Page 6 – 105.7 WDNY

What we know about the man who disarmed alleged shooter at Australia’s Bondi Beach

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(SYDNEY) — A Sydney man is being praised as a hero for disarming one of the alleged shooters in the Hanukkah attack that left 15 dead and 42 injured at Australia’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, as seen in video obtained by ABC News

The video shows a man, identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, running towards one of the alleged shooters. He’s then seen disarming the alleged gunman before pointing his weapon back at him, prompting him to walk away.

The fruit seller was having lunch in the area with a friend when the shooting unfolded and he intervened, according to his brother, Huthaifa.

“I’m really proud about my brother,” he told ABC News.

“He’s a good man. He’s brave,” he said.

The father of two was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for bullet wounds. His brother said he is recovering in the hospital, but is not 100% yet.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called him a “real-life hero.”

“Last night, his incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk,” Minns posted on Instagram while sharing a photo with al-Ahmed in the hospital.

“It was an honour to spend time with him just now and to pass on the thanks of people across NSW. There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage,” he added.

At Sunday night’s National Menorah Lighting in Washington, D.C., Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the director of advocacy group American Friends of Lubavitch, praised al-Ahmed’s heroism and asked for prayers for his recovery.

“I ask all those across the community and beyond — here, and around the world — to please pray for the recovery of Ahmed al-Ahmed, someone who is not a member of the Jewish community, but gave up his safety and wellbeing to stop one of the gunmen and thus prevent even further loss of life. May he recover speedy and fully,” Shemtov said.

A GoFundMe page for al-Ahmed has raised almost $1.5 million with thousands of donations.

“We’re seeing an outpouring of love for Ahmed al Ahmed following his heroic actions at Bondi Beach,” the site posted on X.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman also shared the fundraiser on his X account Sunday, donating $99,999.

Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed told reporters that his son is “a hero.”

“He served in the police, he has the passion to defend people,” he said.

The victims of Sunday’s mass shooting ranged in ages 10 to 87, and the alleged gunmen are father and son, aged 50 and 24, officials said. Their names have not been released, but authorities said the father is dead and the son was hospitalized.

Six firearms were collected from the scene alongside two improvised explosives, according to officials.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack “an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism” and “an act of terrorism,” in a video shared on his Instagram account.

US military conducts 3 more alleged drug boat strikes in the Pacific, killing 8: SOUTHCOM

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The U.S. military said on Monday it struck three more alleged drug boats in the Eastern Pacific, leaving eight dead.

In a post on X, the military’s Southern Command said the strikes were made at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Task Force Southern Spear.

“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking,” the post said.

Officials said a total of eight “male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions,” three in the first alleged drug boat, two in the second and three in the third.

Southern Command shared a video that appeared to show the strikes on the vessels.

The military action on Monday marks the latest in a string of deadly strikes in the Pacific, with the Trump administration having killed at least 95 people in 25 strikes.

2nd doctor to be sentenced in connection with Matthew Perry’s ketamine death

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — The second of two doctors who were convicted in connection with Matthew Perry’s ketamine death is set to be sentenced on Tuesday.

Mark Chavez is one of five people charged and convicted in connection with the “Friends” actor’s 2023 overdose death. He pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, admitting to selling fraudulently obtained ketamine to another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, that was then sold to Perry in the weeks before the actor died from an overdose.

The two doctors did not provide the ketamine that ultimately killed Perry, who was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home in October 2023 at the age of 54. Though federal prosecutors said they knew that the actor had a history of substance abuse and that the drug would be administered without medical supervision.

Chavez faces up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.

The government asked for a sentence of six months home confinement that includes a two-year term of supervised release as well as at least 300 hours of community service. Prosecutors said Chavez, a former operator of a ketamine clinic, provided Plasencia with vials of liquid ketamine and ketamine lozenges that had been obtained by submitting a fraudulent prescription in the name of a patient without that patient’s knowledge or consent.

“As the Drug Enforcement Administration and Medical Board investigators closed in on defendant’s illegal ketamine sales, defendant initially lied and tried to evade responsibility,” the government said in a filing ahead of sentencing. “To defendant’s credit, however, his story continued, and became one of accountability.”

The government said that once confronted with his criminal acts, Chavez “expediently accepted responsibility and agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation.”

