South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree as an act of governance and denied rebellion charges, vowing Thursday to "fight to the end" in response to attempts to impeach him and intensifying investigations into last week's dramatic move.

The main opposition Democratic Party quickly slammed Yoon's speech as "an expression of extreme delusion" and "false propaganda." Later Thursday, it and other opposition parties submitted a new impeachment motion against Yoon for a floor vote this weekend.

The European Central Bank has cut rates by a quarter percentage point amid signs of weakening growth and concern about the impact of political chaos in France and the possibility of new U.S. import tariffs.

The bank's rate-setting committee made the decision Thursday at its skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt to lower the benchmark from 3.25% to 3%.

Some European Union countries on Thursday doubled down on their decision to rapidly halt asylum procedures for Syrian migrants in Europe, but said that it was too early to consider sending any of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled since 2011 back home.

Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and non-EU country Norway suspended asylum applications from Syrians in the wake of Bashar Assad's fall. France is weighing whether to take similar action, at least until Syria's new leadership and security conditions become clearer.

Cristiano Ronaldo led the celebrations after Portugal and five other countries were officially announced as hosts of the 2030 men's World Cup on Wednesday, with the player saying the unique tournament will be the "most special" yet.

The 2030 tournament will be the first World Cup played in six different counties, with Spain, Portugal and Morocco as the main hosts while South American nations Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each get one game. The format will help FIFA mark the centenary of Uruguay hosting the first World Cup in 1930.

The Paris Olympics says it was far less polluting than recent Games but is not claiming to have been "carbon neutral" despite funding projects to compensate for its emissions.

Organizers said Wednesday that this summer's Olympics and Paralympics generated 1.59 million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide, from the food athletes ate and construction of their rooms to flights that spectators took and energy that powered events.

Environmental groups are asking the U.S. government to do more to protect Rocky Mountain grizzly bears before the next Trump administration decides the big bruins' future.

The groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday to take steps to connect the bears' separate populations. They want federal wildlife officials to encourage grizzlies to roam from the Yellowstone ecosystem in Wyoming across parts of Idaho and Montana to the area in and around Glacier National Park.

An American who says he crossed into Syria on foot is now free after seven months in detention.

Travis Timmerman told the Al-Arabiya TV network in an interview on Thursday that he had been treated well. He said he had crossed into Syria from Lebanon on a Christian “pilgrimage.”

Israel has been accused of carrying out a "massacre" of journalists in Gaza in two separate reports from media freedom organizations this week that analyzed the deaths of reporters worldwide this year.

According to calculations from Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published on Thursday, the Israeli army killed 18 journalists as they were working this year —- 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon -- around a third of the total worldwide of 54.

The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was in Lebanon on Wednesday meeting with the head of the Lebanese army.

In the wake of shocking overthrow of the government in neighboring Syria, the two military leaders discussed the security situation in Lebanon, a statement from the country's army said.

Israel has lifted restrictions on public gatherings and outdoor activities in areas near the Lebanese border in the northern Golan Heights, two weeks after a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The army’s Home Front Command said it was changing its public safety guidelines to “full activity” from “partial activity.”