Denmark Imposes Controls at German Border as Schengen Frays

   Denmark is enforcing what it described as temporary controls on its German border, following its Scandinavian neighbors Sweden and Norway in stepping up measures to stem the influx of migrants from the war-ravaged Middle East.

   Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, who signaled in a New Year’s speech that his government was considering the move, said the controls took effect at noon local time. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was briefed before the measures were enforced, Rasmussen said. The controls will initially be imposed for a period of 10 days, he said.

   Merkel responded by calling for a “joint European solution,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. “The solution won’t take place on national borders between country A and country B.”

   Denmark’s clampdown marks the latest move putting passport-free travel across Europe at risk as the Schengen agreement designed to bring the union closer together shows signs of unraveling. Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry, said the Schengen regime is “in danger,” after Rasmussen unveiled his country’s border controls on Monday.

   But the Danes are passing on the blame and say Sweden’s decision to start official border checks forced the government in Copenhagen to resort to controls toward Germany. As of Monday, Sweden started inspecting the IDs of people crossing their border by road, rail or sea.

   “For the first time since the 1950s, one will now need an ID-card to cross” over to Sweden, Rasmussen said in his Jan. 1 speech. “This shows what’s at stake.” In a Facebook post on Monday, Rasmussen said the decision will create “difficulty and problems for the many people who every day commute” between the two countries, describing it as a “major step backwards.”

   The spat marks a low point in Danish-Swedish relations after Prime Minister Stefan Loefven last year joined Germany in welcoming hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Sweden was then forced to backtrack on its generous policy, arguing that Europe’s failure to share the burden of absorbing refugees made its position untenable.

   About 115,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden from September through December, according to Morgan Johansson, the country’s justice and migration minister. “It’s important that we get an order where we gain control over how people move around in the Schengen area,” he said in an interview on Monday. “If we hadn’t introduced ID controls, I’m worried we’d soon have the same situation again, with about 100,000 people in just a few months in the spring, and that’s something our reception system couldn’t handle.”

   Travelers headed for Sweden on Monday were met by manned controls at the train station at Copenhagen airport, the last stop before trains cross the Oeresund bridge to Malmoe, Sweden’s third-largest city. Each day, about 74,900 people cross the bridge, which connects Sweden to Denmark and is the longest road and rail link in Europe. Another 20,900 use the ferry between the towns of Elsinore and Helsingborg.

   In the 1990s, the two countries wanted to create a cross-border business and urban area, which they estimated would more than justify the 30 billion-krone ($4.4 billion) cost of building the Oeresund bridge. The plan also received European Union funding, and has been held up as a prime example of economic integration across borders.

   But border checks are now challenging such visions as well as the broader Schengen agreement and the ideals behind its creation. Meanwhile, the influx of people fleeing war in the Middle East may pose an even bigger threat to Europe’s economy than the debt crisis from which it has only just emerged, Nobel economics laureate Angus Deaton said last month. The development “could certainly make the economic situation very much worse,” he said in an interview in Stockholm.

Sudan severs diplomatic ties to Iran

Sudan severs diplomatic ties to Iran over tensions with Saudi Arabia

     TEHRAN, Iran (AP) --- The latest developments after Saudi Arabia severs diplomatic ties with Iran following the execution of a prominent opposition Shiite cleric and attacks on its diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic. (All times local.)

4:30 p.m.

Sudan says it is severing its diplomatic relations with Iran. It says the decision would take effect immediately.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry made the announcement in a statement carried by Sudan's state news agency on Monday afternoon.

The move comes after Saudi Arabia and Bahrain both cut diplomatic ties to Iran, while the United Arab Emirates downgraded its ties.

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3:40 p.m.

The state-run news agency of the United Arab Emirates says the country is downgrading its diplomatic relations with Iran.

The statement was published on Monday afternoon. The UAE's Foreign Ministry also said it was recalling its ambassador from Tehran.

The statement said the UAE would be downgrading its diplomacy to only focus on business relationships between the Gulf federation and Iran. UAE says it's doing this due to "Iran's continued interference in the Gulf and Arab countries internal affairs."

The move comes after Saudi Arabia and Bahrain both cut diplomatic ties to Iran.

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3:10 p.m.

A Bahraini government minister says the tiny island kingdom is severing its diplomatic ties with Iran.

Minister of Media Affairs Isa al-Hamadi made the announcement on Monday.

Bahrain's decision comes amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Bahrain frequently accuses Iran of being behind the long-running, low-level insurgency in the country since its majority Shiite population began protests in 2011 against Bahrain's Sunni rulers.

