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American Lithium Announces Intention to Voluntarily Delist Its Common Shares From Nasdaq Capital MarketTikTok files legal challenge of federal government’s shutdown orderAP News Summary at 6:33 p.m. EST
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean legislative push to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law fell through on Saturday after most lawmakers from his conservative governing party boycotted the vote. The defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals. Impeaching Yoon required support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn’t reach 200. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Most ruling party lawmakers were boycotting a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority sought by the opposition to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law , as protests grew nationwide calling for his removal. The likely defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing presidency to liberals. Impeaching Yoon would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats, meaning they need at least eight additional votes from Yoon’s People Power Party. The opposition-controlled parliament began a vote earlier Saturday, but only three lawmakers from PPP took part with opposition members. If the number of lawmakers who cast ballots doesn’t reach 200, the motion will be scrapped at midnight without the ballot counting, according to the National Assembly. Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday. There are worries that Yoon won’t be able to serve out his remaining 2 1/2 years in office because his leadership took a huge hit. Many experts say some ruling party lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further. If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik urged ruling party members to return to the chamber to participate in the vote, stressing that it was closely watched by the nation and also the world. “Don’t make a shameful judgment and please vote based on your convictions,” Woo said. Democratic Party leaders visited a hall on the floor below the main chamber where PPP lawmakers were gathered, attempting to persuade them to vote. After being blocked from entering, they angrily accused the conservatives' leadership of preventing its lawmakers from voting freely. Earlier Saturday, Yoon issued a public apology over the martial law decree, saying he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose martial law. He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.” “The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.” The turmoil resulting from Yoon’s bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners like the U.S. and Japan. Tuesday night saw special forces troops encircling the parliament building and army helicopters hovering over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon’s martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers. Yoon’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term, instead of accepting impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marital law and facilitate Yoon’s early exit from office. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “greatly disappointing” and that the only way forward is his immediate resignation or impeachment. His party called Yoon’s martial law “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.” The passage of Yoon’s impeachment motion appeared more likely Friday when the chair of Yoon’s party called for his removal on Friday, but the party remained formally opposed to impeachment. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people densely packed several blocks of roads leading up to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing along to K-pop songs with lyrics changed to call for Yoon’s ouster. Protesters also gathered in front of PPP’s headquarters near the Assembly, angrily shouting for its lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon. A smaller crowd of Yoon’s supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied in separate streets in Seoul, decrying the impeachment attempt they saw as unconstitutional. Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate stock price manipulation allegations surrounding Yoon’s wife. Some lawmakers from Yoon’s party were seen leaving the hall after that vote, triggering angry shouts from opposition lawmakers. On Friday, PPP chair Han Dong-hun, who criticized Yoon’s martial law declaration, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities.” Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians. The targeted politicians included Han, Lee and Woo, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting. The Defense Ministry said Friday it suspended three military commanders including the head of the defense counterintelligence unit over their involvement in enforcing martial law. Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho has told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending to Yoon to enforce martial law. Kim resigned Thursday, and prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him. Kim Tong-hyung And Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
