Police in South Korea tried for a second time to arrest Yoon Suk Yeol, the president, who was impeached after he briefly declared martial law in December. Mr Yoon did not appear for the first day of his impeachment trial, which lasted just minutes because of his absence. Mr Yoon’s lawyers said he did not attend because of concerns over his safety. Authorities previously tried to arrest Mr Yoon on January 3rd, but were stopped by presidential security staff.
Qatari officials said that a ceasefire deal in Gaza was “very close” as negotiations between Israel and Hamas entered their “final stages”. According to President Joe Biden, Hamas would free hostages under the agreement and there would be a pause in fighting. A hard-right Israeli minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would leave Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition if the deal was agreed.
Ukraine claimed to have carried out its biggest attack so far on military facilities inside Russia, as it fired drones and Western-made missiles at targets including factories, oil refineries and munition stores. Ukraine’s armed forces added that the farthest targets were some 1,100km (680 miles) beyond the border. Russia’s defence ministry said the attacks would “not go unanswered”; it also launched drone strikes on Ukraine overnight.
NATO’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, said the alliance will bolster its efforts to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Member states have reported Russian-linked attacks on undersea cables and pipelines. The monitoring operation, known as “Baltic Sentry”, will use drones, ships and other technology to “deter future destabilising acts”. In December Finland seized a tanker thought to have been involved in Russian sabotage.
TikTok denied reports that its Chinese owners are willing to sell the video-sharing platform to Elon Musk. The company faces a deadline of January 19th to either sell its American operations or face a ban in the country. The Supreme Court is due to rule on the issue. Donald Trump, an ally of Mr Musk, opposes a ban.
France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, decried the country’s debt problem in a speech to the National Assembly. The 73-year-old centrist said his government aims to reduce the budget deficit from 6.1% of GDP in 2024 to 5.4% in 2025. He will also put President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform “back on the agenda” as he tries to get his budget through a fractious parliament.
Tulip Siddiq, a British Labour minister whose portfolio includes fighting corruption, resigned amidst questions about her links to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s longtime ruler who was ousted last year. The South Asian country’s anti-corruption commission is probing whether Ms Hasina’s family skimmed funds. Ms Siddiq denied any wrongdoing but said the allegations were “likely to be a distraction”.
Figure of the day: 26%, the amount by which homelessness in England has risen by in the past five years. Read the full story.
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