Chavez’s defense attorneys asked for three years of supervised release, arguing in a filing ahead of sentencing that his conduct was “limited and peripheral” and “far removed from the tragic events of October 28, 2023.”

They noted that Chavez had never met Perry, entered his home or administered medication to him, and that he did not supply the ketamine that caused his death. They also said he “accepted responsibility early in this case and signed a plea agreement prior to any indictment, agreed to cooperate, and voluntarily surrendered his medical license even before his detention hearing.”

“The consequences Mr. Chavez has already faced are significant,” his attorneys, Matthew Binninger and Zach Brooks, wrote. “Once a practicing emergency room physician, he lost his profession, suffered public disgrace, and now earns a living as an Uber driver. He has remained compliant with all terms of pretrial supervision and continues to demonstrate sincere regret for his actions.”

Both Chavez and Plasencia gave up their medical licenses after pleading guilty.

According to Plasencia’s plea agreement, one of his patients introduced him to Perry on Sept. 30, 2023, with the unidentified patient referring to the actor as a “‘high profile person’ who was seeking ketamine and was willing to pay ‘cash and lots of thousands’ for ketamine treatment,'” according to Plasencia’s plea agreement.

Plasencia contacted his mentor, Chavez, to discuss Perry’s request for ketamine and purchased vials of liquid ketamine and ketamine lozenges from him, according to the agreement.

In discussing how much to charge Perry, Plasencia said in text messages to Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets [sic] find out,” prosecutors said.

Plasencia admitted to distributing 20 vials of ketamine, ketamine lozenges and syringes to Perry and the actor’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, between Sept. 30, 2023, and Oct. 12, 2023.

Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry at the actor’s home on several occasions and left vials and lozenges with Iwamasa to administer, according to the plea agreement.

Plasencia was sentenced to 30 months in prison earlier this month.

Iwamasa admitted in court documents to administering the ketamine on the day that Perry died, pleading guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 14, 2026, and faces up to 15 years in prison.

Two other defendants in the case — Erik Fleming and Jasveen Sangha — admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry.

Prosecutors said Sangha worked with Fleming to distribute ketamine to Perry, and that in October 2023, they sold the actor 51 vials of ketamine, which were provided to Iwamasa.

Fleming pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 7, 2026, and faces up to 25 years in prison.

Sangha, allegedly known as “The Ketamine Queen,” pleaded guilty in September to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 25, 2026, and faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.

Zelenskyy says no consensus reached on territory after US-Ukraine peace talks

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that no consensus had been reached on key territorial questions as part of a possible peace settlement with Russia, following two days of talks between Ukrainian, American and European negotiators in Berlin, Germany.

“In other issues, there is progress forward,” Zelenskyy said in comments in a group chat with Ukrainian reporters after the talks ended.

U.S. administration officials signaled on Monday that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine may be closer than ever, telling reporters on the condition of anonymity that “literally 90%” of the issues between the two warring countries had been solved.

Ukraine’s demand for U.S.-backed security guarantees and the fates of four partially-occupied Ukrainian regions have dominated the most recent American push for a peace settlement to end Russia’s full-scale invasion, which it launched in February 2022.

Russia occupies Crimea — which was occupied in 2014 — and partially occupies Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in the south and east of Ukraine. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk — which together form the region known as the Donbas — in exchange for an end to the fighting.

Zelenskyy on Monday reiterated Ukraine’s position that it does not want to cede the Donbas region to Russia. The president also said that a demilitarized area or “free economic zone” covering the region cannot be under Russian leadership.

“These are important features for me in any format for Donbas,” Zelenskyy said. “Neither de jure nor de facto will we recognize Donbas as Russian — the part that is temporarily occupied. But nevertheless, we are discussing the issue regarding the territories, and you know that it is one of the key ones.”

Zelenskyy hinted at progress on the issue of Western security guarantees to deter future Russian aggression, without which Kyiv says it cannot agree to a peace deal.

German Chancellor Freidrich Merz said after Monday’s talks, “The legal and material guarantees that the U.S. has put on the table here in Berlin are truly remarkable. This is a very important step forward, which I very much welcome.”

Merz also suggested that Ukraine and Russia agree to a Chrismtas truce, a proposal Zelenskyy said he supports.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News during an exclusive interview on Monday that he believes the warring parties are “on the verge” of a diplomatic solution to end Moscow’s war.

