Transcript of Insurgency in Syria; South Korea's Political Chaos; Pope Creates 21

Syrian rebels are gaining momentum as they push their way towards the city of homes.

Government forces were unable to stop the insurgents from taking 5 towns in less than 2 weeks. I'm Alyssa Nadwani. And I'm Ayesha Rascoe, and this is up first from NPR News. Syrian forces are battling to keep insurgents out of the strategically crucial city of homes. We'll have the latest developments on this story.

Plus, in South Korea, political chaos after the president declared martial law.

He's now facing calls to resign as lawmakers fight over whether to impeach him. We'll have the latest from Seoul.

Plus, pope Francis promotes 21 men to the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals.

Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.

This is Eric Glass. On this American Life, we like stories that surprise you. For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing

To do this hobby right according to the ways of the masters, there's a pretty good chance that you're gonna have to bend the law to get the materials that you need. If not break it? Yeah. To break international laws.

Your life stories, really good ones, This American Life.

Ho ho ho. Santa here, coming to you from the North Pole where the elves in our podcast division have just completed work on this season's best gift for public radio lovers, NPR Plus. Give the gift of sponsored free listening and even bonus episodes from your favorite NPR podcasts, all while supporting public media. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

After the election, the economy feels like 1 big, Good thing there's the indicator from Planet Money podcast. We take a different economic topic from the news every day and break it down in under 10 minutes. Topics like the home building shortage or the post election crypto rally. Listen to the indicator from Planet Money podcast from NPR and turn that into an

ah. A new chapter has started in the long running Syrian civil war after a coalition of rebel forces took several key cities.

They haven't faced much opposition from government forces until today as they fight to make their way to the city of Homs less than 90 miles away from the capital Damascus.

NPR's Jane Arraf is in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq near the Syrian border. Good morning, Jane.

Good morning, Alyssa.

So since this offensive started some 2 weeks ago, we've seen developments on the ground moving at a lightning pace. What's the latest?

Well, the speed and the pace of this offensive is astonishing. A monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, now says that opposition fighters are just a few miles from the gates of the capital, Damascus. They earlier took Dara province, which was the start of the uprising that led to civil war more than a decade ago, and they appear close to be taking the major city of humps, which would allow the opposition to isolate regime forces in coastal areas, Latakia and Tartus, which are key to president Bashar al Assad's support.

You just mentioned Tartus where Russia has 1 of its few foreign bases. What is Russia doing at the moment?

Well, it appears to be pulling out of warships according to US military sources. It propped up the Syrian regime the last time that the government faced a much more limited threat, And Russia is still launching air strikes in support of the Syrian government, but it doesn't seem able or willing to devote the resources it has in the past.

So I guess the big question here has to be if this insurgency could result in the fall of the Assad regime. And if that happens, what would that mean for Iran?

So when the Syrian regime 10 years ago lost control of Aleppo, a major city, Russia and Iran helped retake it. But they're both now in much weaker positions because they're fighting other conflicts. Moghaz Mustafa, who is an activist, the director of US based Syrian Emergency Task Force, says these territorial losses we're seeing are of huge significance to Iran, which has used Syria as a corridor to send weapons and fighters to Lebanon and Iraq.

It is the fact that Iran has lost its logistical hub in the Middle East. It has lost its connection of Tehran and Baghdad to Beirut or Damascus or the border of Jordan or the border of the Golden Heights or the border of Israel.

So there are a lot of borders there,

and you

can see. And while speaking, Mustafa was getting calls from other activists who have been working for years for this moment and what they hope will follow. 13 years of gathering opposition forces, getting international support, building cases of war crimes against Syrian officials. You know, in this region, Syria for centuries has been considered sort of the beating heart of the Middle East. And between the civil war, the Syrian regime actions and sanctions, the country has been shattered.

So for the opposition, it seems like the first time in a decade that there's a real chance of building a new Syria. But, Alyssa, to do that, obviously, they'll have to include regime supporters and what is still a divided opposition.

