The number of people killed in clashes in Syria between government security forces and supporters of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad has risen to 642, according to a monitoring group.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in clashes in the coastal provinces of Syria, according to one war monitoring group.

More than 800 civilians belonging to Syria's minority religious Alawite community have been killed in Syria's worst spate of violence since the ouster of long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad around three months ago,

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol left a detention centre in Seoul on Saturday, after prosecutors decided not to appeal a court decision to cancel the arrest warrant of the impeached leader.

Investigators have alleged that Yoon's martial-law decree amounted to rebellion. If is convicted of that offense, he would face the death penalty or life imprisonment.