NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-14-2024 9AM EST

Episode Date: December 14, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. South Korean lawmakers have voted to impeach President Yoon Sung-yol for his attempt to impose martial law 11 days ago. The National Assembly passed the impeachment motion

on the second try. A vote last week failed when ruling party lawmakers staged a boycott. Reporting from Seoul, NPR's Anthony Kuhn has more on today's vote and what happens next. Go! 204 votes! Lawmakers' cries rang out in the main chamber of the National Assembly, South Korea's Parliament, when the vote count was announced, 204 to 85, with three abstentions and eight invalid votes.

Yoon's support eroded in recent days as it became clear he had masterminded the martial law declaration. Yoon is the third South Korean president to be impeached following Noh Moo Hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye in 2016. South Korea's prime minister will take over as acting president. If the nation's constitutional court upholds the impeachment, Yoon will be formally removed and an election for a new president will be held. Anthony Koon inPR News, Seoul. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul. Aquitaine State, Anthony Blinken meeting with Arab foreign ministers and the UN envoy on Syria in the Jordanian city of Aqaba. Blinken is in the Middle East following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A day after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was injured on an overseas trip with a congressional delegation, we're learning more about what happened. NPR's Amy Held reports Pelosi had to cut short her official engagements and she remains hospitalized in Europe. Pelosi was in Luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the

Bulge when the 84 year old tripped and fell, injuring her hip, reports the Associated Press, citing sources familiar with the incident. Pelosi was sent to the hospital. The U S embassy in Luxembourg posted a group photo Friday before the fall, showing Pelosi clutching hands with Congressman Michael McCaul. The Republican from Texas posted afterward he is confident she will be back on her feet. Amy Held, NPR News. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance

are attending the Army-Navy game this weekend in Maryland and they're bringing a controversial guest, Daniel Penny. And here's Deepa Sivaram reports. Daniel Penny was acquitted this week by a New York City jury on a charge of criminally negligent homicide. Last year, Penny, who was white, put a choke hold on a homeless man who was having a mental health crisis and yelling at passengers on the subway train. Jordan Neely, who was black, died. The incident and the trial stoke tensions over race, mental illness and criminal justice. Vice President-elect Vance has praised Penny and called him a good guy.

Vance also criticized the New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg for going after Penny. Bragg is the same DA who successfully prosecuted Trump in his hush money trial. Penny, who is a former Marine, will join Vance and the president-elect in Trump's suite at the Army-Navy game, which takes place today in Maryland. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News. Nat. And you're listening to NPR News. The former Soviet Republic of Georgia has a new president. Lawmakers have elected Mikhail Kavalechevich, a former Premier League soccer player and hardline critic of the West and the European Union.

Georgia's outgoing president is disputing Kavalechevich's election to the largely ceremonial polls saying she remains president because there's no legitimate parliament. The opposition has accused the ruling party of rigging October's parliamentary election with help from Russia. With many students still struggling to make up ground after school closures during the pandemic, new research is offering schools some insight into how to use their time wisely. As NPR's Corey Turner explains. The researchers who published their findings in the American Educational Research Journal

found large variation in state requirements around how much time students must spend in school. So much variation, in fact, that students in states with the highest requirements will, by the end of 12th grade, have gotten nearly a year and a half more class time than students in the bottom-ranked states. They also found that adding minutes to the school day or days to the school year can improve student achievement if it's done thoughtfully. Districts that added class time and saw the best results

also tended to do other things like use tutoring or data-driven instruction. Corey Turner, NPR News. College football will hand down its most prestigious award tonight, the Heisman Trophy. The finalists are Colorado's Travis Hunter, Poissy State's Ashton Gentry, Oregon's Dylan Gabriel, and Miami's Cam Ward. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News from Washington.