Global News Podcast - South Korea's president impeached

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

South Korea's Parliament impeaches President Yoon over failed martial law bid. The USA says it’s engaging with Islamists who ousted Syria’s President Assad - and cyclone Chido wreaks havoc on French territory Mayotte.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Sunday the 15th of December these are our main stories. The South Korean parliament has voted to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol over his failed attempt earlier this month to impose martial law. The United States says it's in contact with the Islamists who ousted President Assad in Syria even though they're part of an organisation it regards as terrorists. Cyclone Chideau causes devastation on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte.

Also in this podcast. Malcolm. Malcolm. Malcolm. Yes, I hear you. I'm coming. The early 2000s smash sitcom Malcolm in the Middle is returning to TV screens. Many thousands of South Koreans have been celebrating on the streets of Seoul in freezing temperatures after their parliament voted to impeach President Yun Suk-yeol because of his failed attempt to impose martial law.

At least 12 lawmakers from his People Power Party voted with the opposition to secure the required two-thirds majority. Han Dong-hoon is the party's leader. I accept today's result with a heavy heart. As the leader of the governing party, I will right the wrong with the South Korean people and protect its constitution and democracy. In my judgment, suspending the president's duty was urgent. I only thought of the country and people during that process. I don't regret it.

Mr Yoon has now been stripped of his powers and banned from travelling overseas, but he remains president and has vowed to keep on fighting for his political survival. The Prime Minister Han Daxu has taken over as acting president, promising to stabilise the situation. Our correspondent, Jean McKenzie, sent this report from Seoul. In a moment, a protest erupts into a street party. Rejoicing the downfall of a president, many have long despised. They'd accused him of being authoritarian, of eroding their democracy. But no one could have guessed what he had planned. When Mr. Yoon stole from the playbook of South Korea's past military dictators, dispatching

troops to storm the parliament, he committed his final, unforgivable act. The biting temperatures would have been enough to force many indoors. But armed with glow sticks and hot packs, they descended here for the 11th day in a row. Young women leading the charge. He said martial law was for the people but not one of his policies has helped us. As the vote to impeach Mr. Yoon got underway, a solemn warning from Parliament's speaker. The weight of your ballot is heavy today. It carries the weight of history, the weight of democracy. Enough MPs heeded his words. The motion passed by just four votes. four votes. This was the biggest test South Korea's young democracy has faced. And it's passed. Those

on the streets cried in relief. The dictator, Mr. President Yun Hyeon-kwang, now disappears. So happy. I am so emotional. His presidency has been so hard and I'm glad we don't need to suffer in this cold anymore. People's persistence has paid off. The politicians have listened. And tonight, this is their victory. Gene McKenzie.

So, a breakthrough for protesters in Seoul, but for demonstrators in Georgia, their political crisis appears to be deepening. Protests continue in the capital Tbilisi after the parliament elected Mikhail Kavelashvili as the country's new president. The former Manchester City footballer, known for his nationalist and anti-Western views, was the only name in the contest. This demonstrator said Mr Kavalashvili was not fit for office. He has no higher education, he has no diploma. It means that he doesn't speak, he doesn't have any skills, so he's just a puppet of

Bezina Ivanishvili and he knows only one side. He's a footballer, it's a red card. Mikhail Avilashvili, it's for you. The opposition is calling the election a sham, arguing the government is turning the country towards Russia and away from the EU. The outgoing president, Salome Zurabishvili, said she won't be stepping down, insisting she holds Georgia's only remaining legitimate institution. I got the latest from our correspondent in Tbilisi, Rehan Demetri. It's freezing cold, but despite this weather there are lots of people, like every night we've seen night after night people turning up in their thousands. The pro-EU Georgians who are protesting, they feel that it's the only thing they can do.

They do feel powerless. I've been talking to some of the protesters. They're asking for help from outside Georgia. They're asking for the EU or the United States to impose sanctions on their government to show some kind of support. But at the same time, they're determined to continue protesting.

They believe that what's happening right now in Georgia goes against their wishes, against the will of the Georgian people, as they say. Earlier today in parliament, Mikhail Kavalashvili, he was elected by an electoral college, which consists mainly of the loyalists of the Georgian Dream, the ruling party. I was inside the parliament, I spent several hours there and to be honest my feeling was that there are now two Georgias and two different realities. One is inside parliament where everything is quiet, where you can't really hear what's happening outside.

