SOUTH KOREA: A former justice minister was sentenced to 25 years in prison today after a court found him guilty of helping ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol carry out his brief imposition of martial law in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court said it was clear Park Sung-jae played a key role in Mr Yoon’s attempted power grab following the declaration of martial law on December 3 2024, including ordering ministry officials to assess detention capacities at correctional facilities to prepare for possible arrests of politicians.

PHILIPPINES: Two students armed with hand guns opened fire in a high school in the central Philippines today, killing three fellow pupils and wounding another seven, police said.

The suspects, aged 14 and 15, were arrested. The suspects and the victims were students of the San Jose National High School in Tacloban city, where the mid-morning shooting happened, regional police chief Brigadier General Jason Capoy said.

CUBA: Ramiro Valdes Menendez, a former vice-president and a key figure of the Cuban Revolution who fought alongside Fidel Castro, died on Sunday, the Communist Party and Cuba’s government said. He was 94.

Mr Valdes was one of the closest allies of Fidel and his brother Raul Castro since the 1953 attack on the Moncada barracks that marked the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. 

UNITED STATES: At least eight people have been killed and 38 others injured in a series of shootings across Chicago during the weekend, local police reported on Sunday.

The victims ranged in age from 14 to 70, according to the Chicago Police Department.