South Korea’s Park faces impeachment, Russia’s doping scandal widens and referendum downsides

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South Korean MPs have voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye following weeks of mass protest over her alleged involvement in a corruption scandal. Lawmakers voted 234 to just 56 to topple Ms Park. Crowds of demonstrators outside the National Assembly greeted the verdict with cheers of “we won, we won!”.

Ms Park’s powers will immediately transfer to the prime minister, Hwang Kyo-ahn, pending a final ruling from the constitutional court. However, the court has six months to rule, creating a power vacuum in South Korea at the same time the US is going through its own presidential transition. The scandal surrounding the president has already left the South Korean economy essentially rudderless, with major decisions being deferred amid the political turmoil. (FT, WaPo, NAR)

In the news

Doping scandal widens More than 1,000 Russian athletes were involved in state-sponsored doping between 2011 and 2015, according to second report by the respected Canadian law professor Richard McLaren. The law professor accused Russia of deliberately conducting “an institutional conspiracy across summer and winter sports” that produced “a cover-up that operated on an unprecedented scale.” (Guardian)

Wilders convicted Dutch far right politician Geert Wilders has been found guilty of insulting a group and inciting discrimination by a court near Amsterdam. The controversial politician tweeted that the verdict was “madness” shortly afterwards and has said he would appeal. (BBC)

Space Age hero dies John Glenn, the homespun, freckled Midwestern boy who became a national hero as the first American to orbit the earth and who was later a four-term US Democratic senator from Ohio and presidential candidate, has died at the age of 95. (FT)

Puzder picked for labour post Donald Trump wants to appoint as his labour secretary the chief executive of a fast-food company who is an outspoken opponent of raising the minimum wage, setting the stage for a fight with US unions. Andrew Puzder is also prone to the occasional streak of political incorrectness. Separately, in another sign of his unorthodox approach, the president-elect intends to stay on as executive producer of Celebrity Apprentice. (FT, NYT, WaPo)

Not so friendly Facebook Two of Silicon Valley’s most prominent leaders, Mark Zuckerberg and Marc Andreessen, have been accused of co-operating behind the scenes to prioritise the Facebook founder’s control over the company at the expense of ordinary investors. Court filings also suggest Mr Zuckerberg could be mulling a political career. (FT, Guardian)

Test your knowledge with the week in news quiz. Which company publicly acknowledged plans to develop self-driving cars?

It’s a big day for

US data The Index of Consumer Sentiment will be released, providing a further gauge of consumer confidence in the wake of Donald Trump’s election.

Food for thought

The downside of referendums From Louis Napoleon to Mussolini and Hitler, the “will of the people” has been involved to overthrow restraints on executive power, and resorting to referendums as a way of deciding constitutional questions undermines parliamentary democracy, writes Martin Wolf. (FT)

Riyadh retreat Assertive Shia militias and an end to the Kingdom’s petrodollar largesse have seen Saudi Arabia experience diplomatic reverses on all fronts after a bold start to 2016. Meanwhile, tensions in the region are increasing, despite the growing cost to the economy of proxy wars with regional rival Iran. (Economist)

Keep the Washington line open BlackRock was arguably the biggest single winner in finance after the financial crisis. But can chief executive Larry Fink, a life-long Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter, continue BlackRock’s success during the Donald Trump presidency? (FT)

Hot tub time machine At a hot springs summit next week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin may finally end the second world war by solving a 70-year-old dispute over a string of remote islands. (Foreign policy)

The Opec of maple syrup There’s a dark side to the FPAQ, the Canadian group that controls 72 per cent of the world’s supply.An investigation shows how its methods may have led to one of the greatest agricultural crimes in history. (Vanity Fair)

Video of the day

ECB explainer The FT’s Dan McCrum discusses the central bank’s QE decision and how the markets have reacted. (FT)