South Korea, New Orleans and ISIS, Biden's Nippon Steel block and the Golden Globes
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Today, police fail to arrest South Korea's impeached president. What we know so far about the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas explosion, which the FBI says are not linked. President Biden is set to block a Nippon Steel deal. And what to expect from the Golden Globes.

It's Friday, January 3rd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oakes in Liverpool. Dozens of police vehicles moving into the centre of Seoul and lining up outside the compound to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol. But the attempt failed after a tense six-hour standoff when presidential guards and military troops prevented them from getting inside.

Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his bid to impose martial law at the start of December. But he's defied the arrest warrant and hundreds of Yoon supporters have vowed to block the arrest. Yoon Jae-min is the president of the Jirong. -Protect him! -Protect him!

Some of the protesters carried Stop the Steal banners, waved American flags and even sung the Star Spangled Banner, calling on incoming US President Donald Trump to help solve South Korea's political crisis.

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Reier of the Counterterrorism Division saying the New Orleans driver, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, acted alone. Except for Shamsa Din Jabbar. Officials say Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans on December 31st and posted five videos on Facebook on the morning of the attack. In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends.

but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers, end quote. But what caused Jabbar to become radicalized remains unknown.

Michael Georgie is Middle East breaking news editor and tells us why ISIS may be regrouping and why US intelligence has warned it could be poised for expansion from regions like Africa. They haven't claimed the attack, claimed responsibility, but the guy was flying an ISIS flag. So that was what you call a lone wolf attack. And those were quite extensive in the West when ISIS was at its prime.

and it ruled huge swaths of Iraq and Syria. But now it's steadily making a comeback. Are these types of attacks unusual, though? There have been attacks in the US. There have been attacks in Europe.

One possible flashpoint for ISIS is Syria. Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, expressed concerns that ISIS would try to make a comeback in the uncertainty in Syria after Assad was toppled. There's a bit of a tricky situation where Syrian Kurds, who are backed by the United States...

are holding all of the ISIS prisoners, thousands of people and their family. Now, the fate of those Kurds is unclear. Turkey wants to dismantle them. The new ruler of Syria said he'll take them in the defense ministry, but it's uncertain. And any volatility around that situation, should these prisoners get out, escape, is worrisome.

Law enforcement officials in US cities have beefed up security after the Bourbon Street attack which killed 15 people and, after an explosion hours later outside a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. The FBI says it has so far found no definitive link between the two. Officials say they've positively identified the person found dead inside the cyber truck that exploded as a US Army soldier from Colorado.

Police say Matthew Livelsberger, 37, acted alone. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill. We also discovered through the coroner's office that the individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle. The vehicle and location of the explosion have gained a lot of attention. A close relative of Livelsberger said he was a supporter of President-elect Trump.

adding that, quote, he thought Trump was the greatest thing in the world. US President Joe Biden has decided to officially block Nippon Steel's proposed purchase of US Steel, according to a person familiar with the decision.

Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and a politically influential labor union had voiced opposition to the effort by Japan's top steelmaker to acquire the iconic American firm that helped build the Empire State Building and arm Allied forces in World War II. Katya Golubkova is our chief correspondent for Japan Commodities.

So Katya, what does this mean now for Nippon Steel? Of course, it's unpleasant news for their long-term strategy because they indeed wanted to add another 20 million tonnes of steel capacity per year to their production globally. On the other hand, for Nippon Steel shareholders, this in some sense, in the short term, at least could be some good news.

because Nippon Steel was considering to do new share issue to refinance the cash they plan to raise for this deal. A new share issue is not always something you would welcome as a shareholder. And Japan's a huge investor in the US, right? What does this deal being blocked mean more widely in terms of Japanese-US relations? This is a very good question. And there are different opinions on this. But overall, analysts,

thinking that this particular situation will be locked around steel and Nippon Steel in particular, and they don't expect that there will be a big wider implication. Because the deal, from the business perspective, it came during the election time.

Also, if you remember, just like a week or two weeks ago, there was an announcement by SoftBank of 100 billion investment to the U.S. economy. So didn't stop SoftBank of proposing that huge investment to the U.S. economy, which, of course, is a sign of that business should be continuing as usual.

The German and French foreign ministers will later today become the first top diplomats from the European Union to visit Syria since rebels seized control. Annalena Baerbock and Jean-Noël Barrault will meet Ahmed al-Sharah, the leader of Syria's new rulers, on a one-day trip.

Meanwhile in Gaza, authorities say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 68 Palestinians across the Strip on Thursday, including the head of the enclave's Hamas-controlled police force and his deputy. Israel says the deputy was the head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas's security forces in southern Gaza. House Republicans are scheduled to elect a speaker later today, and Mike Johnson is up for re-election for the top job.

While he has the thumbs up from Trump, it would only take two defections to sink his chances, given the Republicans' narrow majority. Hollywood's awards season kicks off on Sunday at the annual Golden Globes. Comedian Nikki Glaser will be heading the affair for the first time this year. Before her debut, she sat down with Reuters to talk boundaries for her material. There's definitely jokes that I wanted to make that I had to cut that...

just are too, you know, critical or too cynical. And this is actually, this is not a roast. This is a night to celebrate stuff. For who might dominate the evening, that we asked our entertainment reporter, Lisa Richwine. Well, Wicked is one of the big nominees. That's the musical that was based on the popular Broadway play that is a huge hit in theatres.

It has several nominations, including for both Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Amelia Perez, which is a movie on Netflix, has the most nominations. It is also a musical. It will compete against Wicked in the Best Musical and Comedy category.

The Globes do things a little different than the Oscars, where they put the films into musical or comedy and drama. So in the drama category, the leader is The Brutalist, which is a movie that stars Adrian Brody,

as a man who survives the Holocaust and he comes to the United States to chase the American dream. Is it still like a boozy dinner? Is that the format? Yes, the Globes are known as being more relaxed than the Oscars. It's a dinner, there's open bars, people go and get drinks and, you know, it makes it a little more freewheeling than what you see at the Oscars. And for today's recommended read, a look at late President Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Humanity legacy.

There's a link to the story in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player and we'll be back on Monday with our daily headline show.