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The president of South Korea has declared "emergency martial law", accusing the country's opposition of controlling the parliament and sympathising with North Korea.Yoon Suk Yeol announced he was taking the step, which enacts temporary rule by the military, during a televised briefing on Tuesday, saying it was critical for defending the country's constitutional order. "I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order," Mr Yoon said.South Korea martial law: Follow live updates It was not immediately clear how the steps will affect the country's governance and democ...

Three climbers are missing after failing to return from a planned ascent of New Zealand's highest peak, authorities say.Two Americans and a Canadian flew to a hut part way up the Aoraki mountain on Saturday to begin their climb, but failed to meet their prearranged transport on Monday after their trek. Both Kurt Blair, 56, from Colorado, and Carlos Romero, 50, from California, are certified alpine guides, according to the website of the American Mountain Guides Association.New Zealand police did not name the Canadian climber, saying his family needed to be notified.Hours after they were reported missing on Monday, searchers found climbing-related items that belonged to the men but no sign of them. Deteriorating weather conditions on the mountain - with heavy rain and snow forecast - meant ...

A bride who was killed by a drink-driver on the day of her wedding had, just moments before the fatal crash, told her new husband that she "didn't want the night to end".Samantha Miller, 34, died still wearing her wedding dress, while groom Aric Hutchinson suffered a brain injury and numerous broken bones when Jamie Lee Komoroski smashed into the golf cart the couple had been riding in after their beach ceremony. Komoroski, 27, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2023 crash in South Carolina.Charleston County Courthouse heard how Komoroski had been drinking at several bars and was more than three times the legal limit.She was also said to be driving at 65mph on the 25mph narrow Folly Beach road. Mr Hutchinson cried in court as he recalled the last moments he spent with his wif...

A missing woman, whose dad took his own life after failing to find her, disappeared voluntarily, police have said.Hannah Kobayashi, 30, missed a connecting flight from Hawaii to New York in Los Angeles on 8 November and vanished days later after sending "alarming" texts to her family. Her father Ryan retraced her footsteps with relatives and volunteers, but was found dead in a car park near a Los Angeles airport on 24 November.Overnight, police said Hannah wanted to "step away from modern connectivity" and was last seen crossing into Mexico with her luggage.Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell said there was no evidence Hannah was trafficked or a victim of a crime and classified her disappearance as a "voluntary missing person". "We've basically done everything we can do at this point. S...

Sir Keir Starmer has for the first time said it was British policy to "put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations".During a speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet in London on Monday, the prime minister said he wants Ukraine to be in a position of strength "so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence - and right to choose their own future". But make no mistake. This is a significant shift.Only last month, both Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron were promising to "support Ukraine unwaveringly and for as long as necessary to thwart Russia's war of aggression".War latest: Things 'look bad' for Ukraine, key figure admits In the summer, his predecessor Rishi Sunak stated British policy on Ukraine was based o...

A court in Vietnam has upheld a death sentence for a real estate tycoon after rejecting her appeal against a conviction for embezzlement and bribery, state media reported. Truong My Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group (VTP), was sentenced to death in April for her role in a financial fraud worth more than $12bn, Vietnam's biggest on record. The 68-year-old chair of VTP was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery and violations of banking rules following a month-long trial. Image: Lan was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery and violations of banking rules in April. Pic: AP Lan and her accomplices were charged with illegally controlling the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) betwee...

In scrubland on the outskirts of Tyre, southern Lebanon, they started digging out the bodies - 186 of them.One family of women, mothers and daughters all dressed in black, fell on the coffin of their brother, their son, stroking it, sweeping the dust off, wailing. His name was Hussein Fakih and he was a Hezbollah militant.This was not an ordinary graveyard. Image: Pic: Michael Greenfield/Sky A makeshift mass grave, the corpses were mainly those of Hezbollah fighters. A temporary solution while the war was at its raging peak. Get them in the ground quick. Bury them later.Framed against a bright blue sky, a yellow digger scraped the topsoil off. People wore masks to protect against the overpowering stench.Others went to the e...

Fianna Fail is the largest party in Ireland on 48 seats out of 174 in parliament, with Sinn Fein on 39 and Fine Gael on 38.Fianna Fail also secured the most first preference votes in Friday's vote, taking 21.9% to Fine Gael's 20.8%. Sinn Fein came in third on 19%. The result, after three days of counting, paves the way for a Fianna Fail-Fine Gael coalition in government with either a handful of independents or a third party. The two centre-right parties had previously said they would not rule with the left-wing Sinn Fein. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:30 ...

In a West Bank clinic, the father of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy showed us where the bullet shot by an Israeli soldier entered his son's neck and where it left his small body through his spine.Kareem Sharaab had been outside his home when the Israeli military entered his village in the occupied West Bank.He'd been sent out to the shops for groceries. The short walk would change his life forever.His grandfather, Hani, told me what happened next. "There was nothing going on then. No clashes, nothing. The kid was just playing on the road. Out of nowhere, the sound of gunfire, and the voice of children screaming out that Kareem has been injured." Image: Kareem Sharaab was left paralysed when an Israeli bullet hit his spine ...

Syria's military has said its joint airstrikes with Russia have killed at least 400 insurgents over the past 24 hours - as Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad.The strikes are being carried out after insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al Sham and including Turkey-backed fighters launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, on Saturday. The rebels then moved into the countryside around the provinces of Idlib and neighbouring Hama.Syrian and Russian airstrikes have mainly been carried out on rebel positions in those two provinces, Syria's military said.Syria's opposition-run White Helmets rescue service said on Monday that at least 25 people, including 10 children, have been killed in airstrikes carried out by the Syrian...