishing dozens of articles critical of Beijing. Lai recently turned 78 years old, and his daughter told NPR this week that the time in prison has worsened his diabetes and led to heartburn.

palpitations. Emily Fang and Pierr News. Ford Motor Company is scaling back its electric vehicle plans as losses mount and consumer demand softens. The automaker says it will shift investment toward more efficient gasoline engines and hybrid vehicles. Ford also announced it will stop producing the all-electric F-150 Lightning, opting instead for an extended range version of the truck after spending billions on electrification. On Wall Street, Street, the Dow was down 305 points. This is NPR News in Washington.