The Trump administration is insisting South Korea accepts as much as a 50 per cent increase in what it pays for US military protection, including subsidising the nuclear-capable bombers stationed thousands of miles away on Guam. The dispute caused their cost-sharing deal to lapse on December 31 and, if it’s not renewed soon, South Korean civilian personnel will face furloughs like the ones that just ended in Washington. Source: South China Morning Post
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