Cutting all research funding for the fields is a massive step backwards, critics say.

South Korea is reeling after a whiplash eight hours during which the country's embattled president declared martial law but was forced to lift it amid widespread condemnation, throwing the country's political landscape into chaos and uncertainty.

The saga began unfolding last night local time as most South Koreans prepared to go to sleep – prompting furious lawmakers to force their way past soldiers into parliament to strike down the decree, as protesters demanded President Yoon Suk Yeol's removal and no return to the country's painful authoritarian past.

By dawn, the president had caved – agreeing to lift martial law.

READ MORE: Australia issues South Korea travel warning after martial law decree

But questions are still swirling around the future of Yoon's presidency, his party's rule, and what happens next in one of the world's most important economies and a major Western ally.

Here's what we know.

What happened? What is martial law?

Yoon declared martial law around 10.30pm local time yesterday (12.30am AEDT) in an unannounced late-night TV address, accusing the country's main opposition party of sympathising with North Korea and of "anti-state" activities.

He also cited a motion by the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach top prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal.

Martial law refers to granting the military temporary rule during an emergency, which the president has the constitutional ability to declare.

But the announcement hit like a bombshell, sending shock waves through a democratic nation and sparking an astonishing late-night political showdown.

In a nation with a strong contemporary tradition of free speech, Yoon's military decree banned all political activities, including protests, rallies, and actions by political parties, according to Yonhap news agency.

READ MORE: South Korea lifts president's martial law decree after lawmakers' vote

It also prohibited "denying free democracy or attempting a subversion", and "manipulating public opinion".

In the end, the decree only lasted a few hours.

Lawmakers flocked to the parliament, pushing their way past soldiers who had been deployed to keep the building blocked off.

In an extraordinary emergency late-night meeting, those present voted unanimously to block the decree, a vote the president is legally bound to obey.

The country's political blocs came together to oppose Yoon's decree – including members of his own party, with the party chief apologising to the public and demanding an explanation from the president.

By 4.30am, Yoon announced he would comply and lift the martial law order, saying he had withdrawn the troops deployed earlier in the night.

But he doubled down on accusations that the opposition party was frustrating the moves of his government, urging lawmakers to stop their "legislative manipulation".

Yoon's cabinet voted to lift the decree soon after.

Political paralysis

South Korea has been in a bitter political stalemate for months, with the country's liberal opposition parties winning a parliamentary majority in April.

The election was widely seen as a referendum on Yoon, whose popularity has plummeted thanks to a number of scandals and controversies since he took office in 2022.

Yoon, a conservative, has clashed with the opposition on many of his policies that require legislation, preventing him from moving forward on campaign promises to cut taxes and ease business regulations.

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He has also grown increasingly frustrated with the opposition's efforts to impeach government figures, some of whom he'd appointed – including the chair of the broadcasting watchdog, the chair of the state auditor, and several top prosecutors, according to Yonhap.

The prosecutors in particular are a sore point for Yoon.

Opposition lawmakers argue they failed to indict Yoon's wife, the first lady – who has been embroiled in scandal and accusations of stock manipulation.

What was the response?

Outrage, shock and confusion ran through the country – and the world – in the immediate aftermath of the decree.

Late last night, residents in the capital Seoul rushed to be with their family members, while others gathered in front of the parliament building, where law enforcement told some they could be arrested without warrants.

Many protesters carried signs and flags calling for Yoon's impeachment.

Some members of parliament appeared to clash with authorities outside the parliament building, with television footage showing troops attempting to enter the main hall – though they began withdrawing a few hours later when lawmakers blocked the decree.

What does it mean for the US?

The US voiced "grave concern" after Yoon declared martial law, and expressed relief after he lifted the decree – saying democracy was at the core of the US-South Korea alliance.

The two countries have a decades-old mutual defence treaty, which means both must come to the aid of the other if they are ever attacked.

Key US military installations dot South Korea, and there are nearly 30,000 American troops stationed in the country.

The US Army's Camp Humphreys is the largest American military installation outside of the US, with a population of more than 41,000 US service members, civilian workers, contractors and family members.

Alongside Japan and the Philippines, which also have mutual defense treaties with the US, South Korea is part of a trio of regional partners that have helped to bolster American power in both Asia and the Pacific for decades.

Advocates argue that a significant US troop presence in the Korean Peninsula is crucial to deterring any potential attack from North Korea as Kim Jong Un's regime continues to build its nuclear arsenal, and as a way of bolstering the US presence in the region to counter China's aggression.

