COLOGNE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed on Saturday a toughening of expulsion rules for convicted refugees, as protesters took to the streets against a shocking rash of assaults blamed on migrants during New Year’s festivities. Both women’s groups and supporters of the xenophobic PEGIDA movement mobilised in separate rallies in Cologne, as Merkel declared that refugees found to have committed ...

Police use water cannon and pepper spray on anti-immigration Pegida protesters Witnesses said some protesters were aiming fireworks, rocks and even flower pots at police DEUTZSCHLAND: Water cannons and pepper spray have been used to push back more than a thousand anti-immigration protesters in Cologne as anger mounted in a demonstration following attacks on New Year’s Eve. Pegida (Patriotic Europeans ...

DEUTSCHLAND: Cologne’s police chief was dismissed on Friday amid mounting criticism of his force’s handling of a string of New Year’s Eve sexual assaults and robberies. Wolfgang Abers had faced mounting criticism for the police’s handling of the alleged New Year’s Eve attacks on women by groups of men who were part of a larger crowd of some 1,000 described ...

UNITED NATIONS: Yemen has declared the leading UN rights official in the country “persona non grata”, the UN spokesman said Thursday, describing the decision as “an extremely regrettable development.” George Abu al-Zulof, the head of the UN human rights office in Yemen, “has been doing an excellent job,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The decision came just days after the ...

LIBYA: A truck rigged with explosives crashed into a police training camp in Zliten, Libya, on Thursday, killing dozens and injuring up to 200, according to various sources. At least 65 people were killed, Reuters reported citing hospital sources. Civilians were among the casualties who were transferred to a hospital in nearby Misrata, witnesses told Reuters. At least 60 policemen ...

YEMEN: Iran has accused Saudi warplanes of attacking the Iranian embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Some guards were reportedly wounded in the attack, according to state news channel IRIB. Acknowledging that heavy airstrikes took place in Sana’a on Wednesday night, a Saudi-led coalition spokesperson said the operation targeted Houthi missile launchers. It comes as Iran bans the import of all ...

SEOUL: REUTERS: North Korea said it had successfully conducted a test of a miniaturised hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday morning, marking a significant advance in the isolated state’s strike capabilities and raising alarm bells in Japan and South Korea. The test, the fourth time North Korea has exploded a nuclear device, was ordered by young leader Kim Jong Un, state ...

ENGLAND: JEREMY CORBYN is planning to scrap the British honours systems over “cronyism” fears and its historic link to the country’s days of Empire. The embattled Labour leader has privately launched a review of the honours arrangements, with proposals to radically overhaul the system if he comes into power. The awards this summer would be the first occasion when Mr ...

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia has given an ultimatum of 24 hours to Iranian envoy in Riyadh to leave the country. According to local media reports, the order was issued after the Saudi embassy was attacked in Tehran last night. Tension escalated between Saudi and Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite Cleric Sheikh al-Nimr on terrorism charges among 47 others. ...

TEHRAN: Angry protesters have set fire to the Saudi Arabia embassy in Tehran and the country’s consulate in Mashad after the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh al-Nimr. Crowds of protesters first stormed and ransacked Saudi’s embassy and Consulate. Then they damaged property there after which they threw Molotov cocktail and set on fire both the diplomatic offices. Photos ...