a very warm welcome to newsday. i'm sumi somaskanda. it's 1:00pm in seoul, after a night of political chaos. calls are growing for south korea's president to step down, after he attempted to impose martial law. politicians rushed to parliament and voted to block the move, before mr yoon dramatically withdrew the order. the leader of president yoon�*s own party, the ruling people power party, says the president and the entire cabinet should resign, and that the defence minister should be sacked. the largest labour union says it's planning to go on strike until he leaves. no signs of that yet, but senior aides — including his chief of

staff — have offered their resignation, according to local news agency had. —— yoonhap. the crisis has alerted many around the world. the us and the uk say they're relieved that the president reversed his decision, but are deeply concerned about what's happening in south korea. our correspondent is in the capital, and sent this report on how it all unfolded. soldiers and police following the orders of a desperate president. locked in a bitter fight with his political rivals and deeply unpopular, yoon suk—yeol took drastic action. translation: suk-yeol took drastic action. translation:— translation: through this martial law. _ translation: through this martial law, i _ translation: through this martial law, i will _ translation: through this martial law, i will build - translation: through this martial law, i will build and | martial law, i will build and protect the free republic of korea, which is falling into the depths of national ruin. within hours, thousands of protesters made it clear they would not comply with what they viewed as an attempted coup.

singing "withdraw the martial law, arrest yoon, "they chanted. translation: i arrest yoon, "they chanted. translation:— arrest yoon, "they chanted. translation: , , ., translation: i believe i should ste - translation: i believe i should step forward _ translation: i believe i should step forward and _ translation: i believe i should step forward and take _ translation: i believe i should step forward and take action. - step forward and take action. things like this should never happen. translation: �* ., . translation: after watching the news, i translation: after watching the news. i felt _ translation: after watching the news, i felt anxious, _ translation: after watching the news, i felt anxious, and - translation: after watching the news, ifelt anxious, and i- news, ifelt anxious, and i also — news, ifelt anxious, and i also thought that this is such also thought that this is such a national shame. clashes broke out as police tried to hold them back, while helicopters thumped overhead. meanwhile, members of the country's national assembly battled their own military to take back their elected seats — getting there in whatever way they could. the vote was unanimous — martial law was overruled, while the country's parliament bore the scars of the evening's chaos. chanting many protesters stayed in place and had to wait hours to hear that, finally, president yoon accepted his brief attempt at military rule was over. translation: military rule was over. tuna/mom- military rule was over. translation: . ., ., ., .,

translation: the declaration of martial law lacks _ translation: the declaration of martial law lacks the _ translation: the declaration of martial law lacks the necessary i martial law lacks the necessary procedural requirements and was void from the outset. south korea is a stable democracy, but it's also a noisy one. and today, its parliament — and its people — roared at the most serious challenge to the country's democracy since the 1980s. the formerforeign minister said the people had shown their strength. my first reaction was this can't be happening to my country. a fractious democracy, but certainly a vibrant and increasingly mature democracy, but for the president to call martial law was just an aberration to me. but over the hours through the night, the parliamentary national assembly doing its part,

the citizens out in the streets calling for this to be withdrawn, and i have to say in the end it demonstrated the democracy in my country is strong and resilient. what would you like to see happen in the days and weeks ahead? that is the big question. i think what is going to happen with the president, who really took this dramatic, political gamble and basically failed. the opposition has already called for him to step down immediately or, if not, they will proceed impeachment procedures in parliament, and i think you can expect that to happen in parliament, so the ball is in the president's court to find a way out of this corner that he himself has put himself in, but looking

at this from the outside, and wanting very much for this crisis to become an opportunity for further maturity of our democracy, for that to be certainly lawful but also civilised, and in a dignified manner that is befitting of the office that he occupies. it was an incredibly bold move. why do you think the president did this? well, he was increasingly unpopular for the way he has dealt with the problems that have been raised with his own conduct and the conduct of the first lady. he blames the opposition party in parliament for blowing these issues out of proportion and asking for special prosecutions on the first lady, impeachment motions for key figures in his government,

passing the budget unilaterally, having taken all of the budget line items from the president's own activities, and these are the surface—level issues that he, i think, was what was putting him into a corner. but when you read his statement, when you listen to his statement declaring martial law, he says there are anti—state forces, north korean communist forces, north korean sympathisers, who are scheming to overthrow the system of governance in south korea — and that is completely out of touch with reality over what the country is going through at this point, over what the country is going through at this point.