North Korea has also become a key player in Russia's invasion of Ukraine by sending troops to help fight for Moscow's forces, bringing an isolated Asian power into Europe's largest conflict since the Second World War.

What happens now?

There's a lot that's still uncertain – including what will happen to the president and other top leaders.

Yoon's chief of staff and more than 10 senior secretaries to the president have submitted their resignations, according to the president's office.

The main opposition party said it would begin impeachment proceedings if Yoon didn't step down immediately, calling his actions unconstitutional.

The chief of Yoon's own party has also called for the removal of the defence minister for recommending martial law.

South Korea's largest umbrella union also said today its members would go on an indefinite general strike until Yoon resigns.

As of this morning, there remains a heavy police presence at the parliamentary building.

Yoon postponed his first public scheduled meeting that morning, Yonhap reported.

This isn't the first time he has faced calls for impeachment – with regular protests calling for his resignation, and a petition that received hundreds of thousands of signatures, Reuters reported.

Is this unusual for South Korea?

Yes – especially given the country's long, painful crawl toward democracy after decades of authoritarian rule.

South Korea has been a vibrant democracy since the 1980s, with regular protests, free speech, fair elections and peaceful transfers of power.

The domestic political scene has long been fractious, with presidents on both sides of the political divide often facing prosecutions while in and out of office.

Martial law is unheard of in the modern democratic era, which has seen South Korea become a major exporter and a cultural powerhouse, thanks in part to the huge global popularity of K-pop and K-drama.

But South Korea has a dark political past.

Throughout much of the Cold War, the country went through a series of strongman leaders and military rulers, who declared martial law multiple times – sometimes in a bid to hold onto power amid growing public dissatisfaction.

At the time, protests could easily turn deadly, with the military deployed to crack down on those pushing back.

The last time a South Korean president declared martial law was in 1980, during a nationwide uprising led by students and labor unions.

It wasn't until 1988 that South Korea elected a president through free and direct elections.

That's why protesters yesterday and today held signs and chanted slogans vowing to never go back to dictatorial rule, the memory of which remains fresh in many people's minds.

The top five places people are ditching the city for have been revealed, and this year there is a new entrant on the list.

A rare white rainbow caused a spectacle after it appeared over Crowdy Head in New South Wales.

It had many asking, what exactly is it?

The white rainbows are technically called "fogbows" which form when sunlight interacts with water inside a fog rather than raindrops.

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What is a white rainbow?

The Bureau of Meteorology's Jonathan How said fogbows are similar to rainbows.

"You still have the same processes going on with the sun behind you and then the fog or the rain in front of you," he said.

"But the main difference is the size of the water droplets within the actual bow itself.

"For a fogbow, water droplets in fog are very, very small whereas water droplets in a rainbow are much larger."

How said the tiny size of the droplets affects the colour and gives it a white appearance.

"That affects how the light is scattered and how we see it," he said. 

"The smaller the droplet, it looks white. That fogbow looks quite diffused and very wispy.

"The bigger the raindrop, the more defined and stronger the colours of the rainbow are."

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How rare are white rainbows? 

They are definitely more rare than typical rainbows, How said. 

"Generally with fog, you need just the right conditions," he said.

"Sometimes, you can be shrouded in fog and then it clears but then you don't really see any fogbows and that's because you need to have the fog clearing with the sun behind you, which doesn't always happen, and you might not be in the right spot.

"Whereas rainbows are much more sort of common phenomena so they are pretty rare."

The best chance to catch a glimpse of a fogbow is in wintertime.

"As the sun rises and the fog starts to clear and lift, that's the best chance of seeing a fogbow," How said.

"Everything needs to line up." 

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How many types of rainbows are there?

There are several types of rainbows, like double and triple rainbows.

How said that while fogbows aren't classified as a rainbow, it has similar optics.

"No less spectacular, I would say, even though they're not colourful they're pretty cool," he said.

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To ease your fears about any trips planned next year, US travel insurance company Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection surveyed travellers to find the safest countries in the world for 2025.

Commonwealth Bank says it will "change its approach" after receiving backlash over a move to implement a $3 withdrawal fee.

Yesterday, CBA announced customers would be charged a fee for withdrawing cash over the counter at a branch, post office or over the phone from January 6.

The move has come under strong criticism with the federal government urging the bank to reconsider.

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In a statement today, CBA's retail banking services Group executive Angus Sullivan said the bank would review its approach to the changes.