And I was talking to some pro-government MPs. They do not consider that there's any political crisis in the country. They're disregarding the protests that have been going on for weeks now in Georgia, saying that it's all just artificially created and somehow influenced from outside Georgia. And then there's another reality which is outside the Parliament in those freezing temperatures, people turning up, they are booing, they are doing whatever they can to express their discontent. Have we heard anything from Mikhail Kavalashvili? As you say, he's a former Manchester City striker, also played for the Georgian national football team. So he's someone everyone's going to know. Has he put any comment out there?

Is he someone who could unite the country? It is unlikely, Alex. He did not make any formal statements today. He was just there to receive the congratulations from the ruling party and from his own party, which is called People's Power. But those who are protesting, they're saying that he does not represent the Georgian people. His party, People's Power Party, was the one that proposed a very controversial law called the Foreign Agents Law. He's one of the architects of that law. He's been very outspoken critic of the Western policies in Georgia. He's an illiberal politician and those who are protesting outside parliament, they do not see that he is the representative

of those values that they're trying to defend. Rayhan Dmitri in Tbilisi. As Syrians mark a week since the fall of Damascus, Syria's regional neighbours have been discussing their country's future. Joining them was the outgoing US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Speaking at a news conference after the talks in Jordan, Mr Blinken set out the challenge facing Syria and the wider world. In this region and elsewhere, we've seen how the fall of a repressive regime can swiftly give way to more conflict and chaos.

How the shoes of one dictator can be filled by another. Or how interference by an outside country can be thrown off only to be replaced by another. That's why it's so important that we and our partners came together today to agree on principles that will guide our efforts to help the Syrian people meet these challenges and build the inclusive, nonsectarian, peaceful and sovereign state that they want. Our Middle East analyst, Sebastian Ascher, watched Mr Blinken speak. He gave this analysis of Saturday's talks. The one other kind of interesting thing that he said there was that the US has been in touch with HTS now, the main rebel group,

direct contact he said. Now that's interesting because the US as several other countries still designates it as a terrorist organisation but he also said that the US had set out its principles for the ones we're talking about, the ones they talked about again today in Jordan to HTS to say, you know, this is what we believe is the way forward. Powers both inside Syria and outside are trying as hard as they can to ensure that there is a smoother transition of power as possible. I mean, this is going to be difficult.

And so the word that they were saying, I mean I think the key word is chaos and they talked about that, that they don't want Syria to slip into chaos, understandably. And that we were hearing from some of the foreign ministers that they believe that that means that remnants of the Assad regime officials need to take part in the government. It can't just be stripped away as we saw in Iraq, as I guess we saw in Libya. I mean the Iraqi Foreign Minister mentioned Libya, said we do not want to see another Libya in the region. So I think that's a huge concern. There were eight Arab countries there, including Saudi Arabia, including the UAE.

And I mean the other message, which again we've been hearing again and again, is that this government needs to be representative of all Syrians. That means all the ethnic groups, all the different political groups and of course there's still a big question mark over that and we've been hearing from HTS that same message coming time and time again. Some people are suspicious because of its past but others just wonder if in the sort of circumstances which they're now trying to deal with whether it's possible to navigate towards that kind of smooth transition, if it's possible to live up to those promises, even if the groups involved genuinely believe in them and genuinely want to work towards them.

Sebastian Ascher. The Assad regime left behind a network of military bases once the cornerstone of its grip on the country, now evidence of the most serious human rights abuses. Our correspondent Lucy Williamson has been to see what remains of one of the regime's key air bases. Her report is distressing. Meze military air base in Damascus was once a buffer between President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces. Now the men who protected Assad have gone, the control room scarred with bullet holes from their last stand. See across the whole airbase deserted by President Assad's forces.

Old shoes, bombed out planes, live ammunition scattered across it. Israel has been systematically destroying the military equipment left by the Assad regime, worried about who might end up using it. Russian-made aircraft, Israeli bombs, militia backed by Turkey, Iran, the US. This was never just Syria's war and outside powers still have a stake here. On a roof inside the base the new era is marked by a young fighter from the militia in charge here now, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, slashing at a portrait of Bashar al-Assad until it lies in tatters.

Assad's fall has posed unanswered questions about Syria's future, but it's also left unanswered, questions from the past. The commander here, known as Abu Jarrah, shows us a prison complex where he says 400 women detainees were routinely raped by military intelligence. He takes us down to a room he says was used for torture and shows us a set of wires next to an electrical switchboard. Here they electrocuted prisoners he tells me. These electric cables, the guards put them on the prisoners body and turned on the power.