so it'sjust indicated how he seems to have created this understanding in a way that's completely detached from reality. briefly if you can — because we're running out of time — you mention north korea and the president mention north korea. it is a dangerous situation with north korea are increasingly becoming involved and with its partnership with russia? what do you expect, in that respect? well, so far, i'm sure the authorities are watching things very carefully but, so far, they have not detected any unusual movement in north korea. the military services are on full alert and ready, as south korea always is in its combined defence posture with the united states. north korea is a constant

threat element that the country always watches very closely and is prepared to deal with any contingencies, but you're also right — that it is increasingly emboldened by the new—found security pact with russia. as the president's announcement came to a shock to those around the world, the country has a history of martial law and military rule. certainly this is unprecedented in south korea contemporary it has been about a0 years since martial law has been declared and that was during a decades long military dictatorship. that ruled the country. south korea has made consolidated democracy since 1990 and right now we can look by so many metrics, procedural democracies, south korea takes all the boxes. able to have institutions to hold officials accountable. we see this most recently in 2017 with the impeachment of the former president

also faced with political scandal and ultimately was impeached and later imprisoned. right now that's the historical precendent we're looking at. in other news, the former chief of staff of the israeli military has accused the army of carrying out ethnic cleansing in northern gaza. he says the military is cleaning the area of arabs. the israel defense forces have rejected the claims, but his remarks highlight deep concerns in israel about the ongoing conflict. now, 160 reserve soldiers have signed a letter, threatening not to serve, or are refusing to go to gaza, unless there's a deal to end the war and bring israeli hostages home. fergal keane has this special

report from jerusalem. allahu, allahu akbar! there was no doubt, then, about reporting for duty. shots fired. israel was under attack. seeing dead bodies on the streets, cars punctured by bullets... i know at least three people that were brutally murdered in the 7th of october. israel is a small country. everyone knows each other. the duty to serve was felt across a wide spectrum ofjewish political and religious life. i went up to our neighbour, and i knocked on his door, asked him, "what's going on?" he said, "don't ask. we got terrorists. "they've infiltrated the country". two of our friends from our village were killed that day. one of them is shani louk. she became quite famous.

it was also like, personally, very hard hitting. _ so i was, like, i knew. so i was, like, i knew. that the military action that the military action was inevitable, and was due, was inevitable, and was due, and wasjustified, in a way, l and wasjustified, in a way, l but i was very worried - but i was very worried - about the shape it might take. about the shape it might take. as images of the attack as images of the attack and the abuse of hostages and the abuse of hostages in gaza spread, some prominent in gaza spread, some prominent israeli public figures israeli public figures were using extreme language. were using extreme language. people were speaking about killing the entire people were speaking about killing the entire population of gaza, speaking population of gaza, speaking about it as if it was some type about it as if it was some type of an academic idea that makes of an academic idea that makes sense, and with this sense, and with this atmosphere, soldiers are entering gaza, you know, atmosphere, soldiers are entering gaza, you know, just a month after their just a month after their friends were butchered. friends were butchered. i think the most horrible i think the most horrible sentence that i heard was, sentence that i heard was, someone said to me someone said to me that the kids that we spared that the kids that we spared in 2014, the last war in gaza, in 2014, the last war in gaza, like, became the terrorists like, became the terrorists of october 7th, of october 7th, which i bet is true which i bet is true for some cases, for some cases, because, you know, some kids because, you know, some kids grew up to be terrorists, but definitely not all of them.

grew up to be terrorists,

it's very tragic. and that can be true while also saying that it is completely the fault of the terrorist regime that rules the gaza strip. the turning point came for one refuser when three hostages were shot dead while walking towards soldiers under a white flag. a soldier opened fire, after reportedly feeling threatened. another disobeyed a ceasefire order. and then i remember thinking, to what level of moral corruption that we got, right, moral decay that we got, that this is something that can happen? and i can also remember thinking, there's just no way this is the first time it happened. it's just the first time that we are hearing about it, because there our hostages, because if the victims were palestinians, wejust would never hear about it. the suffering of palestinians was a constant concern for the refusers we spoke with. 0ne soldier, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, described the abuse of prisoners, not these, that he

says he witnessed. act or's voice: soldiers that i know beat palestinians that| were helpless and could afterwards boast about it to the soldiers in their companies and to their commanders, and people would pretty calmly talk about cases of abuse or even like murder, as if it was technicality, with real serenity. the idf says prisoner abuse is banned, and investigated, if alleged. the refusers are a small group, just scores out of hundreds of thousands of reservists. but polls suggest more israelis want a peace deal to bring hostages home. the refusers we met were caught between worry for the future and hope that, in the long run, palestinians and israelis might find a way to make peace. i think, in this conflict, there are only two sides. not the israeli side and the palestinian side. there is the side that supports

