SOUTH KOREA
Impeachment vote moved
A vote by parliament on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol over his martial law decree has been moved to 4pm today, the speaker’s office said yesterday. “Given the national significance and gravity of the matter, the plenary session was finalized for 4pm to allow adequate time for thorough discussions and consultations,” the National Assembly Speaker’s Office said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
NIGER
Junta suspends the BBC
The ruling junta suspended the BBC for three months over the broadcaster’s coverage of an attack that allegedly killed dozens, authorities said on Thursday. “BBC broadcasts false information aimed at destabilizing social calm and undermining the troops’ morale,” Minister of Communications Raliou Sidi Mohamed said in letters to radio stations that rebroadcast BBC content. Mohamed asked the stations to suspend BBC’s programs “with immediate effect.” The BBC said it had no comment.
Photo: AFP
SERBIA
Rally targets broadcaster
Hundreds of protesters led by university students on Thursday held a noisy rally outside the state television headquarters, despite the president pledging to fulfil all of their demands. The demonstration is part of wider protests that erupted after the fall of a concrete canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad last month, killing 15 people. Blowing whistles, booing and jeering, the protesters said they are angry that state RTS television is carrying President Aleksandar Vucic’s accusations that the students were paid from the West and elsewhere to hold protests to overthrow his government. The protesters brought sacks allegedly holding bundles of money in front of the downtown RTS station in the country’s capital, Belgrade. The station has been accused of spreading pro-government narrative.
Photo: Reuters
BRAZIL
President exits surgery
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was “in perfect neurological condition” after surgery to relieve bleeding pressure on his brain and was scheduled to leave intensive care yesterday, his medical team said. A follow-up operation on Thursday to block blood flow to the affected area was a “success,” Lula’s doctor, Roberto Kalil, told a news conference at the Hospital Sirio-Libanes, where the 79-year-old president was being treated. “He is doing very well,” neurosurgeon Marcos Stavale said. The update came two days after the emergency surgery to drill through Lula’s skull to relieve pressure built up in protective intracranial membranes. The injury was linked to a blow to the head Lula sustained in October, when he fell in a bathroom in his presidential residence.
UNITED STATES
NY mayor meets Homan
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday met with Tom Homan, president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar,” with the mayor expressing an enthusiasm to work with the incoming administration to pursue violent criminals in the city while Trump promises mass deportations. Adams told reporters at a news conference that he and Homan agreed on pursuing people who commit violent crimes in the city, but did not disclose additional details or other plans. “We’re not going to be a safe haven for those who commit repeated violent crimes,” he said. “That was my conversation today with the border czar, to figure out how to go after those individuals who are repeatedly committing crimes in our city.”
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
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