News Wrap: American Airlines temporarily grounds flights amid busy holiday travel season

William Brangham:

The U.N. says more than 24,000 people have died during 20 months of fighting in Sudan and 14 million people have been forced from their homes. That’s about 30 percent of the population.

Swiss Olympic snowboarder Sophie Hediger has died in an avalanche at a mountain resort. The country’s skiing federation says the incident happened yesterday at the Arosa resort in Switzerland. The 26-year-old competed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in the women’s snowboard cross and the mixed team version of the same event.

In California, weather officials are warning of dangerous surf and flooding after a series of violent storms. Some waves may be as high as 35 feet today. Two people had to be rescued after a pier partially collapsed in Santa Cruz yesterday. A third swam to safety.

In a separate incident, one man was killed by a large wave that trapped him under debris. Another remains missing after likely being pulled into the surf. Californians will get a brief break from the wild weather on Christmas Day before more storms roll in.

Bill Clinton has been discharged from a Washington, D.C., hospital where he had been treated for the flu. The former president had been admitted on Monday afternoon for testing and observation after coming down with a fever. The 78-year-old has had a history of health problems. He underwent a quadruple bypass operation in 2004.

Pope Francis has officially kicked off the 2025 holy year and with it the jubilee that occurs once every 25 years. With a knock from the pontiff today, the great Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican swung open and he crossed the threshold to begin Christmas Eve mass. More than 32 million people are expected to make a pilgrimage to Rome for this jubilee, which Pope Francis has dedicated to the theme of hope.

On Wall Street today, stocks bounded higher in a shortened Christmas Eve session. The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 400 points on the day. The Nasdaq jumped about 1.33 percent, closing back above the 20,000-point level. The S&P 500 also ended firmly in positive territory.

And a NASA spacecraft is attempting to fly closer to the sun’s surface than ever before. The Parker Solar Probe will endure blistering temperatures and extreme radiation as it passes within four million miles of the sun. That’s nearly seven times closer than any previous missions.

Scientists won’t know whether the probe survived its fiery flyby for another few days. But, if all goes according to plan, the probe will keep circling the sun through at least September, providing a better understanding of how the sun actually works.

Still to come on the “News Hour”: the new Food and Drug Administration rules aim to redefine what’s considered healthy; our critics’ take on this year’s must-see Hollywood hits and a few lesser-known gems; and, on Christmas Eve, a special look at the origins of NORAD’s Santa tracker.