violence, and the side that supports, you know, finding better solutions. it's scarier and scarier every day. it just looks less and less likely that we will, that i will be able, holding the values that i hold, wanting the future that i want for my kids, to live here. with israel under attack on october 7th, there was national solidarity. it hasn't disappeared, but the questioning of the war�*s aims is gathering pace. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. meanwhile, israel's defense minister, israel katz,

has warned that lebanon suffer consequences if maastricht�*s ceasefire between israel and hezbollah collapses. both sides have accused each other of breaching the truce. the us, which broke the agreement with france and is monitoring its compliance said "largely speaking, the ceasefire was holding". deadly israeli strikes in southern lebanon and a mortar attack by hezbollah have raised fears the deal could fall apart. in the syriac, anti—government forces say they have captured around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. in syria, antigovernment forces say they have captured one of the largest military bases on the edge of the city of hama, just 200km north of the capital, damascus. the syrian defence ministry said russian and syrian warplanes were bombarding rebels. last week, a lightning attack threw questions on president assad's grip on power. i'mjoined by president assad's grip on

power. i'm joined by the spokesperson for the white helmets, a volunteer civil defence group operating in syria. great to have you on the programme. many thanks for your time. the syrian conflict, amidst everything else that's been going on in the middle east, is something of a forgotten conflict. what's been happening on the ground, and how many casualties are you seeing? how many casualties are you seeinu ? ., , ., how many casualties are you seeinu ? .,, ., ., seeing? over the last four or five days. — seeing? over the last four or five days, the _ seeing? over the last four or five days, the death - seeing? over the last four or five days, the death toll- seeing? over the last four or five days, the death toll has| five days, the death toll has reached more than 100 civilian casualties, and the injured is more than 300, including children and women. four hospitals are out of service because of the bombing in idlib city. here in aleppo city, a city hospital was targeted by an air strike and resulted in the death of more than ten

people, injuring others. also, there was an attack on the west entrance of aleppo city three days ago, resulting in the death of more than ten people. all of that is happening in a time that the areas that we have access to, we are trying to set a precedent and help people to their homes. but some civilians go without any notice and there are many subordinates in those villages and cities. we lost many civilians in this way. they're trying to get back to hour homes. some civilians were killed by that. four of them were injured two days ago in ordnance which was loaded.

as white helmets, we start our programmes in the aleppo city. our vehicles or staff are 0ur vehicles or staff are trying to recover from the bombings that have been over the last three days helping the city... if the last three days helping the ci . ., , , city... ifi could 'ust “ump in... i i city... ifi could 'ust “ump me i city... ifi couldjust “ump in... i do apologise h city... ifi couldjustjump in... i do apologise for i in... i do apologise for interrupting. this latest offensive has been a real surprise to many. did you think the rebels had this much firepower left? we /* taste the rebels had this much firepower left? we /" we didn't know - firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it _ firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it was _ firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it was overnight - firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it was overnight so, . know — it was overnight so, somehow, we were surprised by the scale of bombing and the first day after the clashes,

they were bombing everywhere in they were bombing everywhere in the countryside. all the countryside in idlib — many locations were bombed at the same time as we called on every frontier to go to the field and to help respond in each area that we have access to. fik. that we have access to. ok. we'll leave _ that we have access to. ok. we'll leave have _ that we have access to. ok. we'll leave have to - that we have access to. ok. we'll leave have to leave i that we have access to. ok. we'll leave have to leave it | we'll leave have to leave it there. spokesperson for the white helmets, joining us from north—western syria. georgia's constitutional court has rejected an opposition lawsuit seeking to overturn the result of parliamentary elections in october, which saw the georgian dream party returned to office. thousands of people are back on the streets of the georgian capital for a sixth night of protests. demonstrators say the government is making georgia more authoritarian and

returning it to russia's orbit. they are also angered by the prime minister saying he would delay talks onjoining prime minister saying he would delay talks on joining the eu until 2028. delay talks on joining the eu until2028. police delay talks on joining the eu until 2028. police again used water cannon to clear the streets outside parliament. nearly 300 people have been arrested over the past few days. our correspondent sent this report from tbilisi. chanting. on this side, there are riot police, who are hiding. you can just see their helmets. these protesters are saying, "come out, come out!" day six of mass protests in georgia, in the capital tbilisi, but a completely different feel to it today, because the lights are switched off at the parliament building, the lights in the streets are dimmed, and there are no fireworks. fireworks have really become one of the features of this protest movement, but today, the authorities have restricted

