#GERMANY: Firestorm Over Mayor's Comments After 120+ Attacks On Women By Migrants

[world politics news]

Cologne mayor Henriette Reker is facing a firestorm of anger after suggesting that women approach strangers "at arm's length" after over 120 rapes and other sexual assaults against women during New Year's celebrations in her city. Reker seemed to excuse the violence by saying the migrants accused - Arabs from North Africa and Syria - may have misinterpreted the revelry as "sexual openness." Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a huge backlash over her open door policy to migrants.

#IRELAND: Fianna Fail Pity Ldr Positions Pty "A Little Bit To The Left; Criticizes US-Style Taxation

[world politics news]

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has sought to position his party “a bit to the left” ahead of the general election, and criticised Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Fine Gael Party's plans for United States levels of personal taxation.

#GERMANY: Interior Min. Says EU Approach To Migration "Not Working" As 3,200/Day Enter Germany

[world politics news]

A German official - in the presence of the EU Commissioner for Migration - has said that European policies to tackle the refugee crisis are not working properly, and as a consequence the number of refugees arriving in Germany has not declined. Ole Schröder, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the German Federal Ministry for the Interior, said that the average influx was of 3,200 refuges per day in Germany.

#JAPAN: Finance Min. Warns Of "Structural Challenges" Of Extremely Low Birthrate

[world politics news]

Finance Minister Taro Aso has warned of the need to address the country's low birthrate, in a fiscal policy speech. "Now is the time we should tackle the structural challenges of the low birthrate and the aging population," Aso, also deputy prime minister, said. In 2013, he shockingly said that the elderly, including himself, should "hurry up and die" if they were ever on life-support.

#UK: Three Shadow Cabinet Members Resign From Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet

[world politics news]

Three members of Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet have resigned to protest the re-shuffle, one of whom on live TV. Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow rail minister, quit first before Stephen Doughty, the shadow foreign minister, quit live on TV during the Daily Politics show, followed by Kevan Jones, the shadow defense minister.

#CANADA: Ontario NDP Legislator Calls For Pty Ldr Mulcair To Step Down

[world politics news]

A high-profile Ontario New Democrat has publicly called for federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair to resign. Cheri DiNovo, a member of provincial Parliament for the riding of Parkdale-High Park, told The Toronto Star's Thomas Walkom that Mulcair is "tainted" from a disastrous federal campaign and "has to go."

#QATAR: Ambassador To Iran Recalled As Tensions Worsen In Gulf Over Saudi-Iran Conflict

[world politics news]

Qatar recalled its envoy to Tehran on Wednesday in protest over the attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s missions in in Iran. The response is similar to action taken by other countries in the Gulf following the attack on the Saudi missions, carried out by protesters angry at Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Pictured: Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah

#UGANDA: Oppo. Parties Reject Accusations They're Setting Up Militias Ahead of Feb. Elections

[world politics news]

Ugandan opposition parties have dismissed claims by the government that some presidential elections candidates had created militia groups ahead of next month's national elections, calling it "propaganda" designed to gain sympathy for the government.

Pictured: Pres.Yoweri Museveni.

#CHINA: Lawyer Denounces Frmr. Chinese Ldr In Court, Wins Case For His Falun Gong Client

[world politics news]

Few Chinese citizens are able to openly accuse former leaders of the Chinese Communist Party of committing a felony and escape official retribution. A Chinese lawyer, however, accused former leader Jiang Zemin of running an "extra-constitutional" group to persecute Falun Gong religion practitioners like his client, who was acquitted by the judge.

Pictured: Zhang Zanning, a Chinese lawyer and law faculty lecturer at Nanjing’s Southeast University.

#UK: Frmr Acting Labour Pty Ldr. Harmon Says All-Male Shadow Cabinets Should Be Banned

[world politics news]

Labour's former acting leader Harriet Harman has called for a change in the party's rules to prevent another all-male team from leading the party. Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn has come under fire for appointing men to all three shadow "great offices of state" - chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary.

