NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-30-2024 4AM EST

Episode Date: December 30, 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, I'm Dale Willman. President Joe Biden says the world lost a remarkable leader when former President Jimmy Carter died on Sunday. Carter was 100 years old.

He'd spent almost two years under hospice care at his family home in Georgia. Biden said Carter's work after he left the White House improved the lives of people around the world. Just look at his life, his life's work. He worked to eradicate disease not just at home but around the world. Just look at his life, his life's work. He worked to eradicate disease not just at home but around the world. He forged peace, advanced civil rights, human rights, promoted free and fair elections around the world. He built housing and homeless for the homeless with his own hands.

And his compassion and moral clarity lifted clarity, lift the people up and change lives and save lives all over the globe. Following the announcement of Carter's death in Plains, Georgia on Sunday, Atlanta residents gathered at the Carter Presidential Center to pay their respects. Georgia Public Broadcasting's Sarah Callis has our reports. Local residents left flowers and candles at the sign at the entrance to the Carter Center to pay tribute to the former Georgia governor and 39th president of the United States. Tanner Jorgensen brought a Braves hat to leave in Carter's memory. So I know he's a big Braves fan, he was a good guy, he was definitely a Georgia legend and it was good to be able to pay tribute in any way.

Hopefully his family is at peace. 100 years old, that's amazing accomplishment. Carter, the only president from Georgia, left a long legacy of humanitarian work following his time in the White House. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Kalis in Atlanta. South Korean investigators are seeking an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Song-yong. NPR's Anthony Koon, reports that he's facing insurrection and abuse of power charges for his declaration of martial law earlier this month. A joint investigation team filed a request with a district court in Seoul. This makes Yoon the first sitting South Korean president to face arrest. Investigators have summoned Yoon three times to appear and answer questions, but he's refused

each time. Yoon insists that the investigators have no authority to investigate him on insurrection charges, and his declaration of martial law was a legitimate act of governance. Yoon's replacement has also been impeached. His replacement, acting President Choi Sang-mok, is here at the Muwan International Airport, comforting bereaved family members following the worst plane crash

and aviation disaster on Korean soil. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Muan County, South Korea. Almost a month after the overthrow, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the country's de facto leader, says it may take four years before new elections are held. But Ahmad al-Sharah says he will dissolve the Islamist group that led the insurgency once a national dialogue summit is held for the country. He made his comments during an interview on Sunday. Asian stocks closed mixed on Monday. You're listening to NPR News. SpaceX is wrapping up the year with a flurry of rocket launches. As NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports, the commercial spaceflight company has conducted a record number of launches. SpaceX conducted more than 130 launches in 2024. Most have been of its workhorse rocket,

the Falcon 9. It's been used to deploy well over a thousand Starlink satellites to provide global internet service. This year, SpaceX also ferried astronauts to and from the International Space Station, conducted the first commercial spacewalk by a billionaire, and carried out several tests of the largest rocket ever built, which the company's founder Elon Musk hopes will someday carry people to Mars. Next year looks just as busy, The company is expected to dominate the commercial launch market in 2025. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Elon Musk wrote an opinion piece for a major newspaper in Germany this weekend that offers

his support for the country's far-right political party. The column has caused a major uproar there and led to the resignation of the paper's opinion editor in protest. Musk said that his investments in Germany gives him the right to comment on that country's politics. Germany is holding key parliamentary elections in February. A fourth infant has died of hypothermia in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who've been displaced by the fighting between Hamas and Israel are living in poor conditions Palestinians who've been displaced by the fighting between Hamas and Israel are living in poor conditions along the coast as winter sets in The 20-day old child was found dead by his father on Sunday. His twin brother has been moved to an intensive care unit

I'm Dale Willman NPR News