— severely restricted — the sale of any fireworks or pyrotechnics across the city. some of the protesters are trying to confront the police, and asking them, "why have they used so much "violence over the past few days?" there are more than 250 people that have been detained throughout these protests here in tbilisi, and there's a lot of evidence of police brutality, of beatings and humiliation of those who have been detained. how long can it last for? how much energy do you have to...? until we get our country back, because every single one of the citizens of georgia here standing don't want to be russian, don't want a pro—russian government, and we're going to fight till the end. 0ligarch, who is governing this party, russian dream...

i cannot call them georgian dream. it's not georgian dream. it's a russian dream. this is it. their days are counted. georgian dream'sj days are counted. this has to end. these protests were sparked by the government's decision to turn its back on europe, and for many of the people who are here, this is unacceptable. they believe that they're standing here now for their country's democracy, and they're demanding new elections, and they want to see this country return onto its european path. cheering and whistling do stay with bbc news for the very latest developments on south korea. you'll find plenty more information on our website. we're running a live page there. we do have teams on the ground in seoul. the latest lines coming through are that the president has officially

lifted the martial law and that the president's chief of staff and other officials have tendered their resignation. plenty more news at the top of the hour. do stay with bbc news. thanks for watching. hello, there. wednesday promises to be another fairly settled day, with some sunshine around, albeit on the cool side, but we'll start to see some changes later on wednesday, and as we push towards the end of the week, it'll turn milder, but that's because we'll start to see wet and windy weather spreading off the atlantic from the south west. colder weather, though, will return by the end of the weekend, and that colder theme will last into the new week. now, we've had this weather front spreading across northern areas, clearer skies behind it. that will allow temperatures

to dip, so there is an ice risk across some central and northern parts of the uk to start wednesday. plenty of sunshine around, a bit of cloud and fog for the midlands, into wales, that should tend to break up. later in the day, though, it'll start to turn milder, wetter and windier out west, with gales developing for the hebrides, so the best of the sunshine will tend to be through central and eastern areas through the afternoon. it's here where we'll see the lowest temperatures. it will be turning milder, with the wet and windy weather, out west, you can see there, into double figures. that wet and windy weather spreads across all areas, as we move through wednesday night, with gales, even severe gales, developing in northwest scotland, up to 70 mph winds here, but it will be ushering in some milder air, certainly for england and wales, into double figures by the end of the night. further north, though, something a little bit cooler. so that cluster of weather fronts, strong winds, pushes through. we see a window of fine weather to start thursday, before the next weather system moves in during the day.

so we will start with some sunshine across the country, but it won't last. as we head into the afternoon, we'll start to see the next batch of wet and windy weather pushing into northern and western areas. some heavy bursts of rain, as you can see there, across scotland, northern ireland, maybe northern england, and again, it'll be windy. but a mild day to come, with temperatures in double figures, for most, for thursday afternoon. so that moves through during thursday night, wet and windy weather. then we're in a run of north—westerly winds. it'll be quite cool, i think, feeding in some showers, mainly into northern and western parts of scotland. there will be a wintry element to them over the higher ground. it will turn cloudier, further south and east, and we look to the south west, this deepening area of low pressure, which is likely to bring a spell of very windy and wet weather to england and wales, later on friday, and into the start of saturday. so that wet, very windy weather eventually clears away on saturday from southern areas, and then it'll be colder on sunday and beyond, with strong, northerly winds. take care.

south korea's financial authority steps in after a dramatic night of political turmoil in asia's fourth—largest economy. they look to reassure investors. and south korean stocks are trading lower this morning. we will bring you all the news on the region's financial markets and reactions from around the world. hello and welcome to business today. i'm suranjana tewari. investors are processing a dramatic night in north korea after president yoon shop declaration of martial law

before he you turned hours later. the country �*s main labor union has called for an indefinite general strike until the president resigns. calls for his impeachment are growing. south korea's finance ministry and central bank have plugged to billions of dollars of funds to stabilise financial markets. markets are currently trading lower with the benchmark kospi index down i.7i%. the benchmark kospi index down 1.71%. the korean currency fell after a choppy night reacting to events and south korea. more from an a—listers —— analyst from an a—listers —— analyst from the economist intelligence unit. your reaction in terms of the regional impact of what happened in south korea overnight? i happened in south korea overnight?— happened in south korea overniuht? , , overnight? i think i've because we know there _ overnight? i think i've because we know there have _ overnight? i think i've because we know there have been - overnight? i think i've because we know there have been very| we know there have been very dramatic and it all happened within 12 hours. i would say