NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-17-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Prosecutors in Los Angeles say they're charging the son of slain Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, with murder. Steve Futterman reports Nick Reiner is scheduled to appear in court at this hour. We expected Nick Reiner to appear in court yesterday, but it was delayed since he had yet to be given medical clearance. Today, court officials will try again. The hearing is likely to be brief, with Reiner being forced. formerly told of the charges he could also enter a plea. The two first-degree murder charges

carry a maximum sentence of death, but the district attorney says he has not yet decided if he will seek the death penalty. That's Steve Fetterman reporting from Los Angeles. The manhunt continues for a suspect in the deadly mass shooting at Brown University. Officials say they're putting together a growing body of surveillance footage. They're hoping it will help them identify a person of interest. Benberg from Ocean State Media reports to people were killed in the shooting on Saturday, and nine others were injured. Investigators are cobbling together footage from private surveillance systems, ring doorbells, and Tesla's in the neighborhood next to Brown's campus. When combined, investigators say this footage is creating a clearer picture of their suspect, a heavyset person in dark clothing, who carried a satchel and wore a winter hat and a surgical mask.

Providence police chief Oscar Perez says he thinks even this limited footage could help someone recognize the person of interest. You want to focus on the body movements, the way the person moved their arms, the body posture. Perez says the suspect arrived in the neighborhood over five hours before the shooting. He and other investigators said they still have no information about a possible motive. For NPR News, I'm Ben Burke in Providence. Warner Brothers is urging its shareholders. to reject a $108 billion takeover bid from Paramount. Instead, the board is standing by an agreement struck with Netflix

to acquire its Hollywood studios and its streaming service, HBO. NPR's David Fulken Flick has been following the sale. They're questioning whether that $108 billion is solid. The Ellison's took on, and Paramount took on a lot of money from Middle Eastern funds to do this, many tens of billions of dollars. And they're questioning what they're calling the Ellison's family's backstop. They'll listen say, hey, look, we're good for it. We're putting $40 billion. You know, it's part of our family trust. So you know you have it. And Warner Brothers is saying,

we don't, we can't see into that trust. And it's also revocable, which means the terms of interchangeable. So we don't have insight into that trust. NPR's David Fulken Flick reporting. Stocks are trading lower on Wall Street at the sour. The Dow Jones Industrial averages down 126 points, the NASDAQ down 289. This is NPR News. The White House says it's expanding travel restrictions to include 20 additional countries, doubling the number affected by existing limits on entry to the U.S. Official cite national security concerns, including recent arrests tied to terrorism investigations. Critics argue the expansion casts too wide a net and unfairly target certain regions. The administration hasn't said,

when the new rules will take effect. Employees at the Louvre Museum in Paris voted to extend a strike that began on Monday. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, workers say frustration has mounted over staff shortages, aging infrastructure, and a recent brazen daytime theft that exposed major security lapses. The Louvre will only partially reopen Wednesday after unions voted to continue the walkout, despite the Culture Ministry's proposal to cancel a planned $6.7 million cut in funding, open new recruitment for gallery guards and visitor services, and increased staff compensation.

L'Uvre President Lawrence Descartes has been hugely criticized since an October heist that saw thieves get away with some $100 million in French royal jewels. Descartes has acknowledged what she calls an institutional failure and says she only learned of a critical 2019 security audit after the robbery. The French culture ministry also announced emergency anti-intrusion measures. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. On Wall Street, the Dow was down 141 points. This is NPR News.