World Briefing: December 14, 2024

The National Assembly in South Korea has passed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law declaration, with some lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party joining in support of his removal from office. The impeachment motion against Yoon was put to a vote, with a total of 300 ballots cast: 204 in favor, 85 opposed, 3 abstentions, and 8 invalid votes. The motion's approval comes 11 days after Yoon abruptly declared martial law, citing the need to protect the country and maintain social order against what he referred to as "anti-state forces," a term interpreted as referring to the opposition bloc and others who oppose him. Following the passage of the impeachment bill, Yoon's duties as president are immediately suspended, pending a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether to uphold or reject the motion. In the meantime, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will serve as acting president - Korea Times

A former Manchester City footballer is set to be appointed president on Saturday by Georgia's disputed parliament, after 16 days of pro-EU protests that have swept this country's towns and cities. Mikheil Kavelashvili, now 53, is a former MP from the increasingly authoritarian ruling Georgian Dream party and the only candidate for the job. Protesters began gathering outside parliament on Saturday morning, with demonstrations planned for later in the day. The four main opposition groups have rejected Kavelashvili and have boycotted parliament, insisting that the elections held in October were rigged. Georgia's outgoing pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, has condemned Kavelashvili's election as a travesty, insisting she holds Georgia's only remaining legitimate institution - BBC

Russia appears to be continuing to withdraw military equipment from its Hmeimim air base in Syria, according to satellite images taken on December 13 by the space technology company Maxar. The images show what appear to be at least two Antonov AN-124s cargo planes on the tarmac with their nose cones open. Maxar said the two heavy transport aircraft were prepared to load equipment, while a nearby Ka-52 attack helicopter was being dismantled and likely prepared for transport. It added that parts of an S-400 air defense unit were similarly being prepared to depart from the air base. Russia has an estimated 7,500 troops and multiple military sites in Syria, including at Hmeimim along with the strategic naval facilities at Tartus, which have been used to support the Kremlin's actions in North and sub-Saharan Africa - RFE/RL

Austria's government is offering Syrian refugees in the country a 'return bonus' of €1,000 euros to go back to Syria following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The move comes as several countries across Europe have already begun deliberating what to do with their Syrian refugee populations - Euronews

Ratings agency Moody's downgraded France's credit rating to Aa3 with a stable outlook Saturday over what the group described as France's "political fragmentation". French President Emmanuel Macron appointed his centrist ally François Bayrou as prime minister Friday after the previous premier Michel Barnier fell to a no-confidence vote the week before - France 24Ukraine’s military leadership has fired the commander who oversaw its operations in the eastern Donetsk region, where Kyiv’s defences are buckling as Russia pushes towards a key logistics hub. A Ukrainian official confirmed to the Financial Times on Friday that Oleksandr Lutsenko had been removed from his position as commander of the Donetsk operational and tactical group. Ukraine’s forces, under Lutsenko’s command, had failed to stop Russia’s sweeping offensive that has taken an area roughly half the size of London in just the past month. The official said Lutsenko would be given another post in the army’s ground forces. He has been replaced by Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi. Ukraine’s largest steelmaker, Metinvest, also announced the suspension of operations at the only mine producing coking coal in the country after Russian forces pushed to within 2km of the site near Pokrovsk, according to a company memo - FT

President-elect Donald Trump wants to turn the lights out on daylight saving time. In a post on his social media site Friday, Trump said his party would try to end the practice when he returns to office. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote. Setting clocks forward one hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall is intended to maximize daylight during summer months, but has long been subject to scrutiny. Daylight saving time was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942 - AP

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