Shiffrin crashes out of Killington giant slalom won by HectorIs Enron back? If it’s a joke, some former employees aren’t laughingTOKYO (AP) — Troops surround South Korea's parliament overnight when the president declares martial law. He accuses pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. Lawmakers voice outrage and vote to end the declaration, and the president lifts the decree before daybreak. President Yoon Suk Yeol spread fear and confusion through South Korea overnight by issuing his sudden edict late Tuesday, the first martial law declaration since more than four decades ago when the country was controlled by a dictatorship. The declaration, the rushed vote by lawmakers to overturn it and the president's lifting of martial law soon afterward were moments of high drama for an unpopular leader who has struggled with political deadlock in an opposition-dominated parliament and scandals involving him and his wife. While there was no direct evidence presented, Yoon raised the specter of North Korea as a destabilizing force. Yoon has long maintained that a hard line against the North is the only way to stop Pyongyang from following through on its nuclear threats against Seoul. Amid the surreal scenes of troops massing around parliament, here are some things to know as this story unfolds: Immediately after Yoon's declaration the military chief called in key commanders for talks. South Korean troops set up barricades and then made their way into parliament. The leader of the main opposition, which controls parliament, ordered lawmakers to return to the building, where they eventually voted to lift the declaration of martial law. Yoon lifted the martial law decree around 4:30 a.m. during a Cabinet meeting. Yoon's declaration had been accompanied by an accusation that the opposition was engaged in “anti-state activities plotting rebellion.” But he did not explain what that means, and provided no specific evidence. The vague statement is reminiscent of the heavy-handed tactics of the South Korean dictatorships that ended in the late 1980s. A series of strongmen repeatedly invoked North Korea when struggling to control domestic dissidents and political opponents. The opposition lambasted Yoon's move as un-democratic. Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, called Yoon’s announcement “illegal and unconstitutional.” But the sudden declaration was also opposed by the leader of Yoon's own conservative party, Han Dong-hoon, who called the decision “wrong” and vowed to “stop it with the people.” “The people will block the president’s anti-constitutional step. The military must be on the side of the public in any case. Let’s resolutely oppose it,” Kim Dong Yeon, the opposition party governor of Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, wrote on X. Average South Koreans were in shock. Social media was flooded with messages expressing surprise and worry over Yoon’s announcement. “Martial law? I thought it was deepfake content, but is it really a martial law decree?,” one X user wrote. “I first thought about a war with North Korea when he said he would impose a martial law,” another X user wrote. There were quick claims that the emergency declaration was linked to Yoon’s political struggles. His approval rating has dropped, and he has had little success in getting his policies adopted by a parliament that has been controlled by the opposition since he took over in 2022. Conservatives have said the opposition moves are political revenge for investigations into the opposition leader, who is seen as the favorite for the next presidential election in 2027. Just this month, Yoon denied wrongdoing in an influence-peddling scandal involving him and his wife. The claims have battered his approval ratings and fueled attacks by his rivals. The scandal centers on claims that Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee exerted inappropriate influence on the conservative ruling People Power Party to pick a certain candidate to run for a parliamentary by-election in 2022 at the request of Myung Tae-kyun, an election broker and founder of a polling agency who conducted free opinion surveys for Yoon before he became president . Yoon has said he did nothing inappropriate. South Korea became a democracy only in the late 1980s, and military intervention in civilian affairs is still a touchy subject. During the dictatorships that emerged as the country rebuilt from the destruction of the 1950-53 Korean War, leaders occasionally proclaimed martial law that allowed them to station combat soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles on streets or in public places to prevent anti-government demonstrations. Such scenes are unimaginable for many today. The dictator Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for nearly 20 years before he was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979, led several thousand troops into Seoul in the early hours of May 16, 1961, in the country’s first successful coup. During his rule, he occasionally proclaimed martial law to crack down on protests and jail critics. Less than two months after Park Chung-hee’s death, Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan led tanks and troops into Seoul in December 1979 in the country’s second successful coup. The next year, he orchestrated a brutal military crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju, killing at least 200 people. In the summer of 1987, massive street protests forced Chun’s government to accept direct presidential elections. His army buddy Roh Tae-woo, who had joined Chun’s 1979 coup, won the election held later in 1987 thanks largely to divided votes among liberal opposition candidates. AP writers Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this story.
