♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. brett: you know as someone coming out of college it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" >> i'm sumi somaskanda in

washington, and this is bbc world news america. political chaos in south korea. the president declares he is lifting martial law after implementing it just hours earlier. uncertainty remains. and fears of the cease-fire between hezbollah and israel could collapse as both sides accused each other of reaching the truths -- breaching the truce. ♪ a very warm welcome to world news america. a dramatic turn of events in south korea. president yoon said he will lift in order to impose martial law that he declared just a few hours ago, throwing the country into political turmoil. he confirmed army forces have been withdrawn. protesters who gathered to demonstrate against the sudden introduction of military rule are now celebrating the sudden

reversal. earlier, thousands of protesters clashed with police at they tried to get into the national assembly building. some broke through barricades and climbed defenses to get inside the building. there were scuffles between police and protesters outside. inside, his earlier decision to impose martial law was to protect south korea from what he described as "north korean communist forces," blaming his country's political opposition, but less than two hours after the shocking move from all 190 members of parliament defied the president and voted to block the imposition of martial law. this is the first time the south korean president has declared martial law since the country transformed its government in 19 87, restoring democratic rule. i spoke to our correspondent laura bicker on the ground in seoul. here's what she said. laura: the protesters have been here all night. we are waking up here in seoul to a new day. you can hear behind me that they are determined to ice president yoon after he declared martial law.

within the last few hours, president yoon has accepted that his bid for military rule has been overturned. the news was greeted with tears from protesters here. they say they will remain for now, and we've heard more gatherings can be planned across seoul. what we are hearing tonight is that there may be proceedings underway to try to increase president yoon if he does not stand down. this is a south korean leader whose political career is now on the brink. it is difficult to see how he survives this. the other big question that many people here are asking is, why did he do this? because this is already a deeply unpopular president. this is someone who could not get anything through parliament. you can see that this was a very drastic move that was, as we've seen, it was democratically overthrown.

he did not have the vote in parliament. so when it comes to this kind of a drastic move, it is difficult to see the logic behind it. one key question, and the next key question is what happens next? will he stand down, or will he be impeached? that is what the people here are waiting to see. sumi: how surprising for this is -- how surprising is this for south korea, a stable democracy? laura: it is a stable democracy come of it is also come as you hear, a very noisy one. and it is also one where they do tend to prosecute their presidents. their presidents get in trouble quite often. he of the last four presidents have been charged with various charges, including corruption and bribery. that goes back to 2016, when president haigh was impeached,

so there is a record of presidents getting into trouble. that may be why i come i've been hearing from a number of people, it may be why president yoon felt the need to take these drastic measures. he is in trouble. his wife is being investigated for corruption charges, and i think the fear of prosecution is becoming a pill that many politicians wheeled in south korea, and it just may be why he took this drastic action. sumi: the white house issued a statement saying it is relieved that president yoon reversed course. south korea is a critical u.s. ally. more than 30,000 american troops are stationed there. our correspondent tom bateman is with us. tell us more about what the u.s. has been saying about all of this? tom: well, as you said, relieved about this, pointing out that

the democracy is the foundation of the u.s.-south korea relationship. when i went into the state department building here in washington this morning, the sense from officials was that this was a complete surprise and shock about this. they were caught off guard. no one was expecting it. and given the fact that this is a very profound u.s. in mind in that region, you mentioned the military alliance, there was a very broad range defense pact between the u.s. and south korea, basically about vowing to defend south korea against any attack from its nuclear-armed neighbor in the north. they had a relationship of trust with their leadership. i think they were caught off guard, surprised. there will be a lot of concern about the fact that president yoon simply announced this without telling the americans, without giving any warning. it has been a very destabilizing day, not just in south korea,

but really for this very crucial relationship. sumi: yeah. you mentioned it is a crucial relationship, not just on military terms. why isn't south korea such a strategic partner for the u.s.? tom: well, in the region, the relationship between north korea and the u.s., so america sees that as a stalwart against that. that's why they vowed to defend south korea against the north and help with that. but it also goes much broader than that in terms of the region could what we see in the biden administration do his will continue to try and build what they see as an alliance of regional allies, stretching from seoul to tokyo and other key partners of the u.s. in the region. to try come in their view, to stop with acs and increasing china. -- what they see as an increasing china. sumi: tom, thank you for that

report today. secretary of state for east asia and and south pacific pacific affairs, daniel russell, thank you for being on our program today. how do you think about the actions today? daniel: it is shocking. helping troops back in the barracks, no casualties among demonstrators. one take away is the strength and resilience of korea's democratic institutions and its civil society, but the nation of south korea may have dodged a bullet, but i'm afraid that president yoon may have shot himself in the foot. sumi: tell us more about what you think is behind president yoon's decision, because we've heard him mention described north korean communist forces and blaming the opposition. what exactly does this say? daniel: i thought in reference