“We are prepared to have a deal,” Ryabkov said. The deputy foreign minister added that he hoped an agreement would be reached “sooner rather than later.”

More meetings are expected in the coming days, Zelenskyy said, including between American and Russian negotiators. Ukrainian representatives are expecting to travel to the U.S. for further talks “in the near future,” Zelenskyy said, possibly as soon as this weekend.

Ukraine and Russia continued to exchange long-range strikes on Monday and overnight into Tuesday, with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) also on Monday claiming an underwater drone attack on a Russian submarine docked at the port of Novorossiysk.

Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 69 drones into the country overnight, of which 57 were shot down or suppressed. Ten strike drones impacted across seven locations, the air force said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed 111 Ukrainian drones overnight into Tuesday morning, including four over the Moscow region.

On Tuesday morning, Zelenskyy addressed the Dutch parliament, telling lawmakers, “We are now in the midst of the most intense and focussed negotiations for peace since the beginning of this war … For true lasting peace. We are not talking about a pause or a temporary, uncertain solution.”

Zelenskyy again urged accountability for Moscow. “Someone else is always expected to make concessions so that Russia will stop spreading bloodshed,” he said. “In Russia’s war against our people, our country, this logic has reached its largest and most dangerous scale.”

As Brown University shooting manhunt continues, FBI offers reward for info leading to conviction

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The FBI issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the alleged gunman in Saturday’s fatal mass shooting at Brown University, as members of the bureau’s Boston Division aided the Providence Police Department in their search for the assailant.

The FBI released a poster with three images of a person whom they’re seeking, calling them an “unknown suspect” and including a short description: “The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’8″ with a stocky build.”

“We sent additional resources and personnel earlier today to help track down leads, canvass neighborhoods, and develop intelligence,” FBI Director Kash Patel said late Monday on social media. “Our Evidence Response Team remains on campus processing the scene, and our Lab at Quantico is assisting as well.”

The reward for information came as newly released security video showed what local and federal law enforcement said was a person of interest wanted for questioning in connection with the deadly mass shooting.

Police in Providence said two students were killed and nine other people were injured in the shooting in a classroom setting on College Hill, the area on Providence’s East Side where historic homes intermingle with redbrick and modern campus buildings.

Brown University President Christina H. Paxson on Sunday said the shooting amounted to “devastating gun violence.”

The university on Monday evening said the Providence police were seeking interviews with everyone who had been in the Barus & Holley building — the physics and engineering center where the shooting took place — on either Friday or Saturday.

“Even an incidental detail may be helpful in investigating,” the school said in an update.

State officials shared overnight the FBI’s poster seeking information.

Gov. Dan McKee said he had directed the Rhode Island State Police, which is assisting in the investigation, to “continue to provide all necessary investigative and patrol support to the city and the campus.”

“Like so many of us who have been impacted by the tragedy at Brown University this weekend, I am anxious to have the shooter identified, apprehended, and brought to justice,” McKee said in a statement announcing the reward early Tuesday.

It’s always a princess Christmas at Thomas Rhett’s house

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

With four daughters ranging in age from 4 to 10, Christmas lists could get out of hand at Thomas Rhett‘s house.

But Thomas, who will soon be a father of five, says his girls usually keep it in check.

“Obviously, they’re in school now,” TR says, “so anything that their friends have, they’re like, ‘Hey, I want that for Christmas. I want that for Christmas.’ Honestly, they’re pretty simple.”

“They love like the princess dresses,” he adds. “I mean, they have so many of them, but every year there’s always like a different princess dress that they want. So, that’s always a go-to.”

Thomas says in recent years he and wife Lauren Akins have scaled back their gift giving as well.

“We do experiences for each other,” he explains. “We kinda stopped getting each other physical gifts. It’s more like, ‘What trip could we do next year together?’ That’s kinda become our thing over the last three or four years.”

TR and Lauren’s fifth little one is set to arrive in March, and they’ve decided not to find out the baby’s gender ahead of the birth.

Leona Lewis’ ‘A Starry Night’ Las Vegas residency has ‘been a long time coming’

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Leona Lewis is midway through her Las Vegas holiday residency, A Starry Night, at the Voltaire Club at the Venetian Resort. And this isn’t just your first opportunity to see the U.K. singer perform in Vegas — it’s your first opportunity to see Leona perform in America.

