AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EST

South Korea’s opposition parties submit a motion to impeach President Yoon over sudden martial law

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s opposition parties Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over the shocking and short-lived martial law that drew heavily armed troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers climbed walls to reenter the building and unanimously voted to lift his order.

Impeaching Yoon would require the support of two-thirds of parliament and at least six justices of the nine-member Constitutional Court would have to support it to remove him from office. The motion, submitted jointly by the main opposition Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties, could be put to a vote as early as Friday.

Yoon’s senior advisers and secretaries offered to resign collectively and his Cabinet members, including Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, were also facing calls to step down, as the nation struggled to make sense of what appeared to be a poorly-thought-out stunt.

In his speech announcing the abrupt order Tuesday night, Yoon vowed to eliminate “anti-state” forces and continued to criticize parliament’s attempts to impeach key government officials and senior prosecutors. But martial law lasted only about six hours, as the National Assembly voted to overrule Yoon and the declaration was formally lifted around 4:30 a.m. during a Cabinet meeting.

The liberal opposition Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the 300-seat parliament, said Wednesday that its lawmakers decided to call on Yoon to quit immediately or they would take steps to impeach him.

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Shock martial law edict in South Korea follows chaotic recent history: A look at the crucial context

TOKYO (AP) — It may seem that the wild predawn scenes in Seoul, with hundreds of armed troops and frantic lawmakers storming South Korea’s parliament building after the president suddenly declared martial law, came out of nowhere.

But the chaotic events, which were still playing out Wednesday as opposition leaders introduced an impeachment motion and called for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s immediate resignation, should be seen in the context of South Korea’s recent tumultuous political and social history.

These moments resonate with South Koreans in their daily lives, and as they look to explain Yoon’s short-lived declaration of emergency martial law, even if there’s still widespread confusion and anger over his decision.

From a nationwide doctors’ strike, to an opposition leader narrowly avoiding prison amid a raft of court cases, to millions of people filling the streets in protest to drive out an elected leader, here is a look at some of those recent crucial developments.

For months, it has been health, not politics, that has been a major focus of many South Koreans.

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Middle East latest: Jewish settlers attack Palestinian towns and clash with Israeli troops

Jewish settlers mounted a string of attacks on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank overnight, burning homes and clashing with Israeli troops.

There were no immediate reports of any Palestinian casualties.

The Israeli military said Jewish settlers attacked the village of Beit Furik after troops arrived in the area to dismantle an unauthorized farming outpost they had built nearby. It said the settlers hurled stones, wounding two members of the paramilitary Border Police, and one group entered the village and burned property.

The West Bank has seen a surge in settler violence since the start of the war.

In Lebanon, a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has held despite Israeli forces carrying out several new drone and artillery strikes on Tuesday, killing a shepherd in the country’s south. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed keep striking “with an iron fist” against perceived Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire.

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Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of Syria’s shock insurgency?

BEIRUT (AP) — Over the past dozen years, Syrian militant leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has worked to remake his public image and the insurgency he commands, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and consolidating power before emerging from the shadows.

Now al-Golani, 42, seeks to seize the moment yet again, leading his fighters in a stunning offensive that has put them in control of Syria’s largest city, reigniting the country’s long civil war and raising new questions about President Bashar Assad’s hold on power.

The surge and al-Golani’s place at the head of it are evidence of a remarkable transformation. Al-Golani’s success on the battlefield follows years of maneuvering among extremist organizations while eliminating competitors and former allies.

Along the way he moved to distance himself from al-Qaida, polishing his image and his extremist group’s de-facto “salvation government” in an attempt to win over international governments and the country’s religious and ethnic minorities.

Putting himself forward as a champion of pluralism and tolerance, al-Golani’s rebranding efforts sought to broaden his group’s public support and legitimacy.

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Trump’s defense pick Pete Hegseth faces deepening scrutiny in Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, spent a second day Tuesday on Capitol Hill, meeting privately with Republican senators amid rising questions about his ability to effectively lead the Pentagon.

Hegseth told reporters he was planning to sit down with senators, even with those potentially skeptical of his nomination.

“We’re going to meet with every senator that wants to meet with us, across the board,” Hegseth as he went from office to office Tuesday. “And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process.”

Trump tapped the Fox News co-host, a former Army National Guard major and combat veteran who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, as his Secretary of Defense, typically among the first Cabinet posts to be considered by the U.S. Senate for confirmation.

But Hegseth is running into questions amid a sexual assault allegation, which he has denied, and other emerging reports about his work conduct and history.

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Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the DEA, withdraws name from consideration

NEW YORK (AP) — Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from consideration, becoming the second person selected by the president-elect to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation.

Sheriff Chronister, the top law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County, Florida, said in a post on X that he was backing away from the opportunity, which he called “the honor of a lifetime.”

“Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration,” Chronister wrote. He did not elaborate, and Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Chronister follows former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney general, in withdrawing his name for a post in the administration. Gaetz withdrew following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer.

Trump’s pick of Chronister for the DEA job drew backlash from conservatives, who raised concerns over his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and his saying that his office “does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities.”

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‘Amtrak Joe’ Biden uses his visit to Angola to promote a major African rail project

LUANDA, Angola (AP) — Even in the waning days of his presidency and thousands of miles from home, U.S. President Joe Biden is finding ways to celebrate trains.

Biden is using his third and final day in Angola to showcase the Lobito Corridor railway, where the U.S. and key allies are investing heavily to refurbish 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) of train lines in Zambia, Congo and Angola.

The project aims to advance the U.S. presence in a region rich in cobalt, copper and other critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies. By the end of the decade, the rail line could even go a long way toward linking southern Africa’s western coast with the continent’s eastern edge.

“I’m probably the most pro-rail guy in America,” Biden, the first U.S. president to visit Angola, said during a speech Tuesday evening.

Biden has long had the nickname Amtrak Joe for the 36 years he spent commuting by U.S. train from his home in Delaware to Washington while in the Senate. He said the Lobito Corridor constituted the largest U.S. investment in a train project outside the country.

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Missouri executes a man for sexually assaulting and strangling a 9-year-old girl in 2007

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — Rowan Ford knew Christopher Collings as “Uncle Chris” after he spent several months living with her family. On Tuesday, Collings was executed for sexually assaulting and killing the child, then dumping her body in a sinkhole outside a small Missouri town.

Collings, 49, was put to death with a single dose of pentobarbital on Tuesday evening at the state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri. The execution was the 23rd in the U.S. this year and the fourth in Missouri. Only Alabama with six and Texas with five have performed more executions in 2024.

Collings spoke with a spiritual adviser who was at his side as the process began. Shortly thereafter, the inmate appeared to breathe heavily and swallow hard. After a few seconds, all movement stopped. He was officially declared dead nine minutes after the injection.

Collings’ fate was sealed Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court turned aside an appeal and Republican Gov. Mike Parson denied clemency.

“Right or wrong I accept this situation for what it is,” Collings said in a written final statement. “To anyone that I have hurt in this life I am sorry. I hope that you are able to get closure and move on.” He added, “I hope to see you in heaven one day.”

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Australia is banning social media for people under 16. Could this work elsewhere — or even there?

It is an ambitious social experiment of our moment in history — one that experts say could accomplish something that parents, schools and other governments have attempted with varying degrees of success: keeping kids off social media until they turn 16.

Australia’s new law, approved by its Parliament last week, is an attempt to swim against many tides of modern life — formidable forces like technology, marketing, globalization and, of course, the iron will of a teenager. And like efforts of the past to protect kids from things that parents believe they’re not ready for, the nation’s move is both ambitious and not exactly simple, particularly in a world where young people are often shaped, defined and judged by the online company they keep.

The ban won’t go into effect for another year. But how will Australia be able to enforce it? That’s not clear, nor will it be easy. TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram have become so ingrained in young people’s lives that going cold turkey will be difficult.

Other questions loom. Does the ban limit kids’ free expression and — especially for those in vulnerable groups — isolate them and curtail their opportunity to connect with members of their community? And how will social sites verify people’s ages, anyway? Can’t kids just get around such technicalities, as they so often do?

This is, after all, the 21st century — an era when social media is the primary communications tool for most of those born in the past 25 years who, in a fragmented world, seek the common cultures of trends, music and memes. What happens when big swaths of that fall away?

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Miami’s playoff hopes nosedive as Alabama rises in the latest College Football Playoff rankings

Miami’s playoff hopes took an all-but-final nosedive while Alabama’s got a boost Tuesday night in the last rankings before the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is set next weekend.

The Hurricanes (10-2) moved down six spots to No. 12 — the first team out of the projected bracket after suffering their second loss of the season. They are one spot behind the Crimson Tide (9-3), who won last week and moved up two spots to No. 11, where they are projected as the last team in and the fourth from the Southeastern Conference.

To make things worse for the ’Canes, selection committee chair and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said there was no way for them to leapfrog Alabama since neither team plays next weekend. The odds of them moving up based on lopsided results in the weekend’s conference title games are virtually zero.

The Miami-Alabama sorting was the strongest indication yet that the selection committee is looking at more than mere wins and losses, but also at strength of schedule and other factors that appear to give the SEC an edge.

“We still think Miami is a very strong team,” Manuel said. “It came down to a difference in their body of work … not just wins, not just losses but the totality of the season and how those teams performed.”

The Associated Press