Two PUNCH journalists, Olugbon Saheed and Segun Odunayo, have been nominated for the 2024 Journalists of the Year Award by the Africa Media Development Foundation. They are shortlisted for the photo and print categories, respectively. They are among the 11 finalists that made the list. The AMDF award which recognises outstanding journalism that has made a significant impact on development issues across Africa, covers various media categories — photo, print, online, television and radio journalism, according to a statement issued on Friday by the Executive Director, AMDF, Sekyen Dadik. “The finalists, chosen from a highly competitive pool of submissions, have demonstrated exceptional skill, dedication and commitment to reporting on critical issues that affect the continent,” the statement partly read. Finalists for the 2024 AMDF Journalist of the Year Award include: Photo Category: • Ayodele Isaac — The Nation Newspaper, Nigeria. • Olugbon Saheed — The Punch Newspaper, Nigeria. Print Category: Related News PUNCH journalists shine at Africa media awards Lagos policemen torture PUNCH journalists for covering #EndSARS protests PUNCH journalists shine at WAMECA awards • Nyima Sillah — The Voice Newspaper, Gambia. • Segun Odunayo — The Punch Newspaper, Nigeria. • Taiwo Alimi — The Nation Newspaper, Nigeria. Online Category: • Abdulraheed Hammad — The Cable, Nigeria. • Arinze Chizioke — Ripples Nigeria. • Kei Duku — One Citizen Newspaper, South Sudan. Television Category: • Adeyemi Adekunle — Lens Africa TV, Nigeria. • Chernor Mustapha — Apex Multi-Media Co-op, Sierra Leone. • Ibrahim Ismail — Trust TV, Nigeria. However, the statement noted that none of the entries in the radio category met the minimum required standard outlined in the call for entry. The winners and runners-up will be announced during the Africa Conference on Development Journalism, which will be held from December 4-5, 2024, in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The event will also bring together journalists, media professionals and stakeholders to discuss the role of journalism in driving development and social change in Africa. “We are incredibly proud of all the finalists and their contributions to journalism. Their work exemplifies the importance of holding powerful interests to account and shedding light on critical issues that impact our communities,” Dadik said.MIAMI (AP) — The NBA is urging its players to take additional precautions to secure their homes following reports of recent high-profile burglaries of dwellings owned by Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis , Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr. and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo the NBA sent to its team officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the league revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Conley's home was broken into on Sept. 15 when he was at a Minnesota Vikings game and jewelry was taken, officials told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Portis said his home was broken into on Nov. 2 and has offered a $40,000 reward for information related to the incident. The homes of Mahomes and Kelce were broken into within days of each other last month, according to law enforcement reports, and the NFL issued a similar warning memo to its teams this week. The NBA memo, relaying information from the FBI, said the theft rings “are primarily focused on cash and items that can be resold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches, and luxury bags.” The NBA, which has also been giving guidance to team security personnel, recommended that players install updated alarm systems with cameras and utilize them whenever leaving the home, keeping valuables in locked and secured safes, remove online real estate listings that may show interior photos of a home, “utilize protective guard services” during extended trips from the home and even suggested having dogs assist with home protection. “Obviously, it’s frustrating, disappointing, but I can’t get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing,” Mahomes recently said. “But, obviously, something you don’t want to happen to anybody, but obviously yourself.” One of the break-ins involving the Chiefs players happened on a game day — Oct. 7 — and Portis was also playing a game when his home was robbed. “They took most of my prized possessions,” Portis said. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
ISRO's SpaDeX mission aims to achieve a historic Space Docking Feat on December 30
Houston Astros welcome 1B Christian Walker to team; say negotiations with Bregman stalledIf your New Year's resolution is to drink less alcohol, Life Kit is here to help. Sign up for our Dry January newsletter series , and get tips and strategies to help you stay alcohol-free for a month. Start your journey any time. Thinking about trying Dry January? Giving up alcohol for a month can be a challenge, both personally and socially. What's going to replace that nice glass of wine after work? What do you say if a friend asks why you're not drinking at happy hour? To help you understand what to expect when taking a break from alcohol and how Dry January works, Life Kit talked to Casey Davidson, a sobriety coach and the host of The Hello Someday Podcast for Sober Curious Women , and George Koob , director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. They shared science-backed insights about how a short break from alcohol can affect the body and mind, as well as strategies to make this mini New Year's resolution a success. What to expect when taking a break from alcohol ... ... in the first few days If you decide to quit alcohol for a month, you may have a rough first few days, depending on how much you drink, says Koob. You may experience hangover symptoms like headache, gastrointestinal issues and fatigue. But in about three to seven days, you should start to feel better, he says. You may notice that you are sleeping better, have more energy and feel less irritable. As you settle into your break from alcohol and "rewire your reward system to other ways of relaxing, finding joy or connecting with other people," says Davidson, you may feel "more joy and excitement about life." ... after a few weeks You may be wondering: Before I go through all this effort to give up alcohol for a month, will taking a break actually do anything for my health? According to research, yes. A handful of studies point to some benefits of abstinence for even moderate drinkers . Let's walk through a few of them and see what kinds of changes you might expect. 