The Hangover News

Gunboat Diplomacy
THE US FLEW A BOMBER OVER SOUTH KOREA IN A SHOW OF FORCE
They also might send aircraft carriers to join South Korea's navy in exercises

(via)

In a show of force against North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon last week, the US deployed a B52 bomber over its ally South Korea on Sunday.

The bomber, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, left the US' Pacific island of Guam on Sunday morning, making a low-flight over Osan military base, 77 km from the Demilitarised Zone, at midday South Korean time.

"The US remains steadfast in its commitment to the defence of the Republic of Korea [South Korea] and to maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula, to include extended deterrence provided by our conventional forces and our nuclear umbrella," US Lt. Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy said in a statement.

Following North Korea's last nuclear test in 2013, the US dispatched two B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea; the north responded at the time, threatening a nuclear attack on the United States.

Refugee Crisis
PEGIDA CLASH WITH POLICE IN COLOGNE AT AN ANTI-MIGRANT PROTEST
They were marching after reports of sex attacks allegedly committed by migrants

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Hundreds of people joined an anti-immigrant protest, headed by far-right group Pegida, in Cologne on Saturday; bottles and firecrackers were thrown at police, who made several arrests.

The march, which condemned German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy, followed reports of sex attacks allegedly perpetrated by men of North African origin in the city on New Year's Eve.

Antifascists and women's rights activists held simultaneous marches in the city; the former confronting the anti-immigrant protest and the latter demanding greater respect for women in Germany.

Angela Merkel said earlier this week that German law should be changed to deny the right of asylum to those who have committed crimes and to fast-track deportations of those who commit crimes in Germany.

Hollywood Stories
SEAN PENN INADVERTENTLY HELPED THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT RE-CAPTURE DRUG LORD 'EL CHAPO'
The actor secretly interviewed Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman in October, but was being tracked by Mexican officials

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Hollywood actor Sean Penn inadvertently assisted Mexican authorities in re-capturing drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman on Friday, it was revealed this weekend.

Penn had met Guzman at a secret location in October last year, shortly after the cartel boss escaped prison, conducting a seven-hour interview for Rolling Stone magazine, which was published on Saturday.

However, senior Mexican officials said this weekend that they were tracking Penn when he met the drug lord and the meeting had ultimately helped in their recapture of "El Chapo" on Friday morning following a mass shootout in the Mexican city of Los Michos.

After Guzman's capture and imprisonment in 2014, his lawyer is said to have approached Mexican actress Kate del Castillo about the possibility of making a biopic film about the drug lord's life, but this idea was dropped in favour of an interview.

Tory Britain
CAMERON WAS ATTACKED ON TV BY 70S ROCK BAND SQUEEZE
They changed the lyrics of a song to attack Tory policy, next to the Prime Minister

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Veteran rock band Squeeze took advantage of an appearance on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday to criticise prime minister David Cameron to his face.

Singer Glenn Tilbrook changed the lyrics of their song "Cradle to the Grave", singing: "I grew up in council houses, they're part of what made Britain great / But there are some people who are hellbent on destruction of the welfare state" while the Prime Minister was sitting to his left.

David Cameron wrote this weekend in the Sunday Times that the government plans to bulldoze more than 100 council estates and replace them with private properties.

"The mission here is nothing short of social turnaround," he wrote, saying the government will "tear down anything that stands in our way".