Seoul, South Korea (Reuters) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended on Tuesday a Constitutional Court hearing of his impeachment trial where he denied ordering military commanders to drag lawmakers out of parliament during his short-lived bid to impose martial law. Near the start of the hearing, Yoon said he had worked in public service with “a firm commitment ...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to take his country’s ties with Russia to a new level this year in a video conference with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hours after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. The two leaders have made it an annual tradition to speak around the new year – a feature of a close personal rapport ...

Hundreds of same-sex couples are expected to tie the knot across Thailand on Thursday as the country becomes the first in Southeast Asia to recognize marriage equality. The landmark bill marks a momentous win for the LGBTQ+ community, which has fought for more than a decade for the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples. “This could be a model for ...

International pressure is mounting on Thailand – including from the new US administration – over the fate of dozens of Uyghur men held in detention for more than a decade, following reports the Thai government planned to deport the group to China. United Nations experts on Tuesday urged Thailand to “immediately halt the possible transfer,” warning the men were at ...

Ciudad Juarez was meant to be a city of passage for Cabrera and his family, a final stop before their long-awaited moment in front of US immigration authorities to request asylum. For several months, Cabrera had been applying for a shot at having his asylum claim heard by US authorities, while navigating around southern Mexico. In early January, confirmation came ...

Israel’s military is using lessons from the Gaza war in its new West Bank operation to ensure “terrorism does not return,” according to Defense Minister Israel Katz. Katz said operation “Iron Wall” in the Jenin refugee camp would be a shift in the military’s security approach in the occupied West Bank. “A powerful operation to eliminate terrorists and terror infrastructure ...

President Donald Trump isn’t expected to carry through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on the first day of his presidency, a move that economists have warned could lead to higher prices for Americans and hurt U.S. businesses.  Instead, Trump will direct federal agencies to examine different areas of trade policy and recommend actions, according to a person familiar ...

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Tuesday that the U.S. banking industry will embrace cryptocurrencies for payments if regulators allow it. The head of the second largest U.S. bank by assets was asked by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin about how the industry’s approach to crypto could change given President Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for digital currencies. “If the rules come in and make it a real ...

As the Gaza ceasefire takes hold, aid workers caution that the toughest challenges are yet to come, describing the truce as only the first step on a long road to recovery. For humanitarian workers and aid agencies, the road is expected to be long and arduous – with challenges including areas in the north of Gaza that remain hard to ...

A British teenager on Monday pleaded guilty to charges of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in northern England in July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting. Axel Rudakubana, 18, changed his pleas from not guilty to guilty on what was due to be the first day of his trial ...