Passengers on a Eurostar train from London to Paris say they were stuck for hours in the Channel Tunnel after a train broke down.

The 06.01am train left on time and was supposed to arrive at Paris Gare du Nord at 9.20am local time – but travellers were told they would get to Paris with a delay of about six hours.

Eurostar said on its live departures and arrivals page: “Due to a technical problem, your train cannot complete its journey. It will now terminate at Calais Frethun where you’ll be transferred onto another train to your destination.”

Lisa Levine posted on X: “What a mess. We were trapped for hours and hours in a tunnel. No idea of when we were go get out. Now transferred to another train and literally missing our entire day in Paris.

“Do better Eurostar. Communicate with your paying customers.”

Gaby Koppel, a television producer, told The Independent: “We stopped in the tunnel about an hour into the journey, so roughly 7am UK time.

“There were occasional loudspeaker announcements saying they did not know what the fault was.”

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Alicia Peters, an operations supervisor, was on the train taking her daughter to Disneyland Paris.

She told The Independent: “Sitting for 2.5 hours on a stationary train with my eight-year-old daughter was very stressful.

“She was very worried as we heard a noise and then there was no power.

“It was very hot and we didn’t really know when we would be moving as they were unable to provide any timeframe.”

In a post on X the rail company said: “Service update: Train 9080 had a technical issue this morning.

“This train is now running at reduced speed to Calais where passengers will be transferred to another Eurostar train to continue their journey to Paris. Thank you for your understanding and our apologies for the delay.”

X users reported long queues on the motorway to the Channel Tunnel following the train breakdown.

South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo.

The move could deepen a constitutional crisis triggered by a short-lived period of martial law declared by Mr Han’s predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol.

After the vote on Friday, Mr Han said he will step aside to avoid more chaos.

The opposition brought impeachment proceedings against him over his refusal to immediately fill three places on South Korea’s Constitutional Court – where the former president is on trial.

Three justices had been approved by parliament – where the opposition Democratic Party has a majority – but Mr Han said he would not formally appoint them without bipartisan agreement.

South Korea’s constitution says that six justices on the nine-member Constitutional Court must agree to remove an impeached president, meaning the current justices must vote unanimously to remove Mr Yoon.

The court has said it can deliberate without the full nine-member bench.

Leader of the opposition Lee Jae-myung had vowed to go ahead with the impeachment, accusing Mr Han of “acting for insurrection”.

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Now that Mr Han – who is also prime minister – has been impeached, his finance minister Choi Sang-mok is set to take over as acting president.

Politicians in the 300 parliament voted 192-0 to impeach him. Governing party politicians boycotted the vote.

Following the vote, Mr Han said he would respect the decision and will await a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the impeachment motion.

Mr Han will be stripped of the powers and duties of the president until the Constitutional Court decides whether to dismiss or reinstate him – the same as with Mr Yoon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would be open to peace talks with Ukraine in Slovakia “if it comes to that”. 

Mr Putin said Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who this week visited the Kremlin, had offered his country as a location for negotiations as the war in Ukraine nears the three-year mark.

The Russian president said the Slovakian authorities “would be happy to provide their own country as a platform for negotiations”.

“We are not opposed, if it comes to that. Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position,” Mr Putin said, adding he was resolved to end the conflict in Ukraine, which started with a land, air and sea invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbour in February 2022.

Follow the latest updates on the war in Ukraine

Ukraine is yet to comment on Slovakia’s offer but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly criticised the country, which borders Ukraine, for the friendly tone Mr Fico has struck towards Russia since his return to power after an election in 2023.

Mr Fico has been critical of EU support for Ukraine, where millions have been displaced since Mr Putin’s decision to launch a “special military operation” to “denazify” and “demilitarise” the 37 million-strong country.

Mr Putin has repeatedly said Russia is open to talks to end the conflict with Kyiv, but that it would nevertheless achieve its goals in Ukraine.

He has previously demanded Ukraine withdraw its bid to join NATO and asked it to recognise Russia’s gains. Both Kyiv and the West have rejected those demands.

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But while Mr Zelenskyy had for most of the conflict insisted Ukraine would keep fighting until it regained control of its territories, his position on negotiations now appears to have shifted.

In an interview with Sky News, Mr Zelenskyy suggested a ceasefire deal could be struck if the Ukrainian territory he controls could be taken “under the NATO umbrella”.

This would then allow him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”.

The Ukrainian leader admitted last week his forces would be unable to recapture any territories occupied by Russia in the east of Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula.

While Kyiv would never recognise Russia’s rule, he said diplomacy is the only option to get Mr Putin to withdraw his army.

The war in Ukraine has taken a devastating toll on Russia too. UK government and military analysis estimates that Russia has lost around half a million troops killed or wounded in Ukraine.

Such is the pressure on manpower that The Kremlin turned to one of its remaining allies, North Korea, to provide additional forces.

It’s thought 10,000 to 12,000 troops were sent in October to fight alongside the Russian military in the fighting in the Kursk region.

However it’s suggested their lack of combat experience has resulted in heavy losses, with Mr Zelenskyy saying earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have already been killed and wounded.