So refugees are obviously a huge concern here. 5,000,000 people fled Syria during the civil war. Would some of these Syrians go back in the event of a regime change?

Yeah. You know, a generation has been born as refugees outside their own country, and right now, their families are glued to their phones watching news coverage showing split screens with the rebel advances. If it were safe enough and they could rebuild their homes, many of them would return to Syria tomorrow.

That's NPR's Jane Aroff. Jane, thank you so much.

Thank you.

There's unprecedented political upheaval in South Korea this week, which started with the president declaring martial law.

The parliament immediately reversed that order and threatened to impeach the president, but whether they can succeed with impeachment is unclear. NPR's Anthony Kyun joins us from Seoul with the latest. Good morning.

Hi, Alyssa.

So update us on this impeachment effort.

Well, ruling party lawmakers, that's the president's party, boycotted the vote. So the parliament did not get a quorum of 200 of out of 300 lawmakers. And although the opposition parties have a majority in parliament, they don't have a 2 thirds majority, so they couldn't have a valid vote. Opposition lawmakers say they're gonna keep trying, keep submitting impeachment bills until 1 of them passes, but this 1 is pretty much finished.

You were in parliament today. What was it like?

I couldn't make it in. I was struggling to get through the massive crowds outside. Organizers estimated a 1000000 people there. Police put it at less than a 150,000. It certainly reminded everybody of 2017 when there were huge protests in South Korea's first female president, Park Geun Hye, was impeached and later jailed on corruption charges.

Many of the people I spoke there with, said they felt that they owed it to themselves and to their families and to history to be there. I spoke to a 60 year old retired teacher named Lian Son. And when she was a college student in the 19 eighties, students who protested against the then military government were often arrested, beaten, and tortured. And here's what she said. She said, seeing martial law declared this week, all the nightmares from that time came back.

I couldn't sleep and I was speechless for days. I became a teacher later and I think I've had a comfortable life since and the times have changed. But this feeling of returning to the eighties, the rage was unbearable. We should note that, Yoon supporters, president Yoon Seong yeol supporters, were also out there holding their demonstrations, and that's a reminder that the country is politically deeply divided and polarized. Yeah.

Anthony, what have lawmakers been saying about the president declaring martial law on Tuesday night?

Well, they say that martial law is supposed to be declared in case of emergencies like war or natural disasters. Yun said he declared it because the opposition was blocking his bills, dogging him and his wife over corruption scandals. And opposition lawmakers say he tried to use the military to arrest top lawmakers, which you can't do under martial law. Earlier today, president Yoon apologized for trying to impose martial law, and he said he wouldn't try it again, but he didn't admit to doing anything illegal.

What does this political uncertainty mean for the relationship between South Korea and the US?

Well, it looks like, Yoon is gonna keep his job for now, but his problem is that, polls in South Korea show that 70% of the people think he should be impeached. And so it's highly likely that large scale protests will continue. Now the US counts on South Korea for many things, investment in trade, dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, and it generally sees South Korea as an ally that helps it to promote democracy and defend the liberal international order. But South Korea may be consumed possibly for months with defending its own democratic order.

NPR's Anthony Kyun in Seoul. Thanks for your reporting on this political chaos.

You're welcome, Alyssa.

Pope Francis is carrying out a major batch of promotions.

He's created 21 new cardinals. But who are these new cardinals, and how will they help shape or reshape the Catholic church under pope Francis?

Claire Giam Grave covers the Vatican, and her work is produced through a collaboration between NPR and Religion News Service. Good morning, Claire.

Hello. So what can you tell

us about these 21 men?

First of all, these men come from 6 different continents. Some represent very small Catholic communities from places like Japan and Serbia and Iran. It really is to show that pope Francis wants to move the center of power in the Vatican away from the West and more towards a globalized church that can represent 1,300,000,000 believers around the world.

