The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Wed Dec 17 2025

Nicole Fallert
Reporter & Newsletter Writer

Morning! Welcome to the Daily Briefing. Start the day with news:

•	The CDC officially ended its recommendation of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.
•	A major U.S. climate research center in Colorado will be dismantled.
•	Will Travis Kelce retire?

Nicole Fallert here, bringing you the news to know on Wednesday, from a manhunt in Rhode Island to why health care is about to skyrocket in cost. And, if you're on a GLP-1, have you noticed your taste buds changing?

Manhunt continues after deadly Brown shooting

A manhunt in Rhode Island continues on Wednesday as federal and state officers pursue a suspect who opened fire in a Brown University classroom , killing two, injuring nine and leaving no obvious indication of a motive.

The widening search comes as authorities in Providence released the clearest images yet of the person investigators think could be tied to the deadly attack.

Meanwhile, Brown University on Tuesday confirmed the identities of the two students who were shot and killed on campus over the weekend, remarking that they were both near the start of their college careers.

Ella Cook was a sophomore and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov was in his very first semester, Brown University President Christina Paxson said. Cook was an "accomplished competitive pianist," vice president of the school's Republican Club, member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and a volunteer at her home church in Alabama, Paxson said. Umurzokov planned to concentrate in biochemistry and molecular biology on his way to becoming a neurosurgeon.

More news to know now

•	New details emerged on Reiners' death: During a news conference held Tuesday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the district attorney confirmed that the weapon used in the killings was a knife and accused the couple's son, 32-year-old screenwriter Nick Reiner, of fatally stabbing his parents.
•	Health insurance premiums will rise: Congress has run out of time to extend the Obamacare subsidies that will expire at the end of the year, meaning health insurance premiums are about to go up for millions of Americans.
•	MIT professor found fatally shot at his home. Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old theoretical physicist and fusion scientist from Portugal, was found with "apparent gunshot wounds" at his house in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Take a look

Knicks surge past upstart Spurs to win NBA Cup

Nba Emirates Cup Championship San Antonio Spurs At New York Knicks

The New York Knicks celebrate after winning the NBA Cup final at T-Mobile Arena.

Kirby Lee, Imagn Images

Behind a decisive effort to crash the offensive glass in the fourth quarter, the Knicks built a lead, pulled away and toppled the San Antonio Spurs, 124-113, Tuesday, in the 2025 NBA Cup final in Las Vegas. See highlights from the game.

Something to talk about

These people lost their sense of taste. Are GLP-1s to blame?

Jess Loren remembers loving the taste of Cap'n Crunch cereal. Coca-Cola. Snickers bars. But now, instead of a sweetness, "they taste bland," she says. Flavors are noticeably muted since she started a GLP-1 medication in April 2023 to manage her polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) symptoms. There is no exact known number of GLP-1 patients who say their sense of taste changed since starting the medication . But people like Loren report the drugs, which manage blood sugar and treat obesity, have muted or altered tastes. Some don't notice any change at all.

Before you go

•	Tanning beds are even worse than you think for your health.
•	Use these trusty flight attendant tips to travel with kids.
•	See USA TODAY's best photos of 2025.