The prisoner loses his mind and confesses everything. The only thing more painful than finding your parent or child among the records here is not finding them at all. In the building next door, we found the mother of Kurdish prisoner Mahmoud Hussein searching for his face among the photos on the floor. He's registered here but we can't find him, she said. May God burn Assad's heart the way he burned ours. Assad's regime was meticulous in documenting its brutality, but critical evidence here is being lost every day.

The detail of what happened to individuals is often hard to find, and the desperation of families is growing. Lucy Williamson. Ceremonies have been taking place in Luxembourg and Belgium today, ahead of the 80th anniversary of one of the key battles of the Second World War. The Battle of the Bulge, a German counter-offensive designed to split Allied forces, began on 16 December 1944.

Our Europe regional editor, Danny E Editor Danny Aberhart has this report. The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest engagements that American troops fought in Europe in the whole of the Second World War. Winston Churchill called it their greatest battle of the conflict. Some 19,000 US soldiers were killed in the midwinter fighting. A few that survived are still alive. Some were there today at a moving ceremony in Bastogne,

the Belgian town the Americans famously defended against besieging Nazi forces. One had this message recorded in a video montage. Freedom is not free. It costs somebody something. I'm only 99 years old, but if we had to do it again today, I'd be the first one to volunteer. The counteroffensive that Adolf Hitler launched in late 1944 had caught the Allies off guard. The Nazis pushed westward through the dense forests of the Ardennes and past Allied lines, forming the bulge the battle is named after. But dogged American resistance, reinforcements, and as the weather improved,

superior Allied air power forced the Germans back. Hitler's gamble had failed. His troops hadn't even got as far as Brussels, let alone the crucial port of Antwerp. The five-week campaign was over by late January. Just over three months later, Germany's dictator killed himself with the war in Europe ending soon after. Danny Eberhardt. Still to come. Very bright lines across the sky. On good conditions we can see up to maybe 120 per hour, not just white but some might

have a yellowish or even a bluish colour. Astronomers prepare for one of the most impressive meteor showers of the year. To the Indian Ocean, where the French territory of Mayotte has been devastated by the worst cyclone to hit the island in 90 years. Cyclone Chaudeau brought fierce winds of more than 220 kilometres an hour. French media report at least four people have been killed. France's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has been holding an emergency summit with ministers. He said the French state was mobilizing support.

It's a truly unusual situation. There hasn't been such a climate event in Mayotte since 1934 which included wind with gusts up to 226 kilometers per hour, and then rain. And you know that makeshift homes sit on hillsides. And as rainwater ran downhill and the land became unstable, it was obviously a disaster. All makeshift homes have been completely destroyed. Our Africa regional editor, Richard Kigoy, is monitoring developments. He told me around 320,000 people live on the islands.

It's quite a very catastrophic situation. There seems to be extensive damage. Lots of homes have been destroyed, power lines have been brought down, roads have been cut off. In fact, even the international airport also witnessed a significant damage. Over 100 rescuers and firefighters have been mobilised from the Reunion Territory south of Maillot and also those who had been dispatched even from France. So the situation is dire. Details are still very scanty at the moment. Richard, Maillot is France's poorest territory. Many of the houses are

literally shacks and they have just been blown away. Yeah, you know, homes that have been not quite properly built and that usually erected on some very sloppy highlands. So that really makes them quite vulnerable, especially when you have extreme weather. And what I was hearing from majority of the residents there because there was a very devastating cyclone in 1984, and that's a cyclone carmacy. And a lot of them still remember that.

And a lot of them are really quite despondent right now. It's quite a very desperate situation for them. We don't know how long this is really going to take them not to recover because you're looking at more than a hundred thousand residents are really being affected by these. And majority of them right now take them not to recover because you're looking at more than a hundred thousand residents really being affected by these. The majority of them right now are just been sheltering in schools and gyms which are just under into shelters. Richard, the cyclone is now heading west towards

the coast of Mozambique as well as affecting parts of Madagascar and Comoros. What more can you tell us? Well, the Comoros, it's only just towards the southern bits of the island that were affected because there was a bit of communication that was done by the weather authorities, the meteorological departments, you know, just wanting people to remain in solid shelters and ships just to make sure that they are anchored on the harbour. Right now as it's tracking westwards towards Mozambique, it seems like it's going to be getting a bit intense as it makes a landfall to the northern parts of Mozambique, specifically in Nampula province.