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2:14 p.m.

A Russian state news agency is citing a senior diplomat as saying that Moscow is ready to act as a mediator in the escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The report by the RIA Novosti news agency on Monday quotes the diplomat as saying that Russia has developed good relations with both countries through the so-called Vienna group, which is working on a resolution of the Syria conflict, and that he hoped that could help resolve the Tehran-Riyadh dispute.

The agency did not identify the Russian diplomat and it was unclear from the report if Moscow had made the mediation proposal to either side.

Russian state news agencies frequently cite unnamed officials within the government.

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2:15 p.m.

A prominent Iranian lawmaker says Saudi Arabia's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Iran likely will force the Islamic Republic to stop sending pilgrims to the annual hajj.

Lawmaker Mohammad Ali Esfanani, spokesman of the Judicial and Legal Committee of the Iranian parliament, made the comments on Monday.

The semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Esfanani as saying: "When a country has cut diplomatic relations with us, it means it is hostile with us."

He also says that "it appears that protection (of pilgrims) and security issues will prevent hajj from taking place."

Saudi Arabia has not officially commented on whether the kingdom's severing of ties with Iran also meant that pilgrims from Iran can no longer attend the hajj. The pilgrimage is required of every able-bodied Muslim once in a person's life.

When Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran from 1988 to 1991, Iran stopped its pilgrims from attending the hajj.

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11:50 a.m.

An Iranian official has denounced Saudi Arabia's move to cut diplomatic relations with Iran and accused the Sunni kingdom of stoking tensions region-wide.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari also said Monday that Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr over the weekend was an example of this.

Ansari claims that "Saudi Arabia sees its interests and even its existence in continuing tensions and clashes." He spoke during a weekly press conference in Tehran.

He says the kingdom "tries to resolve its domestic problems through projecting and exporting them abroad."

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10:50 a.m.

Saudi officials say gunfire directed toward security forces has killed a man in a village in eastern Saudi Arabia where mourning ceremonies are underway for an executed Shiite sheikh.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported early Monday that a man was killed in al-Awamiya village and a child was wounded. That's where the family of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr is holding three days of mourning at a local mosque. Authorities offered no details on who they suspected in the shooting.

Al-Nimr was an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia's Sunni monarchy but denied ever calling for violence. His execution on Saturday has sparked outrage among Shiites across the region.

The sheikh's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, has told The Associated Press that Saudi officials informed his family that the cleric had been buried in an undisclosed cemetery, a development that could lead to further protests.

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10:30 a.m.

Iran's deputy foreign minister says Saudi Arabia's decision to severe diplomatic relations cannot cover up Riyadh's "strategic mistake" in killing a prominent Shiite cleric.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian also accused Saudi Arabia of promoting terrorism and extremism in the Middle East. His comments were broadcast on Monday on Iranian state television.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran late Sunday, hours after protesters stormed and set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. It also followed harsh criticism by Iran's top leader of the Saudis' execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Al-Nimr's execution has opened a new chapter in the ongoing Sunni-Shiite power struggle playing out across the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia and Iran as primary antagonists.

Iran-Saudi crisis deepens as diplomatic ties cut

   Riyadh (AFP) --- Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran erupted into a full-blown diplomatic crisis on Monday as Riyadh and its Sunni Arab allies cut or reduced ties with Tehran, sparking global concern.

   Following angry exchanges over Saudi Arabia's execution Saturday of prominent Shiite cleric and activist Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Riyadh and then Bahrain and Sudan severed their relations with Tehran, the main Shiite power.

   As international worries grew, US Secretary of State John Kerry called his Iranian and Saudi Arabian counterparts, US officials said.

   "We are urging calm and de-escalation. The situation needs to be calmed," one official told AFP.

London, Paris and Berlin also expressed concerns, amid fears the dispute could derail efforts to resolve conflicts across the Middle East, from Syria to Yemen.

   Moscow offered to act as an intermediary and the UN envoy for Syria was headed to Riyadh and Tehran in a bid to defuse tensions.

   The crisis has also raised fears of an increase in sectarian violence, including in Iraq where two Sunni mosques were blown up overnight and two people killed.

   Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran late on Sunday, giving diplomats 48 hours to leave the country, after protesters set fire to its embassy in Tehran and a consulate in second city Mashhad.

   Bahrain and Sudan followed suit on Monday, and the United Arab Emirates also downgraded its ties, recalling its envoy from Tehran.