🛏️ Your sleep may improve According to a 2016 study of 857 British people who participated in Dry January, 62% reported better sleep after giving up alcohol for a month. While alcohol may initially sedate you, "the pendulum swings in the opposite direction and wakes you up" as it leaves your system, says Michael Grandner , a psychologist and sleep researcher at the University of Arizona. It makes your sleep "shallow, choppy and broken up." ⚖️ You may shed some pounds In 2018, researchers in Britain compared health outcomes of a group of people who agreed to stop drinking for a month with the health of a group that continued to consume alcohol. "They found that at the end of that month — just after one month — people, by and large, lost some weight," says Aaron White , the senior scientific adviser to the director at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 🌞 Your skin may clear up Studies have shown that alcohol isn't great for your skin. Drinking can make you more prone to sunburn , melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer, and it may trigger or worsen your risk for psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Take a break from alcohol with Life Kit. Sign up for our limited-run newsletter series for Dry January. Start your one-month alcohol-free journey any time. How to take a break from alcohol ✍️ Start by writing a list of pros and cons Ask yourself what role alcohol plays in your life — and be honest with yourself, says Davidson. Do you rely on alcohol to help you wind down from a stressful day at work or get you through social functions? "When you write down what you think alcohol is helping you with, it gives you a good list of things you can experiment with to find other ways to meet those needs," says Davidson. It can also help you understand why you're taking a break. 🍾 Move your alcohol out of sight Remove any cues associated with alcohol if possible, says Koob. Being around alcohol can elicit cravings, so try to minimize that desire to drink as much as possible. If you usually display your special liquors on a bar cart in the living room, "put all your alcohol in the pantry," says Koob, "in the back." Or consider giving it away. You can always replenish your stock at the end of your alcohol-free month. 📅 Fill up your social calendar with alcohol-free activities Meeting up for a drink is a common way to hang out with friends. But if you aren't drinking, you'll need to come up with other ways to socialize. "There are so many things you can do that don't involve drinking," says Davidson. Instead of going to that brunch place that offers endless mimosas, meet at a cool coffee shop. Instead of going to happy hour with your work besties, take a group spin class. "Sometimes a drink is just shorthand for 'I want to hang out with you,'" says Davidson. So use your break from alcohol as an opportunity to try new activities. 🎁 Give yourself a "sober treat" every day for the first two weeks Make the transition into an alcohol-free lifestyle a little easier on yourself with "sober treats," says Davidson. They're "nice things you do for yourself that give you something to look forward to." That might mean a pedicure at the end of your day instead of a big glass of wine. Sushi and a movie instead of a big night on the town. Or blocking off an hour on your calendar to take a walk through a neighborhood or park you love, just because it feels good. "We are conditioned to think about alcohol as our well-earned reward for a hard day," says Davidson. But there are plenty of rewards out there "that don't leave you with a hangover." Sign up for Life Kit's Guide to Dry January . It's a free, limited-run newsletter series that offers expert strategies and best practices on how to give up alcohol for a whole month. Start your journey any time. A quick note: If alcohol is causing you stress or harm, seek medical advice. There are a variety of treatments, including counseling, medications and support groups, to help people who want to end that dependency. This includes Alcoholics Anonymous, which has helped countless people. This guide from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism can help you find a program that's right for you. The digital story was edited by Meghan Keane and Clare Marie Schneider. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org. Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify , and sign up for our newsletter .There’s a notion in the film industry that comedies don’t travel. Jokes have a regional audience, and humor gets lost in translation, the thinking goes. But director Matthew Rankin thinks more of audiences than that. His new film, “ Universal Language ,” was selected by Canada as the country’s submission for the Oscars’ international feature category, but you’d be forgiven if you were unable to place it. Set in an alternate Great White North where Tim Hortons coffee shops are Persian tea houses and the principal language is Farsi (but Quebec is still French, because of course it is), Rankin’s film gently imagines a world without cinematic borders: an absurdist but warm-hearted vision that has disoriented and delighted festival audiences since its premiere in the Director’s Fortnight section at Cannes. “As much as we don’t think of it as a political film, there is something radical to this gesture,” Rankin says on a Zoom call. “One thing that struck us is that Canadian viewers who might have very little knowledge of Iran, and Iranian viewers that might have very little knowledge of Canada, have both said to us that they find the film makes them feel nostalgic. That’s something that we found really touching.” Rankin is calling from his native Winnipeg, seated next to his two friends and co-writers, Ila Firouzabadi and Pirouz Nemati. “Universal Language” was a decade-long project for the trio, with roots tracing back to Rankin and Nemati’s time shooting “propaganda films” for Canada’s national parks. Drawing comparisons to other transnational oddities like Jim Jarmusch’s “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” and Takeshi Kitano’s “Brother,” the trio see their own feature in the same tradition of fusing far-flung cinematic influences. It’s a driving force for the countless sight gags of “Universal Language”: Winnipeg’s ubiquitous real estate brand Lord Rodney becomes “Rodney Khan” and a mural of Justin Trudeau is adorned with Farsi words reading “a strong economy limits feelings of worthlessness.” But beyond the humor, there’s a playful reflexivity to the entire film — an approach that Rankin and company say takes inspiration from Iranian filmmakers like Abbas Kiarostami. “There’s an effort to remind you that there is an element of artifice at play,” Rankin says, before illustrating with a very Canadian metaphor. “In the West, the hockey game is the ultimate incarnation of how we typically shoot films. Follow the puck, wherever the action is. When it’s my turn to speak, the camera is on me. When you speak, the camera turns on you. But in a lot of these Iranian films, the person listening is more interesting than the person who’s speaking.” “It does take some acclimatization, but once you catch the rhythm and absurdity it leads you somewhere,” Rankin continues. “And it’s always interesting when people do catch it. Not everybody does at the same spot.” And as Kiarostami would occasionally appear in his own movies, Rankin does as well here, putting some autobiographical skin in the game. Firouzabadi and Nemati insisted that the director play the scripted version of himself, whose arc involves a Winnipeg homecoming to visit his mother. It’s a particularly painful storyline; Rankin’s own parents died during the height of the COVID pandemic. “It’s a very vulnerable place to be, but it could not have been anybody else,” Nemati says. “Acting is already so difficult, but acting in a different language that is your own — it’s another level.” “That’s the first time you say that,” Rankin says with a laugh. “I was cast when everyone else was cast. I was trying to give myself a break by entertaining the notion that some other actor could play me better than me. But we determined that the theme would be more energized if it’s really me playing this fraudulent version of myself. Even the idea that I might be badly cast playing myself was something that I found to be funny.” Rankin was hardly the only newcomer to screen acting. Nemati plays a Winnipeg tour guide, a profession Rankin’s father once held. And Firouzabadi appears as a punk bus driver. Much of the cast is populated by their loved ones, who they found to be camera-ready in their own ways. “What we discovered was teachers are amazing performers,” Nemati says. “They’re performing in front of a class all the time.” “These are our family, our community, our friends who are in it,” Firouzabadi says, going on to discuss how two young characters went from being scripted as a boy and girl to two sisters in the final film. “In Farsi, we don’t have ‘she’ and ‘he’. We have just او (“ ooo ”) — it means them. This movie for us, when we’re talking about it and the process of the writing for us, was something exactly like ‘ ooo .’” “As much as it’s surreal, I feel like it’s actually a very realistic depiction of our lives,” Rankin says. “The blending of codes and realities — that’s part of all of us. As much as the world might like to organize itself into rigid, sealed-off Tupperware containers, our lives together are infinitely more fluid than that.” RANKIN: She is a brilliant actor. She was in this movie called “Aline,” where she plays Celine Dion’s mother and she was just spectacular. She was my acting teacher a long time ago and she just absolutely fascinated me. She always used a lot of very sexual language in all of her directing. She’s got a very dirty mind, in the best way. She’s a beloved actor in Quebec. There was no other person that we had in mind for that part. RANKIN: I believe the mall in the film is about to be demolished. If I recall correctly, in the script, the fountain in it was going to launch. But then they told us that it was a $10,000 fix to repair to make that happen. The nature of the scene kind of changed because of reality. And then, the zigzag staircase building — there are several buildings like that in Winnipeg, but getting access to them was almost impossible. In fact, we got access to that one only a half-hour before we were supposed to shoot. NEMATI: We did a few takes. The last one where everything went well — the moment you reach the top of the stairs, there were two girls who came out of the apartment. So we... kept quiet. RANKIN: They were ready to go clubbing. But that was our little tribute to “Where Is the Friend’s House?” The zigzag staircase. RANKIN: I’m skeptical of cinema as a simulacrum, which the arc of film history is bent very much towards. Silent film to sound film, black and white to color, E.T. being played by a puppet to being corrected digitally by Steven Spielberg to make it more realistic — the arc is towards making cinema as credible as possible. But when we embrace the artifice of cinema, it actually opens up new expressive possibilities, new ways of making images that normally we have resisted. My feeling is the space of the simulacrum is migrating into AI and video games and virtual reality. That actually opens up new ways of image-making. It’s kind of like what happened to painting when the photograph was invented. Painting was no longer imprisoned. The purpose of paint was not to imitate reality as perfectly as possible. We can sort of acknowledge that it’s paint and there’s new modes that get explored. I feel like the same thing will happen to cinema. That’s part of the strategy at work here: defying the simulacrum and finding new things to be said that it can’t. It’s Iranian poetic cinema with Winnipeg surrealism and Quebecois melancholy. But in my heart, that crossover is a reflection of how we live together.Ogun Airport: Redefining Aerotropolis Possibility
