Plus: Tales of six hours of chaos in Seoul ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. The French government has collapsed after MPs voted to sack the prime minister, Michel Barnier. We’ll be bringing you the latest from Paris. Our team in Seoul hears from South Koreans recounting a night of chaos amid an attempted power grab by President Yoon Suk Yeol, now facing impeachment. And on a tiny outcrop in the Pacific, the world's oldest bird has surprised biologists after laying an egg at the age of 74. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | French government falls as MPs vote to remove prime minister |
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| | Michel Barnier before the vote in parliament. Credit: Reuters | France's government collapsed on Wednesday as MPs voted to remove Michel Barnier as prime minister, after he forced through an austerity budget without their approval. The far-right National Rally had aligned with the far-left New Popular Front, its bitter political enemy, to support the no-confidence motion. Barnier, who was appointed just three months ago, told MPs before the vote that he took no pleasure in his budget plan, which included €60bn ($63bn) of social security cuts, and that removing him would solve none of France's problems. Follow our live page for all the latest reporting from Paris. |
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| Syrian rebel forces 'at the gates' of key city Hama | Islamist fighters are advancing to major northern city, days after retaking Aleppo from forces of President Bashar al-Assad. | Read more > |
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| Gunman kills US business chief outside NY hotel | Police hunt killer of UnitedHealthcare's Brian Thompson in a "premeditated" attack in Midtown Manhattan. | Get the latest > |
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| Prigozhin immortalised in statue by African state | Statue to Russia's Wagner mercenary boss, who died in a plane crash last year, is unveiled in the Central African Republic. | Read more > |
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| Fear, fury and triumph: Six hours that shook South Korea | | Protesters set off fire extinguishers as soldiers attempt to enter the National Assembly chamber. Credit: Reuters | South Korea's president is facing impeachment after a failed attempt to impose martial law and seize power. BBC reporting teams in Seoul and Singapore examine an extraordinary night in the South Korean capital. |
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| | Koh Ewe, Tessa Wong, Nick Marsh and Jake Kwon, BBC news |
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| | Hwang was watching the protests in Georgia on Tuesday night's news when the images on TV suddenly changed - the spotlight was on his country after Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's president, announced martial law. "I couldn’t believe what I was seeing," said the 19-year-old, who joined protesters outside the National Assembly building.
It was a sleepless night for some. "At first I was excited at the thought of not going to school today," 15-year-old Kwon Hoo told the BBC on Wednesday. "But the sense of fear settled in, that kept me up all night.”
Opposition MPs scrambled to get into the assembly to block the order. Lee Seong Yoon of the Democratic Party told the BBC that he scaled a 1.5m (4.9ft) fence. Hong Keewon said that protesters helped to hoist him over a wall. He had been asleep when Yoon made the announcement - when his wife woke him, he raced to parliament.
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | The Arctic island | Grímsey, which sits 40km off Iceland's northern coast boasts 20 full time residents and one million birds. | |
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And finally... in the Pacific | Wisdom the Laysan albatross, the world's oldest wild bird, has laid an egg with a new partner at the age of 74 on the Midway Atoll refuge. Laysans usually live for 12-40 years, but Wisdom was tagged in 1956 aged about five. Jon Plissner, a supervisor for the refuge, said he was unaware of any other birds even close to her age. "It's really been remarkable," he said. | |
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Six Steps to Calm | Discover a calmer future with this course of six science-backed techniques, weekly to your inbox. | |
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