NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-29-2024 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 29, 2024

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Noor Aram, NPR News. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Aram. A South Korean passenger plane skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete fence, and burst into flames this morning while attempting to land at an airport about 180 miles south of Seoul. There were 181 people on board, only two of them survived. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul. Jeju Air is considered South Korea's leading low-cost carrier and this is the first fatal

accident they've suffered in nearly two decades of operation. The plane was a Boeing 737-800. Its landing gear and the plane have a good safety record. This particular Jeju Air plane was 15 years old and had a clean record. So it's believed to be the worst accident for any South Korean airline since 1997. NPR's Anthony Kuhn. Transport officials say it appears the airport control tower had warned of birds in its path and had given permission to the pilot to land in a different area. The pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash. The president of

Azerbaijan said today that Russia shot down the Azerbaijan airline that crashed last week and has tried to hide that fact for days. Ilham Alieviev said that he is not saying it was done intentionally, but he says it's clear the aircraft was hit by fire from the ground in Russia and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare. The crash in Kazakhstan on Wednesday killed 38 of the 67 people on board. At least two people have died and six are injured after tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi yesterday. NPR's Eva Pukac reports.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Chouinard says there were numerous reports of tornadoes Saturday as the storm system moved east from Texas to Alabama. And there's a possibility of more tornadoes today across the southeast U.S. There is an expectation that there could be some tornado threat across the Florida panhandle into Georgia, maybe even into portions of South Carolina as we go through the morning and into the afternoon hours. Shinnard says along the East Coast, they're forecasting wet travel conditions, which could

lead to more delays than normal on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Eva Pukac and PR News. The 119th Congress opens Friday. One of the first tasks for members of the House is to pick a speaker. It's not clear if Mike Johnson will be able to hold on to the gavel. NPR's Tamara Keith has more. He initially negotiated a bipartisan deal to keep the government funded and a bunch of other things in there.

Then Elon Musk and president-elect Trump blew it up. Trump demanded that Congress clear the decks for him by suspending the debt ceiling, but Johnson ultimately couldn't deliver what Trump wanted. Now there are enough Republicans saying they aren't sure whether they'll support Johnson for speaker that he could be in real trouble. NPR's Tamara Keith reporting. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. The World Health Organization says it's diagnosed a mystery disease that began circulating in October in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. NPR's Gabriella Emanuel has more.

Nearly 900 people fell ill and 48 died. Symptoms include fever, weakness, coughing, and difficulty breathing. International health experts spent days getting to the far-flung villages to collect samples. Now, diagnostic tests have been run on 430 samples. And the disease isn't a new one. But acute respiratory infections like influenza and COVID, complicated by malaria and a severely malnourished population. Health authorities say there are ongoing efforts to support the health needs of people in the remote area. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News. The former Soviet Republic of Georgia

swore in a new president today. Mikhail Kavalechevili's Georgian Dream Party has said it wants to reset ties with Russia. The opposition had boycotted the election and claims it was rigged by Russia. German politicians are accusing billionaire Elon Musk of election interference. The coalition government collapsed last month

and new elections are scheduled for February 23rd. Musk, an advisor to Donald Trump, published an opinion piece in a German newspaper yesterday backing the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, saying only it can save Germany. The leader of the opposition Christian Democrats called the commentary intrusive and pretentious. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.