South Korea’s parliament impeaches President Yoon

Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. On the World News podcast: Syrian police arrested Reuters journalist Suleiman al-Khalidi in 2011 during an uprising against Bashar al-Assad. Hear what he witnessed then and what it was like to see prisoners freed after Assad's downfall. We take a look at the technology that Brazil is using to crack down on the illicit Amazon gold trade, and this week's edition of City Memo takes you to Madrid. I'll see you again on Jan. 4, 2025. Thank you for sharing Saturdays with me and my colleagues.

South Korea lawmakers vote to impeach President Yoon

Woohae Cho/Pool via REUTERS

Fallout: The opposition-led parliament voted to suspend Yoon Suk Yeol from official duties over his attempt to impose martial law. He is the second conservative president in a row to be impeached.
What happens next: Yoon remains in office with immunity from most charges apart from insurrection or treason. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, whom Yoon appointed, becomes acting president. The Constitutional Court must decide within 180 days whether to remove Yoon from office.

Deception and despair: Assad's final hours in Syria

Fly by night: Bashar al-Assad cut just about everyone loose in his flight from Syria, keeping even relatives in the dark. He urged ground forces to hold out, summoned his media adviser to write a speech and promised his army and security chiefs that Russian help was on their way. One of his maternal cousins died in an attempt to flee by car to Lebanon.
Aftermath: The Russians are packing up their military equipment, the U.S. is working the diplomatic angles, freed Syrian prisoners are revisiting the site of their nightmares, and the Assad family's denial of links to the narcotics trade looks to be less credible by the minute. Europe can't get rid of its Syrian refugees fast enough, and those refugees are in a difficult position. And where is Austin Tice?

Trump team wants car-crash reporting requirement totaled

At any speed: Tesla opposes a government car-crash reporting requirement. Elon Musk spent a quarter of a billion dollars on Trump's re-election campaign. The new Trump team recommends getting rid of the rule. Read about Musk's efficiency push for the incoming administration and how it might spur tech deals. We also cover the potential effect of U.S. tariffs on the trucking-industry slump and how deportations could affect the restaurant business.
Not at any cost: Trump surfed the wave of tough tariff talk for China, Canada and Mexico to victory. Americans aren't so crazy about those tariffs if they contribute to inflation, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows. China is finding ways to challenge Trump's tariff plans.

UnitedHealth murder suspect wasn't a customer

No prior record: Luigi Mangione was charged with murder for the killing of Brian Thompson in New York City. Many people are donating to his defense, and some are supporting the crime. Executives told the Reuters NEXT conference in New York that healthcare companies are trying to better understand patient experiences after hearing that many Americans are really mad about how hard it can be to receive and pay for medical care.
Getting in with the boss: Bank of America and Goldman Sachs plan to help pay for Trump's inauguration after doing the same in 2017. Amazon is donating $1 million and will air the event on Prime Video. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged the incoming administration to refrain from interfering with bank regulation.

Before I forget…

New prime minister François Bayrou said he faces a Himalaya of a challenge in tackling France's budget deficit. Given that he's President Macron's fourth prime minister in 2024, it's safe to say that Mont Blanc wasn't quite high enough a metaphor.
Speaking of mountains: Israeli troops will spend the winter atop the 2,800-meter-high Mount Hermon (9,186 feet for my fellow Americans), suggesting that Israel will keep its presence in Syria for a while.
Pacific-island nations caught in the U.S.-China tussle for influence hope that the Trump administration stays engaged in the region, but fear confrontation. The U.S. tested a ballistic-missile interception system off Guam. Australia struck a security and economic treaty with Nauru that blocks China's courting efforts.
Georgian lawmakers elected Mikheil Kavelashvili, a critic of the West, as the country's new president, amid protests against the government over a halt to EU accession talks.
Daniel Penny accepted an invitation to join J.D. Vance at the Army-Navy Game after being acquitted of killing a New York City subway rider.
It's probably not the Jersey Devil: The White House, FBI and Homeland Security said they had no evidence that the drones spotted over New Jersey posed national-security or safety threats.

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