South African Airways said it had cancelled flights to Perth and Sao Paulo on Thursday after receiving confirmation from the SAA Pilots Association that they planned to strike following a deadlock in pay talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike Ukraine again with a new nuclear-capable ballistic missile following Moscow’s latest widespread attack on critical energy infrastructure.
More than a million households in Ukraine were left without power following the overnight bombardment, authorities in the country said Thursday. It’s Russia’s 11th large-scale assault on Ukraine’s energy supplies this year alone, according to the Energy Ministry in Kyiv, a strategy that has caused nationwide rolling blackouts.
Speaking at a security summit in Kazakhstan Thursday, Putin claimed the overnight attacks were a response to strikes on Russian territory using US-made ATACMS missiles. He also warned he would consider further launches of Russia’s new “Oreshnik” medium-range ballistic missile, first fired at Ukraine’s Dnipro region last week.
“We will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory by Western-made long-range missiles, including the possible continuation of the Oreshnik test in combat conditions,” he said.
Putin also praised US President-elect Donald Trump, describing him as an “intelligent and experienced” politician capable of finding “solutions,” as tensions rise between Moscow and Kyiv’s Western partners.
The Russian leader claimed his forces hit 17 targets, describing them as “military facilities, defense industry facilities and their support systems,” without acknowledging the attacks on power infrastructure. “As I have said many times, there will always be a response from our side (to the use of American ATACMS),” Putin said.
Putin, who has previously said that Moscow considers itself entitled to use weapons against military targets belonging to countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russia, also threatened further strikes.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense is “selecting targets for hitting on Ukrainian territory,” he said. “These could be military facilities, defense industry enterprises or decision-making centers in Kyiv.”
Russia’s use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile, which carries multiple warheads, last week marked a decisive, and potentially dangerous moment in Moscow’s conflict with the West, and may be the first time such a weapon has been used in war.
South Korea is reeling after a whiplash six hours during which the country’s embattled president declared martial law but was forced to lift it amid widespread condemnation, throwing the country’s political landscape into chaos and uncertainty.
The saga began unfolding Tuesday night as most South Koreans prepared to go to sleep – prompting furious lawmakers to force their way past soldiers into parliament to strike down the decree, as protesters demanded President Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal and no return to the country’s painful authoritarian past.
By dawn, the president had caved – agreeing to lift martial law. But experts say he’s dug a political grave; opposition parties are trying to impeach him, police are investigating him for treason, and his own party is trying to oust him.
Questions are still swirling around the future of Yoon’s presidency, his party’s rule, and what happens next in one of the world’s most important economies and a major United States ally.
Here’s what we know.
Yoon declared martial law around 10:30 p.m. local time Tuesday in an unannounced late-night TV address, accusing the country’s main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and of “anti-state” activities.
He also cited a motion by the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach top prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal.
Martial law refers to granting the military temporary rule during an emergency, which the president has the constitutional ability to declare. But the announcement hit like a bombshell, sending shock waves through a democratic nation and sparking an astonishing late-night political showdown.
In a nation with a strong contemporary tradition of free speech, Yoon’s military decree banned all political activities, including protests, rallies, and actions by political parties, according to Yonhap news agency. It also prohibited “denying free democracy or attempting a subversion,” and “manipulating public opinion.”
In the end, the decree only lasted a few hours.
