Good morning. It's Friday, Dec. 27, and we're covering the second impeachment of a South Korean president in two weeks, the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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Breaking news: South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo today. The vote came after Han refused to fill vacancies on the country's high court, responsible for determining whether to uphold the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Read more here. |
Azerbaijan Airlines Crash |
Azerbaijan opened a criminal investigation yesterday after a passenger jet crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people on board. At least 29 people survived, though all sustained injuries. Analysts suggest a missile from Russia’s air defense system—which recently downed Ukrainian drones in the region—likely struck the aircraft, though Azerbaijan’s president has urged against speculation. See footage and photos here.
Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was traveling from the country’s capital of Baku to Grozny in Russia on Wednesday when it reversed course. The aircraft then traveled over the Caspian Sea, attempting to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan (see flight path, w/video). In its final moments, the plane made a steep descent before crashing upside down in a fireball. Surviving passengers reportedly heard an explosion and witnessed shrapnel hitting the fuselage.
Separately, Finland seized an oil tanker suspected of using its anchor to cut an undersea cable to Estonia. Finland has further accused the ship of carrying oil to Russia in violation of EU sanctions. |
At least 6,000 prisoners escaped from a high-security facility this week, Mozambique's police chief said yesterday. Thirty-three inmates were killed and 15 others injured in confrontations with security guards.
The facility—roughly 9 miles from the center of the country’s capital—was one of four prisons breached Wednesday as Mozambique experiences widespread civil unrest. Earlier this week, the Constitutional Council certified the long-ruling Frelimo Party won the country's disputed Oct. 9 presidential elections. The announcement came after weeks of violent protests over voting irregularities reported by international observers; more than 250 people are believed to have been killed since the election.
Among those who escaped from prison are over two dozen terrorists, the police chief said. Mozambique is fighting an ISIS-affiliated insurgency in the country’s north that has killed thousands of people and resulted in the kidnapping or displacement of more than 100,000 others. Learn more here. |
The bald eagle has been formally recognized as the official national bird after President Joe Biden signed legislation on Christmas Eve. The recognition came as Biden signed roughly 50 bills, including an anti-hazing law, weeks before his term ends.
The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) has been featured on the US Great Seal since 1782, a mark used by the State Department and printed on the dollar bill (see here). The bird is the only eagle indigenous to North America and is considered sacred by many Native American tribes. The bird of prey became endangered in the 1900s amid hunting and pesticide use, with nesting pairs dropping from an estimated hundreds of thousands in the 1800s to fewer than 500 in 1963. Hunting bans and conservation efforts returned their numbers to 19th-century levels.
While hunting or selling the birds is illegal, members of federally recognized Native tribes can apply to receive eagle feathers for religious use from the National Eagle Repository, where dead eagles are brought to reduce illegal trade. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> "Wicked" set to be released for rent or purchase on streaming platforms Dec. 31 (More) | "Mufasa" ($15M) tops "Nosferatu" ($11.6M) and "Sonic 3" ($10.7M) to lead Christmas Day box office (More) |
> Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson breaks NFL record for most career rushing yards (6,110) by a quarterback, topping the record previously held by Michael Vick (More) |
> Richard Parsons, former CEO of Time Warner and Citigroup chairman, dies of bone cancer at 76 (More) | Bill Bergey, five-time NFL Pro Bowl linebacker, dies of cancer at 79 (More) | Hudson Meek, child actor known for role in "Baby Driver," dies at 16 after falling from moving vehicle (More) |
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In partnership with Motley Fool Money |
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> UK patient successfully receives country's first double lung transplant using "lung in a box" device; technology reconditions organs from donors that may have been damaged (More) |
> Archaeologists uncover 535-million-year-old fossilized embryos of roundworm-like creatures; discovery sheds light on the evolution of ancient organisms during the Cambrian period (More) |
> Chimpanzee study shows individuals vary in their ability to crack open nuts using stones, suggesting a wide degree of cognitive ability within the same group (More) |
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> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow +0.1%, Nasdaq -0.1%) in thin holiday trading (More) | Apple stock notches all-time high in intraday trading as it nears $4T market cap (More) |
> US holiday retail sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24 rose 3.8% year-over-year, up from 3.1% last year, per preliminary data from Mastercard (More) |
> Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and South Korean retailer E-mart to form online shopping joint venture in 2025, with entity valued at roughly $4B (More) |
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> Israel strikes multiple targets in Yemen, including the country's international airport, where the World Health Organization director was present, reportedly killing six people and wounding 11 more; attacks come after Houthi militants struck a Tel Aviv playground last week (More) | See war updates (More) |
> India's former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dies at age 92; the first Sikh to hold the country's highest office, Singh was known for liberalizing India's economy during his tenure from 2004 to 2014 (More) |
> World marks 20 years since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people across a dozen countries, the deadliest tsunami in history (More) | See photos from the disaster (More) |
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> Tsunami Science
Nautilus | John Steel. Twenty years after a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean claimed over 230,000 lives, researchers are still gleaning lessons from the rare event's physics and geology. (Read)
> The Nomadic Electricians Powering AI
The New York Times | Karen Weise. The hydropower of the Columbia River valley in Washington state has attracted massive investment from tech companies in need of power for their AI products—and drawn in thousands of temporary electrical workers. (Read) |
> Cashmere's Ascent
Economics of Everyday Things | Zachary Crockett. Roughly 40 million pounds of raw cashmere is harvested from the inner coats of millions of goats every year, 90% of which comes from China and Mongolia. (Listen)
> Why We Have Allergies
Kurzgesagt | Staff. Scientists claim the violence with which many people suffer from allergic reactions stems from our body's evolution alongside parasitic tapeworms and their sudden eradication in the last century. (Watch) |
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