December 27, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

As 2024 comes to a close, we take a look back at some of the year’s biggest stories through the images of photojournalists. We spoke with four photographers who documented the presidential campaign, the protests over the war in Gaza, the Paris Olympics and much more.

Winter is a time that brings a heightened risk of fires inside the home. The vast majority of those fires can be prevented with some simple steps. Jason Patton is a firefighter and paramedic at Riviera Beach Fire Rescue in Florida and runs the wildly popular YouTube channel “Fire Department Chronicles.” He joined William Brangham to discuss fire safety tips.

Unrest is brewing in Syria’s coastal plains, home to the Assad family’s Alawite sect. Earlier this week, a group of regime loyalists staged an ambush on the now-governing rebel forces, killing 14. With the Shia Alawite sect making up only 10 percent of the population in the majority Sunni country, Syria’s de-facto ruler is trying to keep tensions from boiling over. Simona Foltyn reports.

In our news wrap Friday, South Korea's parliament impeached acting president Han Duck-soo after he decided against appointing three judges to the court reviewing the impeachment of his predecessor, the White House sees signs Russian defense systems may be to blame for a plane crash and Palestinian health officials say Israeli soldiers raided one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza.

Homelessness in America reached record-high numbers in 2024. A government report shows that in January, people experiencing homelessness shot up by 18 percent to roughly 770,000. The annual survey pointed to economic problems like rising housing costs and a migrant influx in some cities. Lisa Desjardins discussed more with Shaun Donovan, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Lisa Desjardins to discuss the week in politics, including tensions in Trump's circle over immigration policy, President Biden’s pardons and commutations and polling shows that Americans are feeling deeply fatigued after the turbulent year in politics.