And possibly it's going to lose, maybe become a bit weak as it heads even towards the southern parts of Malawi and the northern parts of Zimbabwe. So people in the region are just really on edge at the moment. Richard Kigoy in Nairobi. Isaac Andic, the founder of the multi-billion dollar Spanish fashion retailer Mango, has died at the age of 71 after a hiking accident in northern Spain. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez paid tribute to Mr Andic on social social media praising what he called his hard work and business vision that transformed a Spanish brand into a global fashion

leader. Tom Bailey has more. Born in Turkey and later settling in Barcelona, Isak Andik opened his first shop in the city in 1984. What was initially a single small shirt store was to be transformed into one of the world's most recognised fashion brands, now boasting around 2,800 stores worldwide. Spanish media reports said the businessman had been hiking with family members in mountains near Barcelona when he fell into a ravine, with rescuers unable to save him. Among the many tributes, Mango's current CEO Tony Ruth said Mr Andic had left an

indelible mark thanks to his strategic vision, inspiring leadership and unwavering commitment to the company. Tom Bailey. Star gazers in parts of North America and Northern Europe will be out in full force this weekend with the hope of catching the annual Gemini meteor shower at its peak. Dozens of shooting stars will grace the night sky, travelling at speeds of more than 240,000 km per hour. Whilst most meteor showers are associated with comets, the Gemini's are very different because they are caused by asteroid debris. Sean Farrington has been finding out more from René Breton, Professor of Astrophysics at the Jodrell Bank Centre in England. We're talking about little debris from a space trail basically of grit left over behind by

a rocky boulder orbiting around the sun and we just happened to, the earth is happening to cut across this trail basically. So what do we see in the sky? Is it a spray? Is it one bright line? Yeah, so it's many of these very bright lines across the sky. On good conditions, we can see up to maybe 120 per hour, and they all seem to come from the same direction in the sky, but they go all across over you basically. So it's a bit like standing in the middle of a railroad and looking at the tracks that seem to converge when you look very far.

Yes. So I mean, for you with your observatory at Jodrell Bank, which is a fantastic thing if you're in the North of England to go along and have a look at, you'll be used to seeing plenty of these things with that kind of technology. What is it about this annual Gemini meteor shower that sort of captures the imagination maybe a bit more than others? Yeah, so this one is one of the better one kind of technology. What is it about this annual gemini meteor shower that captures

the imagination maybe a bit more than others? Yeah so this one is one of the better ones through the year. So we just so happen to cut across that trail of debris at a fairly low speed if you want. So as they zip through the sky when we see these little grains of sand basically combusting in the upper atmosphere they go relatively slowly so it gives more time to really see them well and the other thing is that their chemical composition is such that some of them will show up with a bit of colour so not just white but some might have a yellowish or even a bluish colour. So if you catch a bit of colour you've had a particularly joyous moment. Yeah exactly.

René Breton from the George Rubrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. Malcolm in the Middle is considered one of the most influential sitcoms of the 21st century. First airing in the year 2000, the show captivated TV audiences of more than 20 million people, rivaling The Simpsons. Its sharp humour and unique storytelling made a household name of Brian Cranston who went on to star in the acclaimed crime series Breaking Bad. Now, 18 years after the final episode, Malcolm in the middle is making a return as Mark Duff reports. Malcolm! Malcolm! Malcolm! Yes, I hear you. I'm coming.

Welcome to the chaotic world of Malcolm, his brothers and their heroically dysfunctional parents, the terrifying Lois and incompetent Hal. Malcolm, if you're unfamiliar with the show, is an incredibly bright boy surviving family life in spite of, rather than because of, his parents. The sitcom won cult status and seven Emmys before being axed after 151 episodes in the face of a ratings slump. Now, 18 years later, it's back with the original cast and a new limited run commissioned to mark Hal and Lois's 40th wedding anniversary.

Frankie Muniz, who played Malcolm, says he is looking forward to his return. I have been waiting for this moment for 18 years. Let's find out where Malcolm and his family are now. As for Lois and Hal, played by Jane Kazmaryk and Bryan Cranston, they can barely contain their delight. 25 years since we premiered Malcolm in the Middle, I'm so excited. What a delight that I get to yell at that kid again.

We're very, very excited about coming back together and seeing what this family has been up to. The new episodes will be streamed on Disney Plus, though no dates yet been set for when they'll be broadcast. As for what viewers, new and old, can expect, one thing's certain. No matter how dysfunctional you might think your own family life, it'll seem tame compared to the craziness of Malcolm in the middle. Mark Duff. And that's all from us for now. But there'll be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us

an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Joe McCartney and the producer was Ella Bicknell. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritzen. Until next time, goodbye.