Insurgency in Syria; South Korea's Political Chaos; Pope Creates 21
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Syrian rebels are gaining momentum as they push their way towards the city of Homs. Government forces were unable to stop the insurgents from taking five towns in less than two weeks. I'm Alyssa Nadwarny. And I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News.

Syrian forces are battling to keep insurgents out of the strategically crucial city of Homs. 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.

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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 Araf is in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

near the Syrian border. Good morning, Jane. Good morning, Alyssa. So since this offensive started some two 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 Daraa 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 one of its few foreign bases. What is Russia doing at the moment?

Well, it appears to be pulling out its warships, according to U.S. 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 airstrikes 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, the major city, Russia and Iran helped retake it. But they're both now in much weaker positions because they're fighting other conflicts.

Muaz Mustafa, who is an activist, the director of the U.S.-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, as 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. Thirteen 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. Yeah.

So refugees are obviously a huge concern here. Five million 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 Araf. Jane, thank you so much. Thank you. 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 Kuhn 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 out of 300 lawmakers. And although the opposition parties have a majority in parliament, they don't have a two-thirds majority, so they couldn't have a valid vote. Opposition lawmakers say they're going to keep trying, keep submitting impeachment bills until one of them passes, but this one 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 million people there. Police put it at less than 150,000. It certainly reminded everybody of 2017 when there were huge protests and 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 Lee In-San, and when she was a college student in the 1980s,

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 80s, the rage was unbearable.

We should note that Yoon's supporters, President Yoon Sung-yeol's supporters, were also out there holding their demonstrations. And that's a reminder that the country is politically deeply divided and polarized. 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. Yoon 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 U.S.?

Well, it looks like Yoon is going to 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 U.S. 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 Kuhn 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 Giangrave 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 six 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 1.3 billion believers around the world. Okay.

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 six 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 tenth 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. Eighty percent, 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 is taken to delivering a finger-wagging speech to the cardinals, telling them that this is not a time for them to settle 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 RNS Vatican correspondent Claire Giangrave. Claire, thank you. Thank you so much, Elisa.

And that's up first for Saturday, December 7th. I'm Alyssa Nadwarny. And I'm Aisha 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 Heider, and Miguel Macias. Jay Ciz is our technical director with engineering support from Zach Coleman, David Greenberg, and Arthur Holliday-Lorent. Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor.

Sarah Lucy Oliver is our executive producer. And Jim Kane 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.

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