to the threat from north korea and north korean activists, communist forces, forcing to take the decision and martial law decree was pretty far-fetched, but you can be often certain that now north korea is in fact licking his chops that is going to take advantage of any and all political instability of turmoil in the south. could he have imagined that this could be a catalyst? low support rates among the public but absolute gridlock, a scorched-earth policy by the opposition, and the legislature was unable to get the budget passed, was unable to get anywhere and fix the initiative against him and against many people in the administration after another. now, of course, impeachment

looks like a much more realistic if not inevitable next step. sumi: what do you think this tell us about south korean politics right now? as you said, it appears that the current constellation of government led to a complete impasse. daniel: yes, there is a vicious polarization in the korean political community, and that they have been utterly unable to find any common ground and to reconcile differences. i think all democracies need to take a lesson from that and remind themselves that the essence of democracy is compromised to find purpose and support in the interest of a country. by the same token, as i said, the fact is that korean institutions, they work, they

are strong. and the fact that the national assembly, the legislature unanimously rejected the martial law decree, and the fact that the troops maintained restraint and ultimately went back to barracks, and the fact that the president succeeded his judgment that he had exceeded his authority regarding the cabinet to repeal the martial law decree is the sign of a healthy political institution. sumi: what do you see happening next? you mentioned you see an impeachment as very likely. daniel: yeah. i think we should see political turbulence, demonstrations, whether korea wrestles with impeachment or conceivably president yoon stepping down.

this present serious challenges for the united states can we have a lot riding on our alliance with soul and political stability is something that -- seoul, and political stability is something that we really need. if he steps down, there is an interim period, followed by snap elections, and they are off to the races. we see in this movie before inbee park administration. sumi: we have to leave it they are, but daniel, thank you so much for joining us. israel's defense minister has warned lebanon will suffer consequences if the cease-fire between israel and hezbollah collapses. the u.s., which brokered the agreement with france and is monitoring its compliance, said largely spoke -- largely speaking, the cease-fire is holding. there are fears that it could fall apart.

jon: when is a cease-fire not a cease-fire? that is the ambiguous shaky ground on which it is real now find themselves. the americans who brokered this cease-fire deal along with the french a matter of days ago, they say the cease-fire is still in place, and the breaches, if you like, or just initial inevitable teething problems in the initial days of this cease-fire. but given that we have at least 11 people killed in lebanon yesterday in israeli strikes, two mortars fired out of southern lebanon toward israel as well, it does feel like it could easily step back into full-scale war. we had coming from the defense minister saying if hezbollah of restarts the war, then israel will hit back hard, and it will not just be against hezbollah, it will be against the whole

state of lebanon. so what israel is trying to do there is put pressure on the lebanese government to rein hezbollah in. to be honest, the ball is now and hezbollah's court. how they respond to that loss of life in lebanon yesterday, given that their leadership has been absolutely ravaged by the recent months of conflicts, do they feel ready to let this war resume, or will they step back? sumi: meanwhile, israel's military campaign in gaza continues with medics killing at least 23 palestinians across the strip on tuesday. most of the strikes hit north and gaza city, where at least six were killed when a school being used as a shelter was struck. israeli forces also on tuesday issued evacuation orders to residents in the southern city of khan younis. all of gaza's 2.3 million people are now displaced.

becoming a midwife or nurse was one of the only forms of higher education available for women and afghanistan, but now the taliban has reportedly banned female students from enrolling for medical training. local media says the ministry of health ordered institutions not to register a female students. video post on social media showed women at multiple colleges protesting against the van. afghanistan has long had one of the highest maternal rates of deaths in the world with one woman dying every hour due to pregnancy and childbirth complications. the bbc's caroline hawley reports. carolyn: and this is what it means to them. these medical students have shown up to class as usual today, only to be sent home. several women has spoken to the ebc and you can hear their despair. >> they don't even let us breathe.

let us breathe. let us study. caroline: up until last year, some women risked arrest, going out to the streets, demanding their freedom to be returned. it has now become too dangerous to do this. but women still want their voices heard. ♪ this was a protest of medical students today, singing aloud, in defiance of taliban rule, when they found out their classes were canceled. and another protest. their faces are hidden but their message is clear. their hearts, they say, are broken. sumi: joe biden is in sub-saharan africa for the first time in his presidency before his term in the white house comes to an end. he's in angola, were on tuesday he visited a museum dedicated to the history of the transatlantic slave trade. the president described as america's original sin.