I I understand that you've had a chance to talk to some of the latest cardinals. What did you learn about their backgrounds?

Well, the Vatican invited journalists to meet 6 of the new cardinals on Friday. And what really struck me is that these men are really representing the underdogs, not just in the political spectrum, but also when it comes to church teaching. For example, I spoke to a bishop born in Ukraine who at 44 is going to be the youngest cardinal of the College of Cardinals, and this likely means that he'll see plenty of conclaves. He made an impassioned speech for the plight of the Ukrainian people and how much he hopes that this position will help him speak to the pope about what needs to be done to bring peace. The same can be said to the Chilean bishop of Palestinian origins who was made a cardinal, and he also talked about how much there is a need to come to a solution in Gaza and bring peace and resolution to the conflict there.

And talk about underdog, the Dominican friar Timothy Radcliffe was basically sidelined for 50 years of his ministry where he challenged church teaching on inclusivity and welcoming towards marginalized groups and especially women or LGBTQ Catholics. And it really reflects what kind of vision pope Francis has for the future of the church.

Yeah. So what is that vision? Like, how has the role of being a cardinal changed under pope Francis? What's different now?

Well, pope Francis has remade the College of Cardinals. This is the 10th time in his papacy that he adds new members to the crop. At this point, he has selected the majority of people who will decide who his successor is, 80% in fact. It's a way for him to cement his legacy, but he's also changed dramatically what it means to be a cardinal in the Catholic Church. Once upon a time they were considered princes of the church.

They had comfy lodgings and they couldn't be fired or tried if they did something wrong. That's no longer true under Pope Francis. In fact, during the mass that Pope Francis usually does after a consistory

And the consistory is the ceremony where they become new cardinals. Is that right?

Yes. Correct. The pope has taken to delivering a finger wagging speech to the cardinals, telling them that this is not a time for them to sit down and relax. In fact, it's a moment for them to really come forward and be of service to their communities and represents the needs of this incredibly diverse and growing reality that is the Catholic church.

That's R and S Vatican correspondent Claire Giam Gravet. Claire, thank you.

Thank you so much, Alyssa.

And that's up first for Saturday, December 7th. I'm Alyssa Nadworny.

And I'm Ayesha Roscoe.

Our producer is Fernando Naro with help from Martin Patience and Andrew Craig.

Our director is Michael Radcliffe.

Our editors are Dee Parvez, Ed McNulty, Shannon Rhodes, James Hyder, and Miguel Macias.

Jay Siz is our technical director with engineering support from Zach Coleman, David Greenberg, and Arthur Holiday Laurent.

Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor. Sarah Lucy Oliver is our executive producer.

And Jim Caine is our deputy managing editor.

Tomorrow on the Sunday story from up first, the federal government launched a program to support the poorest elderly and disabled Americans in 1972. Supplemental security income is a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable Americans, but outdated rules have damaged the efficacy of what was supposed to be a social safety net.

And for more news, interviews, sports, and music, you can tune in to weekend edition on your radio. Go to stations.npr.org to find your local NPR station.

Wanna hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Up First sponsor free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's Vital Journalism and get Up First Plus atplus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org. This message comes from BetterHelp.

This holiday season, do something for a special person in your life, you. Give yourself the gift of better mental health. BetterHelp online therapy connects you with a qualified therapist via phone, video, or live chat. It's convenient and affordable and can be done from the comfort of your own home. Having someone to talk to is truly a gift, especially during the holidays.

Visitbetterhelp.com/npr to get 10% off your 1st month.

There are celebrity interview shows and then there's wildcard. It's a podcast from NPR that the New York Times just named as 1 of the 10 best of 2020 4. It's hosted by me, Rachel Martin. I ask guests like Issa Rae and Bowen Yang revealing questions like what's a place you consider sacred? Has ambition ever led you astray?

And I'm telling you, it is such a good time. Listen to Wildcard wherever you get your podcasts.