NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-27-2024 11AM EST

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, Onkorva Coleman, South Korea's parliament, has voted to impeach the country's acting president, just weeks after members impeached the president for declaring martial law. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul it's the first time the country has impeached an acting president. Lawmakers in the opposition-controlled parliament voted unanimously to impeach acting president Han Deok-soo for his refusal to appoint three justices to vacancies on the country's constitutional court.

That court began hearings today on President Yoon Song-yol's impeachment. Now they'll hear Han's impeachment too. Han refused to appoint the justices because, he said, that's the job of a president, not an acting president. Finance minister and deputy prime minister for economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok has replaced Han as South Korea's new acting president. Choi said the government will now focus on stabilizing state affairs. Anthony Kuhn in PR News Seoul.

Azerbaijan Airlines says its passenger plane that crashed this week did so because of, quote, physical and technical external interference. Images of the plane's tail show damage consistent with explosives. There are questions of whether Russia may have been involved. Russia denies this. The last hospital in North Gaza with functioning intensive care and neonatal services

has been shut down today by the Israeli military. Hospital officials say there's been an assault on the facility for nearly three months. They say supplies have been cut, more than 200 of its staff wounded. And Piers Emily Fang reports. The Israeli military said in a statement that Kamal Adwan Hospital is a Hamas stronghold used regularly by militants for cover. Hospital officials deny the allegations and say they've been under assault by air strikes

and other targeted strikes. Since October, more than 20 of Kamal Adwan's staff have been killed during the Israeli offensive in North Gaza. That includes three medical staff who died this week after an Israeli airstrike hit a building across from the hospital. Israel's military said Kamal Adwan's approximately 75 patients are being moved to another hospital. But North Gaza's remaining two hospitals have been partially destroyed, and nurses in Kamal Adwan fear patients moved to them might die from lack of supplies. Emily Fang and Pierre News, Tel Aviv, Israel. Two of Canada's most senior cabinet ministers will be in Florida today to meet with members

of President-elect Trump's incoming team. Dan Karpanchuk says they're going to discuss Trump's border concerns with Canada. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Jolie and newly appointed Finance Minister Dominique LeBlanc will try to build on what's been described as a positive conversation last week with Trump's incoming border czar Tom Homan. He said talks were positive and he was optimistic that a good border security plan could be achieved. Trump has threatened to slap a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods unless Ottawa took

action to stem the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across the border. Dan Karpenchuk reporting. On Wall Street, the Dow was down more than 400 points. This is NPR. Forecasters say a series of storms will continue to strike the West. Another storm system is moving into the Pacific Northwest this weekend with heavy rain and wind. As the year wraps up, people interested in space are looking ahead to what 2025 has in store. But as NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce reports, the main event, which was a trip back to the moon, has been delayed.

NASA has a big new rocket that's been on one test flight without people on board, and the space community has long been waiting for its first flight with a crew. The plan is to send a capsule out to orbit the moon and return. This will be the first time humans have visited the moon in more than half a century.

There's already been delays, but this mission was supposed to launch next year. A few weeks ago, however, NASA announced more delays because of technical challenges with the capsule's heat shield. The flight is getting pushed to 2026. What's more, actually landing astronauts on the moon now isn't expected until 2027 at the earliest.

Nell Greenfield-Boyice, NPR News. Meanwhile, NASA says its solar probe seems to be fine. The Parker Solar Probe has pinged scientists back on Earth that suggests it survived its extremely close approach to the sun's surface on Tuesday. It survived intense radiation and temperatures up to 1,800 degrees with its special heat shield. Scientists hope to learn more about solar particles and about the solar winds that can interfere with satellites.

This can occasionally disrupt the electrical grid on Earth. This is NPR.