   Sunni Arab nations accused Tehran of repeatedly meddling in their affairs, with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir saying "Iran's history is full of negative interference and hostility in Arab issues".

   Bahrain accused Iran of "increasing flagrant and dangerous meddling" in Gulf and Arab states, while the UAE said Iranian interference had reached "unprecedented levels".

   Some 80 Saudis, including diplomats and their families, had already left Iran and arrived in Dubai on Monday, diplomatic sources said.

   The Saudi civil aviation authority said that as part of the cut in ties all flights to and from Iran were being suspended.

- 'Hugely concerning' -

Protesters in Tehran, Iran

   Iranian officials denounced the Saudi moves as tactics that would inflame regional tensions.

   "Saudi Arabia sees not only its interests but also its existence in pursuing crises and confrontations and (it) attempts to resolve its internal problems by exporting them to the outside," foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said.

   Iran and Saudi Arabia are on opposing ends of a range of crucial issues in the Middle East, including the war in Syria -- where Tehran backs President Bashar al-Assad's regime and Riyadh supports rebel forces -- and Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Shiite insurgents.

   The UN peace envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was due in Riyadh later Monday for talks aimed at defusing tensions, ahead of a visit to Iran, the UN spokesman said.

   The spike in tensions comes after Iran last year secured a historic nuclear deal with world powers led by the United States, sparking major concern in Riyadh, a longtime US ally.

   The Cairo-based Arab League said it would hold an emergency meeting at Riyadh's request on Sunday to discuss the attacks on Saudi diplomatic premises and alleged Iranian interference.

   British Prime Minister David Cameron said the tensions were "hugely concerning", Germany expressed its "dismay" and called for the restoration of diplomatic ties, and France urged a "de-escalation of tensions".

   Oil prices rose on fears of Middle East instability, with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbing 30 cents to $37.34 a barrel.

   Gulf stocks tumbled, with six of the region's seven exchanges down and the Saudi Tadaul All-Shares Index falling by 2.36 percent.

   Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, on Sunday criticised those who attacked the diplomatic buildings, calling them radicals, and 50 suspects were arrested.

   But the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Riyadh its rulers would face "quick consequences" for executing Nimr.

   Some 3,000 demonstrators gathered for a new rally in Tehran on Monday, chanting anti-Saudi slogans and burning US and Israeli flags.

- Blasts, protests in Iraq -

Protesters in Basra, Iraq

   In Shiite-majority Iraq, top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called Nimr's execution "an unjust act of aggression", and on Monday blasts rocked two Sunni mosques in the centre of the country, wounding at least three people.

   A man living at one of the mosques in the town of Hilla was shot dead by unidentified gunmen and a Sunni muezzin -- who recites the Muslim call to prayer -- was shot dead near his home in the city of Iskandariyah, security sources said.

   Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said security forces were tracking down the perpetrators "who targeted mosques to sow sedition and undermine national unity".

   Thousands of protesters rallied against Saudi Arabia in the Iraqi capital, demanding that Baghdad sever relations with Riyadh.

   The 56-year-old Nimr was a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, where Shiites have long complained of marginalisation.

   He was among 47 men executed on Saturday, including other Shiite activists and Sunni militants the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in Al-Qaeda attacks that killed dozens in 2003 and 2004.

   Executions have soared in Saudi Arabia since King Salman ascended the throne a year ago with 153 people put to death in 2015, nearly twice as many as in 2014, for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy.

New government, same rhetoric over Falklands in Argentina

   Buenos Aires (AFP) --- Argentina's new conservative government affirmed on Sunday that it will continue to press the country's claims to the Falkland Islands, which Britain insists that it owns.

   Britain and Argentina fought a two-month long war over the archipelago in 1982, in which 649 Argentinian servicemen and 255 British were killed.

   Decades after the Falklands War, ownership of the rocky outpost remains at the center of diplomatic tensions between the two nations.

   "Argentina renews its firm commitment to peacefully settling its differences, to international law and multilateralism, the foreign ministry under the country's new president, Mauricio Macri, said in a statement.

   Buenos Aires "invites the United Kingdom to resume as soon as possible negotiations aimed at settling fairly and definitively, the sovereignty dispute over the Falklands (Malvinas as the Argentines call them) islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich islands and surrounding territorial seas," the statement said.

   Argentina maintains that it inherited the remote, windswept Falklands from Spain when it gained independence.

   Britain says it has historically ruled them and that the islanders should have the right to self-determination.

