Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Today's top stories
Opposition politicians in South Korea have submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his failed attempt to place the country under martial law. This is the first time a South Korean president has made such an attempt since the country went from military rule to democracy in 1987. It caught South Korean citizens and the U.S., a main ally, by surprise. Yoon said the opposition politicians who control parliament are paralyzing the government and subverting democracy, accusing them of aligning with North Korea.
- 🎧 "People here have just expressed such disbelief that such a thing could happen in South Korea in 2024," NPR's Anthony Kuhn, who is in Seoul, tells Up First. Even though martial law was declared several times before 1987, South Koreans today are more skeptical of attempts to deprive their rights in the name of a communist threat. Benjamin Engel, a political scientist and visiting professor at Dankook University outside of Seoul, described what President Yoon was attempting as a coup or self-coup. This means Yoon, who has struggled to get his policies and budget through parliament despite being democratically elected, enacted martial law to hang on to and increase his power through an attempt to roll back civil liberties.
A battle for transgender children's rights will be front and center at the Supreme Court today. At issue is a Tennessee law that blocks minors from accessing gender-affirming care. Within the last three years, over two dozen states have enacted laws that ban puberty blockers, hormones and other treatments for minors who say their gender doesn't align with their sex at birth.
- 🎧 Three Tennessee families are challenging the law. They say it unconstitutionally discriminates based on sex because the banned medications are legal when used to treat other conditions in minors, according to NPR's Nina Totenberg. Those conditions range from chronic diseases like endometriosis to early or late-onset puberty. Totenberg says major medical organizations that deal with gender-affirming care are on the side of providing treatments for children, but with guardrails. Critics of the treatments say the science is very unsettled in its long-term implications.
The French government could fall today as it faces a no-confidence vote brought by the far left and far right. If they get the votes needed to pass in the lower house of parliament, Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who has been in power less than three months, could be ousted. At issue is the 2025 budget, which attempts to address France's spiraling deficit. Barnier pushed it through parliament this week without holding a vote by using an emergency clause.
- 🎧 The far-left party has said it would punish Barnier if he used the emergency clause to pass the bill, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley says. Barnier thought he could succeed because Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party, said she would stand by the government. National Rally is the biggest party in parliament. Le Pen changed her mind over the weekend. Now, both sides are joining forces to bring down the more centrist prime minister. If the government falls, President Emmanuel Macron will have to name someone else for the role.
Life advice
Local officials and retailers are warning Americans to remain vigilant this holiday season and not fall victim to porch pirates, who steal packages from homes. More than 120 million packages were stolen last year across the U.S., according to a SafeWise analysis. Here are some steps you can take to protect your packages:
- 📦 Thieves commonly like to steal electronics, shoes and other expensive items.
- 📦 See if you can have the items from popular brands shipped in packaging that hides the label.
- 📦 Amazon recommends customers provide a specific location to deliver the package. Ideally, it's one hidden from view.
Read the complete list of advice to help protect your items, and learn what you can do if they are stolen.
Picture show
First lady Jill Biden has decked the halls of the White House for the family's last Christmas of President Biden's presidency. The theme of this year's decor is "A Season of Peace and Light." More than 300 volunteers spent the past week decorating the White House's public spaces and its 83 Christmas trees with nearly 10,000 feet of ribbon, over 28,000 ornaments, more than 2,200 paper doves and around 165,000 lights, according to the Associated Press.
- 📷 See photos of the White House Christmas decorations on display.
3 things to know before you go
- On the opening night of the musical The Devil Wears Prada, Elton John said the effects of an eye infection sharply limited his eyesight to the point that he couldn't see the performance he wrote the score for.
- Nearly 500 journalists at the Guardian and its sister paper, the Observer, are on strike to protest the Observer's planned sale to a digital startup.
- A court ruled that Idaho can partially enforce its "abortion trafficking law," preventing adults from "harboring" or "transporting" minors out of the state to terminate a pregnancy without their parents' consent. (via Boise State Public Radio)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
Copyright 2024 NPR