UK - Migrant gangsters offered police investigating “criminal behaviour on a commercial scale” bribes of up to £5,000 to stay away from their base of operations in Nottingham, telling officers it was a “Kurdish street”.

ISRAEL - The security cabinet has convened several times in recent days to discuss the situation and threats along Israel’s northern borders, according to a report on Sunday that described the meetings “extremely significant”. “Due to limitations imposed by the military censor, I can’t give the full information,” tweeted Channel 10 diplomatic correspondent Barak Ravid, “but after more than a decade of covering the security cabinet, I can judge that the discussions over the last few days about the northern front were extremely significant.” He added that the discussions were focused on the northern front, and among other issues dealt with the activities of Iran and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Syria and Lebanon…

UK –  British Prime Minister Theresa May has dismissed concerns about Donald Trump's mental fitness, saying the US president acts in what he sees as the best interests of his country.  A new book by journalist Michael Wolff quotes prominent Trump advisers as questioning the president's competence.  Asked in an interview whether she thought concerns about Trump's mental state were serious, May said: "No."  She said that "when I deal with President Trump what I see is somebody who is committed to ensuring that he is taking decisions in the best interests of the United States."  In the BBC interview broadcast Sunday, May reaffirmed that Trump would visit Britain. She did not give a date, or say whether it would be a full state visit or a lower-key working trip.

USA - A post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and US could be in danger if Donald Trump doesn’t get invited to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, according to the author of a controversial new book about the US president. Michael Wolff told the Mail on Sunday that Trump would resent any snub and the so-called special relationship could be damaged unless he “gets what he wants.”  Trump “doesn’t like being snubbed and wants to be the center of attention all the time,” Wolff said. 

IRAN - The roots of the ongoing protests in Iran go deeper than just economic problems, but involve growing anger towards the ruling theocracy, argued experts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank on Friday. Iranian protesters have focused their ire towards the Islamic republic’s President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

CHINA - China is reportedly planning to boost its military presence overseas with its second foreign naval base in Pakistan. The news comes amid a row between the US and Pakistan, with Washington freezing security funding for Islamabad. After setting up its first foreign naval facility in Djibouti in August of last year, right next to the Pentagon’s base, Beijing may now seek to gain a foothold in Pakistan. China plans to build a second overseas base near Gwadar – a strategically important Pakistani port on the Arabian Sea, according to sources close to the Chinese Army, as cited by the South China Morning Post. 

USA - Whether Tony the Tiger is declaring Frosted Flakes “grrreat” or a manic bird is going “cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs,” food commercials remain mainstays of after-school TV even as childhood obesity has become a health crisis. For the last decade, the food industry has defended those ads in part by saying its products are relatively healthy — according to nutrition criteria it has set for itself. But a new report says those criteria are rife with loopholes.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA - A dormant volcano in Papua New Guinea has erupted for the first time ever forcing the evacuation of the entire island amid fears of landslides and tsunamis. The eruption on Kadovar Island, north of Australia, could become explosive and images show the large plume of ash and smoke engulfing the island and reaching a staggering 2.1km (1.3 miles) above sea level. The Rabaul Volcanological Observatory said: “Due to the steepness of the island, landslides are possible, and together with the explosive nature of the magma, tsunamis may be generated. An estimated 500-600 people live on the island, and all residents have been evacuated with no loss of life, said the US-based charity Samaritan Aviation, which operates seaplanes to remote areas of PNG.

USA - Earthquakes have hit California sparking frantic speculation the terrifying ‘BIG ONE’ is on its way. In the last 48 hours, the southwestern State in the US has been rocked by eight tremors, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). All but three of the tremors have come along the San Andreas fault – a deadly line which runs through California and is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. The strongest of the quakes came in Berkeley, near the east coast of California, which measured 4.4 on the Richter scale. Californian residents took to social media to share their experiences of the earthquakes, with many fearing that the worst is yet to come.

PAKISTAN - On Wednesday, the Pakistani government ordered 1.4 million Afghan refugees to leave the country in 30 days. According to DAWN, the oldest English-language newspaper in Pakistan, this is the sixth extension given to refugees, of which the last expired on December 31. It appears the announcement’s decision was linked to President Trump’s and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s threats to Pakistan, which now requires 1.4 million Afghan refugees, who lost their legal status on December 31, 2017, to migrate back to Afghanistan by end of month, where the infestation of Taliban forces thrive. On top of America’s failed war in Afghanistan, President Trump has ramped up aerial bombings in the country by threefold leading to more destabilization.

USA - The United States announced Thursday it was suspending security assistance to Pakistan for failing to take "decisive action" against Taliban militants targeting US personnel in neighboring Afghanistan. The State Department's declaration signaled growing frustration over Pakistan's cooperation in fighting terrorist networks. Initially vague information on how much money and material was being withheld suggested the primary goal was to substantiate President Donald Trump's surprising New Year's Day tweet that accused Pakistan of playing US leaders for "fools." On Monday, Trump said the US had "foolishly" given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid in the last 15 years and had gotten nothing in return but "lies & deceit." He reiterated longstanding allegations that Pakistan gives "safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan."

ISRAEL - Israel on Wednesday said illegal African migrants would be paid to leave the country to the tune of thousands of dollars per head or else face imprisonment. In a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat to draft a plan to forcibly expel migrants who do not leave of their own will, even while ministers approved a plan to imprison them.

USA - Here is the relevant part of the note, from the 10th page of the book's prologue: "Many of the accounts of what has happened in the Trump White House are in conflict with one another; many, in Trumpian fashion, are baldly untrue. These conflicts, and that looseness with the truth, if not with reality itself, are an elemental thread of the book. ‘Sometimes I have let the players offer their versions, in turn allowing the reader to judge them. In other instances I have, through a consistency in the accounts and through sources I have come to trust, settled on a version of events I believe to be true.’"

The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, described the book as "complete fantasy."

PAKISTAN - Pakistani companies have been given a green light to use the Chinese yuan in trade with Beijing, which could potentially sideline the US dollar and other currencies used there. The move coincides with a US-Pakistan aid row. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said it “has taken comprehensive policy-related measures to ensure that imports, exports and financing transactions can be denominated in CNY,” according to a statement issued late on Tuesday. CNY is now effectively on par with the US dollar, euro and other international currencies in the country. While Islamabad and Beijing had already been considering ditching the US dollar for yuan in bilateral trade for some time, the announcement comes at a particularly low point in US-Pakistani relations.

GERMANY - While the CDU and SPD parties are getting ready to start talks on the formation of a new government on Sunday, the situation is complicated by the fact that the two political forces have very different opinions on a number of issues - from migration to European integration. Some of them might become sticking points during the upcoming negotiations.