South Korean court issues arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol

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The warrant was sought over Yoon’s controversial and short-lived decision to impose martial law early in December

A court in South Korea has approved an arrest warrant for the country’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over his ill-fated decision to impose martial law early this month, investigators said.

Yoon’s decision to declare martial law late on 3 December plunged Asia’s fourth-biggest economy into its worst political crisis for decades and caused concern in Washington.

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IDF downs ballistic missile from Yemen as sirens heard across central Israel – The Times of Israel

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  1. IDF downs ballistic missile from Yemen as sirens heard across central Israel  The Times of Israel
  2. Houthis Launch Latest Missile at Israel Amid Warnings of Retaliation  The New York Times
  3. Houthis claim to 'hit' Jerusalem power station, Ben-Gurion Airport  The Jerusalem Post
  4. Middle East latest: Israel intercepts Houthi missile fired from Yemen  The Associated Press
  5. Israel, at UN, warns Houthis risk sharing same fate as Hamas, Hezbollah  Reuters
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Gaza babies dying from the cold as winter temperatures drop – BBC.com

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  1. Gaza babies dying from the cold as winter temperatures drop  BBC.com
  2. Heavy rains and cold weather cause more misery in Gaza  The Times of Israel
  3. Sixth baby dies from severe cold in Gaza as Israel raids hospitals  Al Jazeera English
  4. Displaced Gaza newborn freezes to death and twin fights for his life as rain floods tents  Reuters
  5. 5 Babies Die From the Cold in Gaza as Temperatures Drop  The New York Times
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Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof was ‘scathing about African leaders’, files reveal

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Singer urged Tony Blair not to appoint African co-chair to commission on aid, UK government papers show

The Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof urged Tony Blair not to appoint an African co-chair to the UK-led organisation working to overhaul international aid to the continent because he thought African leadership was “very weak” on the issue, newly released government documents suggest.

The singer was “scathing about the ability and worthiness of virtually all African leaders” before the establishment in 2004 of Blair’s Commission for Africa, which would produce a report, Our Common Interest, and prompt a landmark pledge by rich nations to boost aid and write off debt.

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Advisers urged Tony Blair to rein in George W Bush over Iraq war ‘mission from God’

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A senior US official said the president needed a ‘dose of reality’ to deal with Iraqi insurgents, documents reveal

Tony Blair’s advisers privately questioned if the US had “proper political control” of military operations in Iraq after a senior US official confided that George W Bush believed he was on a “mission from God” against Iraqi insurgents, newly released documents reveal.

Blair needed to “deliver some difficult messages” to the then US president for a “more measured approach” in April 2004, following a US military operation to suppress a major uprising in the city of Falluja, according to papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London.

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Senior Labour figures urged Tony Blair to delay arrival of EU citizens in UK

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Cabinet was split over east European countries joining in 2004, with some ‘extremely concerned’ by its implications

Senior figures in Tony Blair’s government, including John Prescott and Jack Straw, urged the then prime minister to delay opening the UK labour market to eastern European nationals shortly before they became EU citizens, newly released documents reveal.

Papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London, showed Prescott and Straw warned of a surge in immigration unless some controls were put in place.

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Big rise in people going to A&E in England for minor ailments, data shows

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Stretched primary services causing increase in emergency visits for issues from coughs to hiccups, health leaders say

The number of people turning to A&E departments in England for minor ailments including hiccups, sore throats and coughs is soaring, as senior health leaders warn that NHS primary and community services are “massively overstretched”.

NHS data shows a large increase in people arriving at emergency departments for non-emergency ailments including backache, insomnia and earache.

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Labour’s private school tax plan strongly backed by public, poll shows

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Government accuses Tories and rightwing media of being ‘out of touch’, as VAT policy due to come into force

The government has accused critics of its plan to put VAT on private school fees of being detached from the real world after polling showed the policy, which will come into force on 1 January, is strongly backed by the public.

The poll, commissioned by the Private Education Policy Forum (PEPF) thinktank, found that 54% of people backed the idea, with 22% opposing it. This is an even greater margin of support than seen in similar polls carried out before the election.

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Labour government discussed Tanzania asylum camp plan in 2004, files show

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Newly released files show proposals to divert £2m – earmarked to prevent conflict in Africa – to fund scheme

Tony Blair’s government discussed diverting £2m earmarked to prevent conflict in Africa in order to fund a controversial pilot scheme to process and house asylum-seekers in Tanzania, newly released government files show.

Under the scheme, Britain would have offered Tanzania an extra £4m in aid if it opened an asylum camp to house people claiming to be Somalian refugees while their applications to live in Britain were assessed.

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South Korea crash inquiry may focus on birds, landing gear and a concrete barrier – The Washington Post

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  1. South Korea crash inquiry may focus on birds, landing gear and a concrete barrier  The Washington Post
  2. South Korean Plane Crash Questions Center on Four Fateful Minutes  The New York Times
  3. Where the deadly South Korean airline crash investigation is heading  CNN
  4. Jetliner skids off runway and bursts into flames while landing in South Korea, killing 179  The Associated Press
  5. ‘Mayday, Mayday’: The Final Six Minutes Before the Deadly South Korean Plane Crash  The Wall Street Journal
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Welsh ambulance service declares ‘critical incident’ after demand soars

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Patients waiting many hours for ambulances to arrive, while those phoning 999 struggle to get through

A “critical incident” was declared by the Welsh ambulance service on Monday evening due to significantly increased demand and extensive handover delays.

The ambulance service, which covers 3 million-plus people across Wales, said more than 340 calls were waiting to be answered at the time the critical incident was declared.

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