NPR News: 12-29-2024 8PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Support for NPR and the following message come from IXL Learning. IXL Learning uses advanced algorithms to give the right help to each kid, no matter the age or personality. Get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when you sign up today at ixl.com slash NPR.
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Biden says former President Jimmy Carter was a man of great character and courage.
What I find extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people all around the world, all over the world, feel they lost a friend as well, even though they never met him. And that's because Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds. 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.
Carter died today at the age of 100 after nearly two years of in-home hospice care in Plains, Georgia. NPR's Brian Naylor reports Carter, the 39th president of the U.S., was a peanut farmer and former Georgia governor who defeated incumbent Gerald Ford in 1976.
Jimmy Carter's four years in the White House were marked by a number of crises. There was the hostage crisis with Iran in which 52 Americans were held captive for over a year. An oil embargo caused long lines and spiraling prices for gasoline. It led to Carter's so-called malaise speech in 1979. It is a crisis of confidence.
It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national world. But there were also successes. Carter helped Israel and Egypt reach a peace agreement at Camp David. Much of Carter's legacy was shaped after his defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980. He remained active in public life, writing more than 20 books and helping build homes with Habitat for Humanity.
In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.
Palestinian authorities say the Israeli military struck a health clinic in the Gaza Strip today, killing seven. Israel says the al-Wafqa clinic building was serving as an operating base for militants. Empire's Emily Fang reports the deadly airstrike comes the day after another hospital in Gaza was forced to close by Israel.
Al Wafa Clinic specialized in physical therapy services in Gaza City, but Israel's military said the clinic was a Hamas command center and accused Hamas fighters of embedding in civilian buildings. Meanwhile, northern Gaza's last functioning hospital was shut down by Israeli soldiers over the weekend and 240 people there arrested.
North Gaza has been essentially cut off since October, when Israel launched an ongoing and punishing military campaign in the area. That displaced more than 100,000 people. The World Health Organization said it was, quote, appalled by Israel's systemic dismantling of the health system there. Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv, Israel.
You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The federal government says this year closes the books on the slowest housing market in 30 years as the housing shortage continues. And Paris Laurel Walmsley has more.
Because so many people aren't selling, we're on track for 2024 to have the fewest existing home sales since 1995. That's almost 30 years ago when the country's population was more than 20 percent smaller than it is now.
NPR's Laurel Walmsley reporting, the median sales price of an existing home has risen 50% in the past five years, and homelessness is on the rise of 18% this year alone. The TV show House of the Dragon was the most popular this year among pirates. As NPR's Netta Ulibi reports, the series was one of the most illegally downloaded in 2024.
It was the most illegally torrented show by far in 2024. Torrenting is not as widespread as it was before the rise of streaming, but pirates still use the protocol to download and distribute very large files, like ones filled with stories about dragons.
Your family has dragons.
House of the Dragon is a prequel to HBO's Game of Thrones. According to the website Torrent Freak, it was the number one pirated show, followed by the series The Boys, Shogun, and Arcane. It came as something of a surprise, the website said, that the series Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power did not even crack the top 10 most pirated list this year. Netta Ulibi, NPR News.
Asian markets are trading lower at this hour than Nikkei, the main market in Japan, down about a half percent. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington.
This message comes from Ameriprise Financial, proud sponsor of public media. For over 130 years, clients have relied on the strength and stability of Ameriprise to help them feel more financially confident. Learn more at Ameriprise.com slash advice. Member FINRA and SIPC.