Home entertainment holiday gift ideas at a discountThere's an ugly reality hitting the starting lineup of the New York Knicks. Not everyone in the group looks like they belong. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images While the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns has been a seamless transition and has helped New York become one of the best offenses in the league, Mikal Bridges' introduction has been anything but smooth. Through 19 games played, Bridges has recorded just 15.5 points per game and is shooting the lowest percentage points on three-pointers in his career. It doesn't help his scoring numbers are the lowest since the 2021-22 season with the Pheonix Suns. As New York continues to tread water, it's clear that a drastic move is needed to not only enhance the team's depth but also put less pressure on Bridges at this point. It's time to relegate the former Brooklyn Nets star to the bench. Bridges is clearly looking like a square peg in a round hole and doesn't fit what the Knicks need from their starting lineup. A big portion of their efficiency success comes from the 1-2 duo of Towns and star point guard Jalen Brunson, after all. Related: Knicks Analyst Reveals Biggest 'Rock Fight' Issue in New York With key injuries to Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks have serious depth issues along their roster at this point as well. Moving Bridges to the bench as a sixth-man type wouldn't be the greatest look for a team that gave five first-round picks up for him, but our analysis says it would reset the starting lineup and provide the bench with a proven scorer. As things stand right now, it's hard to watch Bridges struggle in the Knicks' starting lineup. Perhaps a couple of games on the bench could do him and the team good. Related: Knicks Learn One Lesson From Disappointing Loss in Dallas
A mum showed no emotion when a social worker discovered she had kept her daughter hidden in a drawer under her bed for years. When the social worker saw the girl sitting in the drawer, she asked the mother whether that was where she kept her daughter. The mum confirmed this was the case - but showed no emotion. A court heard this concerned the social worker who realised hers was likely to have been the only other face the child had ever seen - other than her mother's - as she had been in the drawer for three years . The cruel mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her child, admitted four counts of child cruelty, reflecting her failure to seek basic medical care for the child, abandonment, malnourishment and general neglect. The parent, from Chester, was jailed earlier this week for seven years and six months . As a result of her mother's torture, the child has never had a birthday present, a Christmas present or anything to recognise her three years of life. Yet, the motive for her mum's behaviour remains unclear. Sentencing the woman at Chester Crown Court, Honorary Recorder of Chester Judge Steven Everett said: "The consequences for [the child] were nothing short of catastrophic - physically, psychologically and socially." He said the infant was an "intelligent little girl who is now perhaps slowly coming to life from what was almost a living death in that room". In an interview, the woman told police she had not known she was pregnant and was "really scared" when she gave birth in March 2020. She said the baby was not kept in the drawer under the bed all the time and said the drawer was never closed, but told officers the child was "not part of the family". She told social workers she had an abusive relationship with the child's father and did not want him to find out about her. But it meant the girl had no interaction with her siblings, and hadn't known daylight or fresh air in her first three years of life. The cruelty was only uncovered in February 2023 when the then partner of her mother heard her cry from the bedroom when he was home alone. After he alerted Cheshire Police and social services, authorities attended the address to find the youngster with matted hair, deformities and rashes. The court also heard the woman did not seek medical assistance for the child's cleft palate and did not give her adequate food and water, feeding her milky Weetabix through a syringe. The child's foster carer revealed that the youngster heartbreakingly wasn't aware of her own name. The statement read: "It became very apparent she did not know her own name when we called her." A social worker said she saw the child sitting in the drawer and asked the mother whether that was where she kept her daughter. "She replied matter of factly 'yes, in the drawer'," the social worker said. "I was shocked the mother did not show any emotion and appeared blasé about the situation. It became an overwhelming horror that I was probably the only other face (the child) had seen apart from her mother's." Sion ap Mihangel, prosecuting, said: "She was kept in a drawer in the bedroom, not taken outside, not socialised, no interaction with anybody else." He told the court the child had a developmental age of nought to 10 months when she was first taken into hospital and was significantly malnourished and dehydrated. Senior crown prosecutor Rachel Worthington, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: "This child has never had a birthday present, a Christmas present or anything to recognise these days. She's had no interaction with any of her siblings. She hadn't known daylight or fresh air and didn't respond to her own name when she was first found." She added: "The motive behind the mother's behaviour is still not clear, but that is not the role of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Our job is to bring the person responsible to justice. That has now been done and it is the profound hope of the CPS that the victim in this case recovers sufficiently to live as full a life as possible."None
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