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Lawmakers in South Korea have voted to block the president's move to declare martial law, after both the ruling party and opposition vowed to obstruct the declaration.

The resolution requesting the lifting of martial law was passed with 190 of 300 members in attendance, with all present in favour.

President Yoon Suk Yeol had declared emergency martial law in the country in a surprise late night television address, calling it necessary to protect the country from North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements.

Large crowds have been clashing with police outside the South Korean National Assembly since the unexpected announcement.

Martial law means rule by military authorities in a time of emergency, and can mean the suspension of normal civil rights.

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Large crowds have clashed with police outside the South Korean National Assembly after the country's president declared emergency martial law in the country in a late night television address.

In brief, martial law is a temporary rule by military authorities in a time of emergency, when the civil authorities are deemed unable to function.

President Yoon Suk Yeol said martial law is necessary to protect the country from North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements.

South Korea’s main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung has condemned the move, calling it unconstitutional.

The move comes as Yoon's People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party continue to disagree over next year's budget bill.

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Tesla chief executive Elon Musk's record-breaking $56bn (£47bn) pay award will not be reinstated, a judge in Delaware has ruled, despite it being approved by shareholders and directors in the summer.

Judge Kathaleen McCormick upheld her previous decision from January, in which she argued that board members were too heavily influenced by Musk.

The pay package would have been the largest ever for the boss of a listed company, said Judge McCormick.

Responding to the ruling, Musk posted on X: "Shareholders should control company votes, not judges."

Tesla has vowed to appeal against the ruling, saying the decision was "wrong".

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Thousands of people have been protesting in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi for a fifth successive night after the ruling party Georgian Dream’s decision to suspend accession talks with the European Union.

Protesters threw fireworks at riot police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons.

Demonstrators have accused the government of abandoning their European future for a return to ties with Russia - but the ruling party denies any link with the Kremlin.

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US President Joe Biden has made his first and only visit to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency, where he will highlight a US-backed railway project meant to counter China’s influence on the continent.

Biden’s three-day visit to oil-rich Angola will focus largely on the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment which aims to advance the US presence in a region rich in the minerals used to make batteries for electric vehicles.

The railway line will stretch for 1,344km (835 miles) from the mines of Democratic Republic of Congo to the Angolan port city of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean.

Analysts view the Biden's trip as the most direct counter yet to China’s influence on the continent.

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Israel and Hezbollah have launched attacks against each other, with both sides saying they were retaliating against violations of the truce agreement.

A ceasefire deal to end 13 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah was signed last week.

At least nine people have been killed by Israeli strikes on two southern Lebanese villages, according to the country's public health ministry.

Israel said it struck targets on Monday evening in retaliation for an attack by Iran-backed Hezbollah on a military post in the Mount Dov area. It added there were no injuries in Hezbollah's strikes.

Hezbollah said it was responding to Israeli "violations" and said it carried out a "defensive warning" strike, firing mortars at an Israeli army position in an area occupied by Israel.

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Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan has lost her appeal against her death sentence for masterminding the world’s biggest bank fraud.

The 68-year-old is now in a race for her life because the law in Vietnam states that if she can pay back 75% of what she took, her sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment.

In April a trial found she had secretly controlled Saigon Commercial Bank and taken out loans and cash over more than 10 years through a web of shell companies, amounting to a total of $44bn (£34.5bn).

Of that prosecutors say $27bn was misappropriated, and $12bn was judged to have been embezzled, the most serious financial crime for which she was sentenced to death.

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The world’s top court has begun hearing evidence in a significant case that may clarify the legal responsibilities of governments in relation to climate change.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will hear testimony from nearly 100 countries including Vanuatu, the Pacific island nation that initiated the effort to get a legal opinion.

The hearing will attempt to answer key questions as to what countries should do to fight climate change and, critically, what should they do to repair damages linked to rising temperatures.

While the outcome is not legally binding, it could give extra weight to climate change lawsuits all over the world.

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“Darfur has seen the worst of the worst,” the UN’s new relief chief Tom Fletcher has said.

It marked the first time a senior UN official was able to visit this territory since Sudan’s civil war erupted 19 months ago.

His visit only became possible after extensive negotiations with Sudan’s two main rival forces – those headed by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), who heads the government recognised by the UN, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who are now in charge in most of Darfur.

UN officials refer to the RSF as “those in control of the area”.

Few journalists have made it to el-Geneina to see its plight, including the aftermath of what were two massacres over a period of several months last year, which the UN says killed up to 15,000 people.

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French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has used special powers to push through a social security budget bill without a vote by MPs.

It is a move expected to trigger a vote of no confidence in his minority government.

The government is unlikely to survive the vote, which the radical left France Unbowed (LFI) opposition party said it would trigger on Monday afternoon.

Marine le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) said it would support the no-confidence vote which could take place as early as Wednesday.

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