Sullivan conceded the bank had "done a poor job" of communicating the change to customers.

"We are particularly conscious of the impact any change to planned fees and charges can have at this time of year, especially given the cost of living pressures our customers face," Sullivan said.

"For our complete access customers – which is roughly 10 per cent of our 10 million odd customers – there are approximately 90 per cent of our complete access customers for whom the change that we announced yesterday would put them in a better or equal position to today.

"The changes taking place are such that the approximately 90 percent of customers we intend to move, and who we expect will be better off or the same, will be moved to the lower monthly fee account.

"If those customers don't want to move, they can contact us to discuss their options. For the remaining customers we are changing our approach and we are pausing the migration."

Sullivan said the bank would contact customers over the next six months to discuss the most appropriate product for their needs.

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"The changes outlined above do not affect approximately 9 million CommBank customers who are not on the Complete Access product," he said.

At a press conference, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he met the bank's chief executive Matt Comyn this morning to flag that the changes were "unacceptable".

"The changes were not acceptable or appropriate, we made our views very clear," he told reporters.

Chalmers said he and Comyn engaged in "constructive" discussion to ensure vulnerable customers weren't worse off. 

"They will have another look at those changes to make sure that people are not worse off," he said.

"We are talking and lots of instances about some of the most vulnerable people in the banking system.

"I welcome the change of heart."

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Australia has shifted its stance to back a UN General Assembly resolution calling on "Israel bring to an end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as rapidly as possible".

The resolution also demanded all new settlement to cease in the occupied territory and for settlers to be pulled out.

Australia was among 157 countries to support the resolution at the meeting on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) in New York.

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Eight voted against it, including Israel and the US.

Seven nations abstained.

In a big departure from previous policy, Australia last month supported a UN resolution recognising Palestinians' sovereignty over resources in the occupied Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank.

Meanwhile in Gaza, Israeli drone strikes have hit Kamal Adwan Hospital, wounding three medical staff at one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the northern-most part of the territory, the facility's director said.

In Lebanon, a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has held despite Israeli forces carrying out several new drone and artillery strikes on Tuesday, killing a shepherd in the country's south.

The director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hossam Abu Safiya, said the drones were dropping bombs, spraying shrapnel at the hospital on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

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In comments released by Gaza's Health Ministry, Abu Safiya said one of the injured was in a critical condition and was undergoing a complex surgery.

"The situation has become extremely dangerous," he said.

"We are exhausted by the ongoing violence and atrocities."

Kamal Adwan Hospital has been struck multiple times over the past two months as Israeli forces have waged a fierce offensive in the area, saying they are rooting out Hamas militants who regrouped there.

In October, Israeli forces raided the hospital, saying that militants were sheltering inside and arrested a number of people, including some staff.

Hospital officials denied the claim.

Abu Safiya was wounded in his thigh and back by an Israeli drone strike on the hospital last month.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu vowed keep striking "with an iron fist" against perceived Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon.

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Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel last year in solidarity with Hamas militants who are fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 people hostage.

Israel's blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war in Gaza has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90 per cent of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

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Delta Air Lines will now fly the Russian woman who stowed away on a flight to Paris last week back to New York on Wednesday, a Paris airport official told CNN.

The woman was due to leave France on a flight at 2.30pm on Tuesday (local time).

She was on board the plane when Delta refused to fly her, according to the official.

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New footage, captured by a passenger on board the same flight, shows a flight attendant quiz the woman on why her boarding pass was under a different name.

"It's my friend," the woman replies.

The flight attendant is then heard asking "Where is your friend now?"

When contacted by CNN for details, Delta declined to comment or say why the woman was not allowed to fly.

"We are going to try to send her back again with a French escort," the French official said.

She is now scheduled to fly back to New York's John F Kennedy International Airport escorted by two French security officials on a Delta flight Wednesday at 2.30pm (local time), according to the official.

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The 57-year-old woman got past multiple security checkpoints at JFK and boarded a plane to Paris last week.

The woman was apparently able to bypass the checkpoints by blending in with groups travelling together, according to a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

According to the official, a review of JFK's security camera video shows that at two separate checkpoints where identification was required, the woman blended in with a group of other travelers who were presenting multiple tickets and passports at once.

The official says she first blended in with a flight crew before the security screening, and subsequently proceeded to the gate, where she placed herself in the middle of what appeared to be a family travelling together.

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Investigators believe a contributing factor may have been the massive holiday weekend crowds at the airport.

