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.”
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
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