Conflict

South Korea’s ruling party has thrown its support behind attempts to impeach embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated decision to declare martial law that sparked a political crisis and widespread public anger in the country. The announcement came moments before Yoon delivered a defiant speech Thursday in which he attempted to justify his hugely controversial martial law decision and rejected growing calls from across the political spectrum for him to stand down. The People Power Party (PPP) had initially refused to back impeachment, hoping instead Yoon would resign from office. But its leadership said attempts to persuade him had made no progress. “We tried to find a better way than impeachment, but that other way is invalid,” party leader Han Dong-hoon said. “Suspen

Islamabad, Pakistan – Less than two weeks after his “final call” protest in Islamabad was forcefully dispersed, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has pledged to continue his fight, threatening to launch a nationwide civil disobedience movement. In a message posted on X, Khan, who has been imprisoned since August 2023 on numerous charges, announced the formation of a five-member negotiation team. The team aims to discuss two key demands with the government: the release of under-trial prisoners and the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the events of May 9, 2023 and November 26, 2024 – two dates on which Khan’s supporters held major protests but faced a backlash from the government and security forces. “If these two demands are not accepted, a civil diso

India-Bangladesh ties have been frosty since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India after her removal in a student-led mass uprising in August, but diplomatic tensions have soared in recent days after the two South Asian neighbours traded accusations of alleged ill-treatment of the Hindu minority. The war of words escalated after Bangladeshi authorities arrested Hindu religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das last week on sedition charges, setting off protests across several places in India. On Monday, a Bangladeshi mission in Agartala in the northeast Indian state of Tripura was attacked, eliciting a furious reaction from Dhaka. A day later, Dhaka summoned the Indian envoy in Bangladesh after condemning the attack. “This particular act in Agartala stands in violation of th

South Korea's president shocked the country on Tuesday night when, out of the blue, he declared martial law in the Asian democracy for the first time in nearly 50 years. Yoon Suk Yeol's drastic decision - announced in a late-night TV broadcast - mentioned "anti-state forces" and the threat from North Korea. But it soon became clear that it had not been spurred by external threats but by his own desperate political troubles. Still, it prompted thousands of people to gather at parliament in protest, while opposition lawmakers rushed there to push through an emergency vote to remove the measure. Defeated, Yoon emerged a few hours later to accept the parliament's vote and lift the martial law order. Now, lawmakers will vote on whether to impeach him over what the country's main...

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s cabinet has reversed a martial law order in the country, just hours after he issued the surprise decree that plunged Seoul into political uncertainty and sparked fierce backlash from lawmakers across the political spectrum. The cabinet decision came after Yoon backtracked on his shortlived decree in the early hours of Wednesday local time and withdrew the troops deployed to carry out the order. South Korean lawmakers – who had scrambled earlier in the night to block the martial law order with a parliamentary vote – are now calling for resignations. The opposition Democratic Party says it will begin impeachment proceedings against Yoon if he doesn’t step down immediately. “We will not sit idly by and watch President Yoon’s crime of destroying