South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief declaration of martial law has plunged him into the most severe leadership crisis of his tenure, as the opposition bloc pushes for his impeachment, accusing him of treason. Six opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), jointly submitted a bill to the National Assembly, Wednesday, to oust Yoon. They plan to vote on the bill as early as Friday morning. The latest developments follow the president's abrupt declaration of martial law at 10:23 p.m. on Tuesday, citing the urgent need to eradicate "anti-state forces," targeting the opposition, which has repeatedly blocked his personnel appointments and budget proposals. While around 280 soldiers entered the Assembly compound and even the main building, 190 lawmakers managed to reach the main hall and voted at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, demanding that the president lift the martial law. As the law requires the president to comply with the Assembly's vote, Yoon announced his decision to comply at around 4:20 a.m., bringing an end to the six-hour crisis - Korea Times
Riot police used water cannons and tear gas against protesters taking part in the sixth consecutive night of protests in Tbilisi after the Georgian Interior Ministry warned protesters against committing violent acts. Special forces started dispersing demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament building after the ministry said some of them had insulted law enforcement officers and thrown various blunt objects, pyrotechnics, and inflammable items in their direction. The Caucasus country has been rocked by demonstrations since the ruling Georgian Dream party announced last week it would halt accession talks on Georgia's application to join the European Union - RFE/RL
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France's government on Wednesday faces no-confidence votes that could spell the end of the short-lived administration of Prime Minister Michel Barnier, plunging the country into uncharted waters of political chaos. The toppling of the Barnier government after just three months in office would present President Emmanuel Macron with an unenviable dilemma over how to go forwards and who to appoint in his place. The National Assembly is due to debate two motions brought by the hard-left and far-right in a standoff with Barnier over the budget, which saw the premier force through the social security budget without a vote. The far-right National Rally (RN) of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is expected to vote for the motion put forwards by the left, giving it enough numbers to pass - France 24
Russian presidential aircraft and funds were used in a program that took children from occupied Ukrainian territories, stripped them of Ukrainian identity and placed them with Russian families, according to a report by Yale's School of Public Health. The U.S. State Department-backed research identified 314 Ukrainian children taken to Russia in the early months of the war in Ukraine as part of what it says was a systematic, Kremlin-funded program to "Russify" them - Reuters
China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports. The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after the Washington expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips. Such chips are needed for advanced applications. The ratcheting up of trade restrictions comes as President-elect Donald Trump has been threatening to sharply raise tariffs on imports from China and other countries, potentially intensifying simmering tensions over trade and technology - AP
President-elect Donald Trump was joking when he suggested Canada become the 51st U.S. state during a dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Canadian minister who attended their recent dinner said Tuesday. Fox News reported that Trump made the comment in response to Trudeau raising concerns that Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canada would damage Canada’s economy. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended the Friday dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, said Trump’s comments were in jest. “The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us. It was, of course, on that issue, in no way a serious comment,” LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa. He described it as a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida on a long weekend of American Thanksgiving. “The conversation was going to be light-hearted,” he said - AP
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