Pakistan eyeing deal for U.S. F-16 jets

   ISLAMABAD, Dec. 31 (UPI) --- The government of Pakistan is in the process of securing a deal with the U.S. government for the delivery of new F-16 fighter jets.

   The deal was discussed by Pakistan Air Force Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, who confirmed to local media outlets at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex that officials are in talks. The announcement came during the rollout ceremony of the 16th JF-17 Thunder aircraft.

   "We are in talks with U.S. defence officials to get some latest F-16s but the deal may take some time," Aman said.

   Aman did not disclose the number of aircraft to be procured. Pakistan's Air Force already includes over 70 F-16s, in addition to dozens of Chinese and French attack aircraft. The United States has been selling the fighters to the country since the two governments inked a deal in the 1980s.

   While U.S. lawmakers have been critical of arms sales to Pakistan, Defense News reports there is an interest in maintaining the relationship to keep the F-16 production line open. With the U.S. Department of Defense moving forward with its next-generation F-35 Lightning II program, which is meant to replace the F-16 fleet, the F-16 program is relying on exports and no longer enjoys domestic demand.

   Pakistan's potential procurement of F-16s is part of its effort to modernize its fleet, which includes aging models such as the Mirage III/5. Pakistan hopes to replace its older generation jets by 2020.

China says it is building its second aircraft carrier

The Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, sails in the sea 

near Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province.

   BEIJING (AP) — China is building its second aircraft carrier, this time entirely with domestic technology, its Defense Ministry said Thursday, in a leap in its naval development that is increasingly tipping the regional balance of power.

   The 50,000-ton vessel is being built in the northern port of Dalian and will be conventionally, rather than nuclear, powered, ministry spokesman Col. Yang Yujun told reporters at a news conference.

   The yet-to-be-named vessel will carry J-15 fighter-bombers and other aircraft and use a ski jump mode for launching fixed-wing aircraft, Yang said. The J-15 is a copy of Russia's Sukhoi Su-33.

   "After an overall consideration of various factors, the relevant authorities started the research and development of China's second aircraft carrier which is currently under independent design and construction," Yang said.

   China currently operates one aircraft carrier that was purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago and then armed and equipped in China before being commissioned in 2013. That carrier, christened the Liaoning after the port in which it was refitted, has yet to take on its full aviation complement and is currently undergoing testing and training.

   Yang said the second carrier is being built entirely with domestic technology but has drawn on China's experience refitting its first carrier "with new improvements in various aspects."

   Plans for a second aircraft carrier had long been rumored, with many designating Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard as the most likely build site. Thursday's announcement was the first official confirmation.

   China is also steadily adding cutting-edge frigates, destroyers and nuclear submarines to its fleet and by some estimates has been launching more vessels than any other nation. Its rapid naval modernization is seen as aimed at asserting its maritime claims and extending its power far from its shores. Those ambitions have raised tensions with Japan, the U.S. and Southeast Asian nations with rival territorial claims.

   China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, which is home to key shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of mineral resources. Five other governments claim the maritime space either in part or in whole, and the Philippines and Vietnam in particular have sought assistance from the U.S. and others in beefing up their ability to resist what they view as Chinese aggression, including its construction of seven new islands by piling sand atop coral reefs.

   Yang said the date of the second carrier's launching would "depend on progress made at the current stage." As to how many flat-tops China aimed to build in total, he said, "Relevant authorities will take into consideration various factors."

   The second carrier will be roughly the same size as the Liaoning but only about half the size of the U.S. Nimitz class nuclear powered super-carriers, of which 10 are currently in operation.

Germany took in 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015

   Berlin (AFP) - Germany took in almost 1.1 million asylum-seekers this year, an all-time record and five times last year's total, a newspaper reported Wednesday citing unpublished official figures.

   Monthly arrivals for all of December reached an estimated 125,000 with 117,000 registered by December 29, said the Saechsische Zeitung regional daily.

   This would bring the year's total to 1.09 million newcomers, after just over 200,000 last year.

   The December arrivals actually represented a slowdown after 206,000 new asylum requests were registered in November, 181,000 in October and 164,000 in September.

   German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won both praise and criticism for her decision in September to open Germany to a record wave of refugees, about half from war-torn Syria.

   Faced with opposition in her conservative camp and popular concerns about an influx greater than one percent of the national population of 80 million, she has vowed steps to reduce numbers next year.

   Her plan involves an EU deal with gateway country Turkey to better protect its borders, heightened security for the external frontiers of the 28-member union, and convincing other members of the bloc to take in more refugees, so far with little success.