China, having styled itself as a “near-Arctic nation”, is jockeying to play a greater role in the contested High North. Beijing attained permanent observer status to the intergovernmental Arctic Council in 2013. In July, Chinese shipping giant Cosco announced plans to send more cargo vessels to the Arctic. Source: SCMP
The police were targeted by dozens of mortar fire in Albi (Tarn) last night. Three officials were injured during this deluge of violence. The night from Thursday to Friday was long for the police in Albi. It all started with a refusal to comply in the sensitive district of Cantepau around 10 p.m. A motorist refused to stop when ordered by a municipal police patrol. The alert was given and reinforcements were requested. Source Actu17
The populist opposition party Alternative for Germany has filed legal action against reported plans to put the whole party under intelligence observation for alleged links to far-right extremism. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has launched legal action against the country’s domestic intelligence agency amid reports that it is preparing to put the whole party under surveillance over potential ties to far-right extremism. Source Deutsche Welle
Turkey and the European Union were set to discuss the renewal of a 2016 migration agreement during a meeting late on Jan. 21, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said ahead of the meeting.
“We conveyed our proposal to update the migration agreement. We will discuss the details of this,” Çavuşoğlu said at a joint press conference with the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, ahead of their meeting in Brussels. Source Daily News