#BULGARIA: Party Leader Dumped After Supporting Turkey In Russia Plane Downing

[world politics news]

The leader of Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party has been ousted from his post and expelled from the party after declaring support for Turkey in its row with Moscow over the downing of a Russian warplane. Lyutvi Mestan, who headed the opposition Movement for Rights and Freedoms Party which represents ethnic Turks, voiced support for Turkey's action last month. Bulgaria has traditionally strong ties with Russia.

#UK: Commons Speaker Accused Of Hiding Damaging Alcohol Stats

[world politics news]

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow has been accused of avoiding scrutiny of alcohol problems by parliamentarians.by suppressing reports by using a loophole in the freedom of information laws.

#JAPAN: Diet To Consider Public Smoking Ban

[world politics news]

Ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers have written an outline for a bill detailing where people can and cannot smoke in public places to deal with the issue of passive smoke, but the legislation does not at this point include fines or other penalties.

#NORWAY: Cabinet Member Says Educating Immigrant Girls Is Waste Of Time

[world politics news]

Fisheries Minister Per Sandberg believes it's wasteful to educate women with immigrant backgrounds, because they almost always leave their jobs after getting married, often in arranged marriages. He made the comments in his book "Against My Will," and they've attracted a firestorm of criticism. In 2003, he called Al Gore and his Global Warming agenda a "big fraud."

#GERMANY: MP Sues PEGIDA Anti-Muslim Group Over Facebook Threats

[world politics news]

Calling the group a "Nazi waste bin," Green Party MP Volker Beck has initiated legal proceedings against the anti-Islamic group Pegida and several of its supporters over death threats against him on its Facebook page. It's unclear whether the increasingly popular group will counter-sue over Beck's "Nazi" slur.

#VENEZUELA: Leftist Gov't Sets Up Extra-Constitutional "Assembly" After Election Loss

[world politics news]

The Leftist government of Pres. Maduro has set up an extra-constitutional "Parallel" parliament called the "People's Assembly" after a massive landslide victory last month for the opposition in which the government lost control of the National Assembly. Maduro faces a "rapidly unraveling state" reports the UK Daily Telegraph, as drug charges against Maduro's family and government mount.

#CROATIA: Pharma Exec. Named Prime Minister As Compromise Cand. After Month-Long Crisis

[world politics news]

Pres. Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic named pharmaceutical company director Tihomir Oreskovic as prime minister designate, signalling an end to a political deadlock following November's parliamentary elections. Oreskovic was nominated by the center-right Patriotic Coalition, led by the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, and the kingmaker party, the Bridge of the Independent Lists, MOST.

#JAPAN: PM Abe Holds Private Meeting With Ex-Osaka Mayor Hashimoto, A Day After Mayor's Resignation

[world politics news]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto at a Tokyo hotel, only a day after the populist mayor left office to "retire from politics." The meeting was also attended by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Reportedly, they discussed the Constitution, diplomacy and a new national security bill which Abe hopes Hashimoto's Innovation Party supports.

Pictured: Former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, right, and PM Shinzo Abe.

#DOMINICA: Prime Min. Warns Of Crackdown On Litterers, Illegal Dumping; Styrofoam, Plastic Shopping Bag Bans Possible

[world politics news]

Saying the nation's pristine environmental reputation is at state, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has warned that polluters will soon feel the full weight of the law, including night courts to prosecute litterers and those who dump illegally. A ban on Styrofoam cups and plastic shopping bags are also possible, he said.

#IRELAND: Half Of Cabinet Will Be Women If Gov't Re-Elected, Says Taoiseach

[world politics news]

Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny says he intends to have equal numbers of men and women in his next cabinet if he retains power. Out of the 15 current ministers in Cabinet, four are women. As of the next election, 30% of parties' candidates are required to be women. Parties who fail to meet this target will face severe financial penalties.