The Transportation Security Administration said it screened nearly 2.7 million passengers at US airports on that Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Authorities in the US are continuing to investigate how the woman sneaked onto the flight without a ticket.

She was scheduled to be on a flight returning to the US on Saturday afternoon but French authorities removed her from the aircraft after she started screaming, according to an official.

A man who was on the plane told CNN the woman was sitting across the aisle from him and his family.

"She kept on saying 'I do not want to go back to the USA. Only a judge can make me go back to the USA,'" Gary Treichler said.

The woman was expected to be accompanied by six US marshals on Tuesday's flight back to New York, authorities said.

Inspectors from the TSA are preparing a civil case against the stowaway after reviewing airport security video from inside John F Kennedy International Airport, agency spokesperson Alexa Lopez told CNN.

"The TSA will open civil cases against passengers when there's evidence that procedures may have been violated," Lopez said.

The TSA cannot bring criminal charges, though it can refer them to the Justice Department.

It's unclear whether any criminal charges will be filed.

Delta has not said how the woman was able to board the plane once she made it past the TSA checkpoint.

The airline said it "is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred," but declined further comment.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske said on Tuesday the agency occasionally has "a very, very small number" of people who skip the identity verification stage.

Speaking at the Aviation Security Summit of the American Association of Airport Executives, Pekoske suggested electronic gates might be a solution to making sure everyone gets screened.

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Debunking potentially fake alibis given after a West Australian teenager was murdered in 1980 could be the key to solving the 44-year-old cold case, say police.

Annette Deverell, 19, was last seen on September 13, 1980 near the Mandurah Post Office talking to an unidentified blonde man about 11pm that evening.

It would be almost two years before her remains were found by bike riders near Pinjarra, about 30km from Mandurah, on June 4, 1982.

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Deverell's murder is the subject of the WA Police's Cold Case Western Australia podcast, hosted by veteran crime reporter and former police media advisor Neil Poh.

There is a $1 million reward for any information leading to the conviction of anyone involved in Deverell's death.

Police are also hosting a mobile facility today behind Mandurah Post Office in the hope members of the public will come forward with fresh information.

Cold Case Investigation Squad Detective Sergeant Peter Sloan told Poh police there may be someone out there who knows what happened to Deverell and could be willing to talk decades on.

"I think most of these people know… when you read their statements back in the early 80s, Mandurah was pretty loose, they were all having a good time, it was a party town," he said.

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"Now they're all married, children, probably grandchildren, so obviously your morals change. We've still got a family out there that still wants answers."

Sloan said some of the alibis given to police at the time have since been proven to be false.

The alibis of 51 individuals are now being re-examined by police.

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"A couple of these persons of interest were persons of interest back then but all the friends vouched for them providing what they believed were airtight alibis," he said.

"Further information has come forward recently… those alibis have fallen down, allegiances have changed. 

"And whether there was a threat there previously, that is no longer there, so people are not hesitant in coming forward."

Deverell's brother Michael 'Digger' Deverell said his family were haunted by what happened and were desperate for his sister's killer to face justice.

"We'd like to know who done it, just for peace of mind, and so my mum can go to her grave knowing who done it," he said.

"Someone knows, definitely knows who did it, and them themselves know who did it – just give yourself up basically."

Deveral's friend Wendy Wintle told the podcast she believed only someone with local knowledge could have committed this murder.

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She said only longtime Mandurah residents knew about the Pinjarra site where Deverell's body was found.

"If you weren't local, you wouldn't know that area, and we, all of the Mandurah young ones… we'd go up there most weekends, swimming and camping, or they'd ride motorbikes," Wintle said.

"The guys used to go shooting up there. And, yeah, everyone thought it has to be a local person."

Police believe it is likely Deverell knew her killer and the unidentified blonde man from the post office remains a key focus of the investigation. 

Annette's last movements

Annette Caroline Deverell was 19 years old when her mother Margaret Carver dropped her in central Mandurah on Saturday, September 13, 1980.

She was meeting friends at the Boathouse Tavern, but never made it home alive.

Annette disappeared at around 1130pm, with some witnesses telling police they saw her standing near the post office at the corner of Sholl St and Pinjarra Rd.

In one account she was talking to a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair.

Her remains were found near a large log in a burnt out forest area near Scarp Road, Pinjarra, on Sunday July 4, 1982.

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New research released by market research company Roy Morgan has revealed which brands Australians trust the most – and the least.