NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-29-2024 4PM EST

Episode Date: December 29, 2024

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Noor Rahm Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. A passenger plane skidded off a runway and crashed in South Korea today. Officials say 179 people were killed. Only two people survived. The plane had flown from Bangkok and was attempting to land at an airport about 180 miles south of Seoul. It appears the front landing gear failed to deploy.

The plane overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete fence, and burst into flames. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered for the investigation. The president of Azerbaijan said today Russian anti-aircraft weapons hit the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week, killing 38 people. Speaking on Azerbaijan television, Ilham Aliyev criticized Russian officials for initially denying involvement. NPR's Brian Nairn has more. President Aliyev said in the interview, we can say with complete clarity the plane was shot down by Russia.

He added there's no evidence Russia struck the passenger liner intentionally. But Aliyev accused Russia of trying to hush up the incident by giving what he described as delirious versions of the crash. He called for Russia to prosecute those involved and pay compensation. The plane was en route from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, a city in Russia, when it began to fly erratically, eventually crashing in nearby Kazakhstan. 29 people survived. In a statement, Aliev's office said he has spoken a second time with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the downed plane. The statement offered no details about their exchange.

Brian Mann, NPR News, Kyiv. Residents in the southeastern U.S. are assessing the damage. After a strong storm system, the National Weather Service says there are about 40 tornado reports from southeastern Texas to Alabama. Holly Hollman is a spokesperson for Athens, Alabama. She says a suspected tornado came through there yesterday. I heard like a roaring sound like everybody says they hear. Come through downtown and saw sparks flying and got here.

We had HVAC units off some of the merchant buildings in the road, roofing in the road, a lot of the Christmas decorations blown. The bookstore, the roof is completely gone, trees down. At least two people were killed in Texas and Mississippi. Government statistics show this has been one of the slowest housing markets in 30 years. The median sales price of an existing home has risen 15 percent, 50 percent in the past

five years, and mortgage rates are high. NPR's Laurel Walmsley reports people are also paying more for housing. For both renters and homeowners, there are real housing problems. More than a quarter of renters are paying more than half of their income on rent and utilities. That's a big chunk of your pay just going to a roof over your head. The government also reports that homelessness increased 18% from last year. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Detected cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, in wild birds rose this month in Texas.

Texas Public Radio's Marion Navarro has details. A database from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports more than two dozen infected birds in several Texas counties. Most cases were discovered by Hunter Harvest. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department also announced earlier this month several bird mortality events due to the virus in areas near Galveston and Houston. Disease experts say that the virus has circulated among wild birds in Texas as water birds and water fowl migrate to their wintering grounds. At least one person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu. I'm Marianne Navarro in San Antonio.

The de facto leader of Syria said today it may take as long as four years to schedule elections in Syria. This was the first time that Ahmed al-Shahra has commented on a timetable since December 8th when rebel forces ousted President Bashar al-Assad after 13 years of civil war. Shah has said drafting a new constitution could take as long as three years, and it may take a year before people see drastic changes in Syria. The former Soviet Republic of Georgia has a new president. Former soccer player Mikhail Kevalashvili was sworn in today.

He called for the nation to unite behind him, and he promised to be everyone's president, whether they like him or not. Kevillishvili had been the only candidate on the ballot, and the main pro-Western parties had boycotted the vote. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.