Chapter 1: What details emerged about the Brown University shooting suspect?
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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. An autopsy has found that the man suspected in the fatal shooting at Brown University last weekend had been dead for two days when he was found. Claudio Neves Valente was found dead Thursday night at a storage locker in New Hampshire. Police believe he killed himself.
Ocean State Media's David Wright says Valente is also the suspect in the killing this week of an MIT professor, and the two knew each other.
He was born in Portugal, and so was that MIT professor, Nuno Loureiro. The two of them were roughly the same age. In fact, they both studied in the same science program in Portugal from 1995 to 2000. Now, Loureiro went on to an illustrious career at MIT.
Chapter 2: What controversies are surrounding the Turning Point USA conference?
He specialized in research about fusion energy. Valente, meanwhile, went on to the PhD program at Brown, only to drop out after less than a year.
That's reporter David Wright. The Justice Department released some of the Epstein files on Friday. They were required by law to release all of them, but say more will be released before the end of the year. Divisions within President Trump's coalition are once again on display at a gathering of conservatives in Phoenix this week.
Conservative leaders sparred over the boundaries of the movement during the opening day of Turning Point USA's annual conference, which continues through this weekend. NPR's Sarah McCammon has more.
Since Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk's murder in September, the conservative movement has been plagued by infighting over how to respond to anti-Semitism within the movement. At Turning Point's AmericaFest conference, commentator Ben Shapiro called out fellow conservatives, including Tucker Carlson, who recently hosted white nationalist Nick Fuentes on his online show.
Chapter 3: How is the U.S. responding to the situation in Venezuela?
Shapiro said Charlie Kirk had, quote, despised Fuentes.
He knew that Nick Fuentes is an evil troll and that building him up is an act of moral imbecility. And that is precisely what Tucker Carlson did. He built Nick Fuentes up, and he ought to take responsibility for that.
Carlson later hit back, insisting he's not an anti-Semite. Sarah McCammon, NPR News.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the current state of Venezuela's regime is intolerable, and he accuses President Nicolas Maduro's government of working with drug cartels and terrorists. NPR's Michelle Kellerman has our reports.
At an end-of-year news conference, Secretary Rubio was asked repeatedly about the U.S. military buildup near Venezuela.
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Chapter 4: What impact are heavy rainstorms having in the Pacific Northwest?
He says President Trump promised to take on the cartels and is doing that. Rubio would not describe a recent call between Trump and Maduro, but said that the Venezuelans broke deals with the Biden administration. You can't do a peace deal with these people any more than you can do a peace deal with a mafia. Rubio defended the strikes on alleged drug boats, saying they've been effective.
The Trump administration is also imposing sanctions on seven family members of individuals tied to what it calls the illegitimate Maduro regime. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Washington.
And you're listening to NPR News. Parts of the Pacific Northwest are experiencing back-to-back heavy rainstorms or atmospheric rivers, bringing inches of rain in a short amount of time. An Oregon climatologist says these storms will be stronger and more frequent as climate change continues. Oregon Public Broadcasting's Monica Samayoa has our reports.
Chapter 5: What findings have investigators revealed about the NASCAR crash?
Atmospheric rivers are essentially a jet stream or river of warm moisture in the sky bringing in more rain than normal storms. That could lead to major flooding or landslides in areas not prepared to receive a burst of heavy rain. State climatologist of Oregon Larry O'Neill says the region gets about 10 to 15 of these kinds of events annually, and climate change can make it worse.
What we're seeing is that some of these really strong events, extreme events, will become more common in the future. These are actually good tests at how resilient we are.
So far, several flood advisories are in place as the region expects more rain to fall through Saturday. For NPR News, I'm Monica Samayoa in Portland.
Federal investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the crash this week that killed NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his family, and three other people. The plane was attempting to return to the Statesville Airport from where it had departed less than 10 minutes before when it erupted into flames.
Investigators say they're unaware of any emergency calls before the crash, and they say they're trying to determine who was flying at the time of the crash.
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Chapter 6: What were the results of the recent college football playoffs?
In college football, Alabama beat Oklahoma 34-24 Friday night in the first round of the Division I playoffs. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.