NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington on Korva Coleman, Australian authorities say they found two ISIS flags and some explosive devices in the car of one of the suspects linked to the deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration. 15 people were killed in the attack. Australian police shot and killed one of the suspects. Authorities also say the two suspects were in the Philippines last month. Christina Kukoya reports. Police in the state of New South Wales say the investigation will examine why the two men identified as a father and son, travel to the Philippines and the locations they visited. In a statement to NPR, the Philippines Immigration Bureau says the two men arrived in the country together in early November and reported their final destination as Daba on the southern island of Mindanao. It says they left the Philippines in late November on a connecting flight to Manila,

with Sydney listed as their final destination. The Bureau identified the father, who Australian authorities say was killed during the Bonda attack as an Indian national and a resident of Australia. The surviving sun has been confirmed as an Australian citizen. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukala in Sydney, Australia. It's been three days since a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Authorities have not located the shooting suspect. FBI special agent in charge, Ted Docks, says officials are releasing new pictures of a male suspect.

He's in dark clothing and wearing a mask walking near the Brown campus. We're asking everyone in Rhode Island and beyond to review. the new images of the suspect, share them on social media, and come forward if you have any information. FBI director Cash Patel announced last weekend that a person of interest had been detained, but officials found out they had the wrong person. That person has been cleared and released. The Brown University mass shooting killed two people and injured nine others. President Trump has sued British broadcaster, the BBC, for billions of dollars in a defamation case. He claims the BBC compressed remarks in a story on Trump's appearance on the National Mall

ahead of the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The BBC has apologized. Two top executives have resigned. NPR's David Fokkenflik has more. The BBC did not comment Monday, but it has a lot of company. The corporate parents of ABC and CBS have each paid $16 million to settle separate suits filed by Trump last year as a private citizen. Since taking office this year, he sued the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

In this case, an internal report raised questions about the BBC's fairness. Trump's legal team filed the suit in Florida. His case is leaning on the idea that it swayed voters there. As the BBC earlier noted, Trump won big in Florida last year, and the network did not directly broadcast the show on its American TV programming. Trump's lawyers say it was available on the Britbox subscription channel or for people using virtual private networks. David Fokinflik, NPR News.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The U.S. military says it has conducted strikes on three more alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific. In an online statement, U.S. Southern Command says eight people were killed. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says all senators will get a briefing on the Trump administration's boat strikes today. Schumer calls the strikes rogue and reckless. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning after water breached another. Levy southeast of Seattle. That happened early this morning. Flooding from the White River is now going into the nearby town of Pacific Washington. Puerto Rico's governor is signed a measure that

makes it more difficult for citizens and journalists to obtain public records. The new anti-transparency law is being denounced by Puerto Rican and international media groups. Kavan Antonio Haydari reports from San Juan. Signed by Governor Jennifer Gonzalez law 156 limits investigators and citizens access to public documents. It doubles the time to fulfill requests and allows classification of info is confidential without judicial review. Pedro Cardona Morales is an architect in the U.S. territory and believes the measure affects all sectors and not just the media, allowing the government to operate in the dark. The law signed by the Governor Gonzalez limits our right to know. No, he said. This law has tremendous impact in many sectors on the island. Some 50 organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, denounce the measure. For NPR News, I'm Kavan Antonio

Haydari in San Juan. And I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News from Washington.