some of the first african states came to the -- his goal is focus on american investment. in goal is a major hub for mineral exports from across west africa. both china and the u.s. are competing to get access to those resources. since taking power in 2017, angola has been pushed to the west, signing onto a u.s.-backed corridor from a network of roadways that would span africa from coach to coast -- coast-to-coast, linking many into ports on the indian and atlantic ocean. they are investing -- they hope investing in infrastructure will give them an edge over china in the competition for minerals needed for electronics and clean energy. at a speech at the capital, mr. biden hailed the project as a game changer. pres. biden: we will not openly

generate significant employment, it will also allow individual countries to maximize domestic resources to the benefits of their people and it still critical minerals that power the world's energy transformation in our fight against climate change and transport that at a fraction of the time and lower cost. take over 45 days will now take 45 hours. that is a game changer. that increases profit and opportunity. it represents the right way to invest. the full partnership with the country and its people. sumi: our senior african correspondent and soy -- anne soy has the latest. anne: president biden is here to highlight the reset of u.s. policy. for the first time, the u.s. is investing heavily in infrastructure, basically taking

the battle to china. china has been around for the last two decades. they have invested in real rates and -- railways and ports, and now the u.s. are investing in that. president biden has met with his hosts, and he did say that america is all in on africa, repeating the words he told heads of state at the end of 2022, when he promised to visit the consummate. he said they do not have all the answers, despite being bigger and perhaps more powerful, so he's hoping to listen also to his hosts and to try to find answers to some of the challenges, including africa's debt burden. sumi: for more on u.s. and chinese investment in africa, i spoke to a democrat from illinois, a ranking member on the house committee on china. congressman, president biden

visit in an effort to counter chinese influence in africa, what do you think of the massive railway project the president biden announced will do? rep. krishnamoorthi: i think it is a game changer. the chinese government actually tried to find a rehabilitation of that particular railway in 2017, but it was so shoddy that there are almost 10 accidents per year, and this is just an example of what happens when you bring the ccp, the chinese communist party come into the development game. they bring something called the belt and wrote initiative, which we call debt trap diplomacy. so this rehabilitation attempt failed, then the angolans turned to the europeans and americans to try to salvage this project. so now we are working on it, and we are working on a in a way that will help angolans but also

help the world, since angola is such a source of critical minerals necessary for everything from the green revolution to semiconductor chips. sumi: at the same time, china has already poured billions of dollars into the bells and wrote initiative, as you know. it has focused on infrastructure across africa for years. not looking at the specific railway project will more broadly, is the u.s. late to the game? rep. krishnamoorthi: we are late, but we are catching up. and i think that one of the reasons why african countries are turning to the u.s. and europe and other places is because of the a shoddy nature of the belt and wrote initiative project, the fact that they come with a lot of debt, and the fact that there's a lot of corruption involved with these particular projects. there's a reason a lot of people call the ccp the ultimate predator creditor. so that we have to get in the game, because these projects have to be built, these roadways

have to be rehabilitated, and americans and the rest of the world have to do their part, so i'm really excited by what is happening in angola. sumi: one more question about this partnership, because african countries have complained in the past, some have, that western countries have not worked with them on i level. so i guess looking on this partnership, beyond resources, oil and minerals, what is the strategic goal here for the u.s. and vice versa, what does angola and the region get from this? rep. krishnamoorthi: it's got to be economic development. sumi, one thing that was characteristic about bri or belt and road initiative projects that the chinese built is that they imported chinese material and they brought chinese workers to countries in africa to build those projects. so the local economy did not benefit, even from the construction of these projects. on the other hand, what this

railway project in angola, but also other projects, europeans and the americans are working together to try to bring a little more in the way of skills training to the local population and bring them into the projects to work on them as well as inject money into the local economy so that they can have a more prosperous future based on the project. sumi: i do want to ask you about a piece of news, we saw china banning exports to the eskimo the critical -- to the u.s., the critical minerals for technology, chipmaking tools. what do you think of this development? what does it tell us about where things are going? rep. krishnamoorthi: well, it's all the more reason why we need to work with our african partners as well as others to make sure that we are not subject to coercion by the ccp. you are absolutely right, the ccp has banned the export of germanium, gallium, as well as

what they call super material such as tungsten to the united states, so we have got to work with our partners to basically substitute for chinese exports. now, i personally believe that this is going to backfire on the chinese, because when they did this with other minerals, what ended up happening is that europe and the west found alternative sources. so now they were not only not subject to chinese coercion, but the chinese lost that business, and given that the chinese economy is tanking right now, that cannot be good news for chinese companies, either. sumi: let's get a quick look at other headlines now. donald trump filed a motion to dismiss a new york criminal case against him, convicted of falsifying business records. the filing spiked president biden's targeting of his son. the judge in the case has

postponed indefinitely, saying they have opposed. georgia's constitutional court has rejected a lawsuit that sought to overturn parliamentary elections in october. the oppositions and the pro-eu president has filed a position -- petition alleging interference in the polls. they gathered for six nights on the capital, angered by the prime minister saying he would not hold talks for during the eu until 2028. king charles will host the qatari emir head of state. it has been criticized. thank you so much for watching world news america. do stay with bbc news. for all of us announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james.

announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: