News
What we know about the suspect arrested in Charlie Kirk's killing. And, Emmy takeaways
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Today’s top stories
Tyler Robinson, the suspect accused of shooting and killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah, is “not cooperating” with authorities. Police still do not know — or haven’t made public — the motive behind the deadly act. Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said yesterday that authorities believe 22-year-old Robinson has left-leaning political beliefs and didn’t like Kirk. Robinson is facing an aggravated murder charge, obstruction of justice and the felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, according to authorities. He is expected to be charged in state court tomorrow.
A memorial for political activist Charlie Kirk stands on the grounds of Utah Valley University on Sept. 13, 2025, in Orem, Utah.
Chet Strange/Getty Images
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Chet Strange/Getty Images
- 🎧 One of the new details Gov. Cox mentioned yesterday was about Robinson’s romantic partner, who was shocked by the news of the killing, Elaine Clark of NPR network station KUER tells Up First. This person, whom the governor didn’t name, was listed as a “roommate” in the suspect’s probable cause affidavit. Cox described the romantic partner as a “boyfriend who was transitioning from male to female.” It is unknown if transgender politics had any correlation to Kirk’s assassination. An NPR producer yesterday attended a church service in Orem, Utah, where the shooting happened. They witnessed people filled with emotions. In addition to the sermon, there was a table set up for counseling resources and a uniformed police officer, which the pastor said had never been done before.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Jerusalem today for private discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. This visit comes a week after Israel struck Doha, the capital of Qatar, in an attack that it says was targeting Hamas leaders. At least six people were killed, none of whom were senior Hamas officials. This deadly strike places the U.S. in a difficult position: balancing its support for Israel with its relationship with a key Gulf ally.
- 🎧 NPR’s Carrie Kahn, who is in Tel Aviv, spoke yesterday with some Israelis at the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site. Seventy-two-year-old Eli Ben Lulu told her he is concerned about the growing international criticism of Israel, and he wants the U.S.’ support to remain solid. Lulu says he supports Israel’s airstrike in Qatar and that everyone has to look out for themselves. Today, Qatar has convened an emergency regional summit with Arab and Muslim heads of state to discuss how they will respond to Israel’s strike. Qatar’s prime minister has called on the international community to punish Israel for its crimes. Analysts do not expect significant retaliation from the countries because the leaders also wish to maintain balanced relations with the U.S.
Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes joins this newsletter to recap the 2025 Emmy Awards.
The Emmys were awarded last night. The Studio, The Pitt and Adolescence took home top prizes. And though the wins were deserving, the telecast was meh. Here are our takeaways from the evening.
- Host Nate Bargatze leaned into a disastrous evening-long bit.
- The Pitt, The Studio and Adolescence were all deserving winners — and hooray for Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere) and Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower (Severance).
- The Studio proved yet again that show business loves show business.
- The Emmys gave best drama to The Pitt, an old-school, 15-episode hospital show.
- The Bear is still … not comedy.
- Netflix was behind three of the five nominees for outstanding limited or anthology series, including the big winner, Adolescence.
- Despite strong nominations, The Last of Us and The White Lotus were mostly shut out.
- Stephen Colbert’s canceled The Late Show won best talk series.
Check out photos from the red carpet and see the full list of winners.
Stay pop culture savvy by subscribing to the Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Once a week, you’ll get NPR’s guide to TV, movies, music and more.
Deep dive
People seeking this year’s COVID booster shot may find it more difficult than the past.
Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
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Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration has imposed new restrictions for this year’s COVID vaccine, restricting access to people 65 and older and those at high risk for severe illness. Trump administration health officials argue that most healthy younger people have enough immunity and no longer need annual boosters. However, many doctors’ groups advise getting the shot to prevent serious illness and to protect high-risk individuals. Here’s what you should know about trying to get a COVID shot right now:
- 💉 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a broad list of several conditions that may qualify you for the shot, including asthma, diabetes, obesity, heart conditions, and a smoking history.
- 💉 Pregnancy is considered a risk factor, despite the CDC’s removal of routine vaccination recommendations for pregnant women. The conflicting guidance has led to confusion about pharmacists’ ability to administer shots and whether insurers will pay for vaccination.
- 💉 Insurance companies are only required to pay for the shots if they have been recommended by the CDC. Out-of-pocket costs range between $150 and $200.
- 💉 The CDC’s vaccine advisory group is set to meet on Sept. 18-19 and is expected to issue specific recommendations for who should receive the shots. The CDC director would then need to approve that guidance.
Picture show
A picture of the inside of the David Bowie Centre, a new archive at the V&A East Storehouse in London, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, ahead of its public opening.
Joanna Chan/AP
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Joanna Chan/AP
Big news for David Bowie fans! A new exhibit called the David Bowie Centre opened this weekend in London, showcasing an archive of 90,000 items that belonged to the iconic British rock star, who died in 2016. This marks the first time fans can get up close to numerous Bowie treasures, ranging from his notable outfits to his favorite instruments. The collection also illustrates how he wasn’t just a musician, but an artist. The David Bowie Centre is the home to thousands of notes and drawings he made throughout his career as he moved from one stage persona to the next. He also kept art sent to him by fans and a key to an apartment he shared with fellow rockstar Iggy Pop in Berlin. Preview some of the new collection here.
3 things to know before you go
A koala and joey climb a tree in bushland located near central Brisbane on Dec. 14, 2024.
David Gray/AFP via Getty Images
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David Gray/AFP via Getty Images
- Australia has approved a vaccine to help protect koalas from chlamydia. This disease can cause blindness and lead to starvation because the animals are unable to find trees to climb for food.
- Earl Richardson, a former president at Baltimore’s Morgan State University, has died at the age of 81, according to a Saturday announcement from the school. He led a 15-year lawsuit that resulted in a historic settlement for four historically Black colleges and universities in Maryland.
- The NPR Network is working on a series about the rising cost of living. They want to hear from you about what costs are increasing and how you are managing with the change. Share your experiences here, and you could be featured in an upcoming story.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
The maker of Canvas, the software used by thousands of schools and universities around the world, said on Monday that it had reached a deal with the hackers that recently breached its systems for the return of stolen data and the destruction of any copies.
ShinyHunters, a hacking group, had claimed responsibility for the attack on Instructure, the Salt Lake City-based company that provides Canvas to about half of all colleges and universities in North America.
The hackers said they had accessed the data of more than 275 million users at nearly 9,000 schools worldwide, including private conversations between students and teachers as well as personal identifying information such as names and email addresses. Canvas was shut down for hours after the cyberattack on Thursday.
The agreement, Instructure said in a statement, involved the return of the stolen data and confirmation that the data had been destroyed at the hackers’ end. Instructure added that it had been informed that none of its customers would face extortion as a result of the theft.
“While there is never complete certainty when dealing with cybercriminals, we believe it was important to take every step within our control to give customers additional peace of mind, to the extent possible,” the company said.
Instructure did not say what it had given the hackers in exchange for the return of the data. The company did not immediately respond to questions about the deal.
Canvas has more than 30 million active users around the world, according to Instructure. The platform is used by teachers and students for coursework management and communications. Instructure said the data compromised in the hack included usernames, email addresses, course names, enrollment information and messages.
ShinyHunters on Thursday claimed the attack in a message that appeared on students’ Canvas pages and was obtained by The New York Times. The group warned that it would leak an unspecified amount of data on May 12 if it did not receive a response from Instructure. In its May 3 ransom note, the group had threatened to leak “several billions of private messages among students and teachers.”
Not much is known about ShinyHunters, which is believed to have been formed around 2020. Its goal appears to be to obtain personal records and sell them. One of its high-profile attacks was against Ticketmaster in 2024, when the hackers said they had stolen the user information of more than 500 million customers.
Instructure said it first detected unauthorized activity in Canvas on Apr. 29, and again on May 7. The company said it took Canvas offline to investigate the breach, and also informed the F.B.I., the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other international law enforcement partners.
Instructure did not immediately respond to questions about whether any law enforcement agencies were involved in its dealings with the hackers. The F.B.I. advises against paying ransom to hackers, saying it does not guarantee data security and encourages attackers to target more victims.
The National Quarantine Center is located at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Nebraska Medicine
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Nebraska Medicine
Sixteen of the 18 passengers transferred to the U.S. from a cruise ship where there was an outbreak of hantavirus arrived in Omaha, Neb., on Monday for evaluation after disembarking the vessel in Spain’s Canary Islands over the weekend.
Of the 15 U.S. citizens and one dual U.S.-British citizen who arrived in Nebraska, all but one are currently being housed in the National Quarantine Unit. That patient tested positive for the virus and was being housed in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, officials said at a Monday news conference. The 15 people in the quarantine unit will continue to be monitored for signs of the illness.
Passengers carry their belongings in plastic bags after being evacuated from the MV Hondius after docking in the Granadilla Port on Sunday in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
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Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Nebraska may seem an unlikely location to process these individuals, but it is home to the National Quarantine Unit — the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S. — and the separate Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. They are highly specialized facilities located at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and widely considered among the best in the world.
The $1 million, five-room biocontainment unit was dedicated in 2005. It was a joint project with Nebraska Health and Human Services and the UNMC. It is set up to safely provide medical care for patients with highly hazardous and infectious diseases and was used in 2014 to treat two doctors infected with Ebola. The National Quarantine Unit was completed in late 2019. It cost nearly $20 million, according to the Associated Press. Both facilities were used during the COVID-19 epidemic.
“We are prepared for situations exactly like this,” Dr. Michael Ash, CEO of Nebraska Medicine, said in a statement. “Our teams have trained for decades alongside federal and state partners to make sure we can safely provide care while protecting our staff and the broader community. We are proud to support this national effort.”
Two additional U.S. passengers on the cruise ship — a couple, with one showing symptoms of hantavirus — were transferred for monitoring to Emory University Hospital, where another advanced biocontainment facility is located.
When the biocontainment unit was first dedicated more than 20 years ago, the biggest concerns were anthrax attacks and severe acute respiratory syndrome, more commonly known as SARS, Dr. Phil Smith, who spearheaded the efforts at Nebraska Medical Center to create the biocontainment unit, told the AP in 2020. Smith died last year.
A hallway leading to rooms at the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Nebraska Medicine
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Nebraska Medicine
The quarantine unit features 20 negative-pressure rooms designed to keep potentially harmful particles from escaping by maintaining lower air pressure inside than outside the rooms. The single-occupancy rooms provide patients with attached bathrooms, exercise equipment and Wi-Fi, according to the medical center.
“We have protocols in the quarantine unit that provide for safe care of these of these persons, including just all the activities of daily living so that they can … have a comfortable stay but also have it in an area that’s protected and limits spread of the pathogen,” Dr. Michael Wadman, the medical director of the National Quarantine Unit, said at a Friday news conference.
The biocontainment unit, by contrast, is a patient-care space where people are able to receive medical treatment, Dr. Angela Hewlett, medical director of the biocontainment unit, told reporters Monday.
She emphasized that the facility — which has a 10-bed capacity — operates independently from the quarantine unit and has its own dedicated air-handling system. “We don’t share [it] with any of the rest of the facility,” she said, noting that the unit uses rooftop HEPA filtration and is designed “very differently” from what most people typically imagine in a hospital setting.
One of the rooms in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit.
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Nebraska Medicine
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, speaking at Monday’s news conference, welcomed the recently arrived patients, who are among nearly 150 people from 23 different countries who were aboard the MV Hondius when the illness most commonly transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents broke out. As of Monday, the World Health Organization has reported at least nine cases of hantavirus, including three deaths.
“We’re glad that you’re here,” Pillen said. “We’re going to ensure that you have the best world-class care possible.”
Pillen also sought to reassure Nebraskans that the facilities are safe and secure: “We’re working diligently to ensure no one leaves the security in an unsecured way at an inappropriate time,” he said. “No one poses a risk to public health, just walking out the front door of the streets of Omaha.”
The hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship has been identified as the Andes strain of the illness, one that can be spread, though rarely, from person-to-person, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can cause severe respiratory disease, with early flu-like symptoms.
“The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged, close contact with someone who is already symptomatic,” according to Adm. Brian Christine, the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke at Monday’s news conference. “Even so, we have taken this situation very seriously from the very start.”
“The risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low,” he said.
The full quarantine period for hantavirus is 42 days, Christine said, but he added that the patients would be allowed to go home if they remained asymptomatic.
“Right now, the passengers that are all in the assessment phase — they’re going to be here for at least a few days while we do assessments and the coordination on what happens next,” he said, adding that they had the option to remain in the quarantine facility for the full period, for “the safest and most effective option for them.”
new video loaded: Americans Exposed to Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Arrive in United States
transcript
transcript
Americans Exposed to Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Arrive in United States
Eighteen passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak, landed in Omaha on a U.S. government medical flight. The passengers were being monitored at medical facilities in Nebraska and Georgia.
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We’re working diligently to ensure no one leaves the security in an unsecured way at an inappropriate time. No one who poses a risk to public health is walking out the front door of the streets of Omaha or beyond.
By Axel Boada
May 11, 2026
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