Despite being a global pop star since 2008, Leona has never done a series of full-length concerts on U.S. soil.

“It’s been such a long time coming,” she tells ABC Audio. “The goal was always to … do live shows, but it just never fully materialized. So honestly, I feel like this is a second chance to actually do that, because I’ve always felt a lot of love here with American audiences.”

Because she’s never toured here before, A Starry Night includes more than just Christmas songs. Leona sings her own material — including her holiday hit “One More Sleep” — plus covers by artists like Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston.

Of course, Leona performs her #1 hit “Bleeding Love,” which has taken on a new meaning for her since she and her husband welcomed their 3-year-old daughter.

“I used to sing this song about romantic love … but now I sing it from the point of view of a mother,” she says. “The song’s always been about the deepest kind of love you can feel, and that is the deepest love that I feel now.”

Each night Leona dedicates “Bleeding Love” to her daughter, who’s occasionally in the audience.

“She’s been to about five shows now. She usually comes on Sundays,” Leona says. “And then afterwards, I go home and I put her to bed.”

“And she’s still in the car, she’s awake, [saying] ‘I saw this!’ And it’s so cute. She really enjoys it.”

A Starry Night wraps Jan. 3.

Phantogram opening for Linkin Park dates in Europe

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Phantogram will be opening for select dates on Linkin Park‘s 2026 European tour, kicking off in May.

“Europe, we’re coming back,” Phantogram says in a Facebook post. “It’s been way too long since we’ve been overseas and we can’t wait to see you all again.”

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Phantogram.com.

Phantogram spent much of 2025 touring the U.S. in support of their latest album, 2024’s Memory of a Day. In addition to their own headlining shows, they also opened dates on Deftones‘ tour.

After ’AfterLife’: Five Finger Death Punch starts prepping milestone album

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Five Finger Death Punch has been working on a new album, their first since 2022’s AfterLife. The record will also mark the metal outfit’s milestone 10th studio effort.

“We have about six, seven pretty solid songs,” guitarist Zoltan Bathory tells ABC Audio of the upcoming album’s progress. “Then we start beefing them up and switching them around, figuring it out.”

Bathory hopes that the record will be released in the first quarter of 2026.

“Then we would definitely do a world tour on that,” he says.

Since AfterLife, Five Finger Death Punch has released a two-volume best-of compilation, consisting of rerecorded versions of the band’s biggest hits. The collection includes new recordings of the songs “The End” and “I Refuse,” featuring BABYMETAL and In This Moment‘s Maria Brink, respectively, both of which hit #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

Mariah Carey donates items to Julien’s MusiCares Charity Relief Auction

December 16, 2025 by WDNY Radio

If all you want for Christmas is an item used by Mariah Carey, luck may be on your side. The singer, who is the MusiCares Person of the Year, has launched a charity auction in partnership with the nonprofit and Julien’s Auctions.

Up for auction on Feb. 1, 2026, will be a pink 1950s-style Thunderbird convertible used as a prop during Mariah’s performance of “Dreamlover” at her Number 1 to Infinity Las Vegas residency. The car is estimated to sell for anywhere between $6,000 and $8,000.

Also used during the same Vegas run is the gold jet ski Mariah entered in to perform her 1997 song “Honey.” It’s projected to go for up to $2,000.

The residency at The Colosseum at Caesars in Las Vegas ran from May 2015 to May 2017. Other items up for sale will be announced at a later date.

The Julien’s MusiCares Charity Relief Auction will take place Feb. 1, 2026, two days after MusiCares’ 35th annual Person of the Year benefit gala, where Mariah will be honored as the Person of the Year. The auction will run from 11 a.m. PT to 1 p.m. PT via juliensauctions.com and the Recording Academy in Santa Monica, California.

Proceeds will “help industry professionals recover from emergencies, including hardships brought on by the wildfires earlier this year,” as well as “disaster relief, mental health services, addiction recovery programs, and essential living expenses for music people and their families,” according to a press release.

Fans must register for access to participate; registration is available online via the Julien’s Auctions website and in person on the day of the event.

Bids can be placed online, over the phone, in person or via an absentee bid.

+ More