Briefly

SOUTH KOREA

US threatens to withdraw 4,000 troops

The United States is considering withdrawing an armed forces brigade from South Korea if Seoul does not agree to a US demand to contribute more to the cost of stationing troops in the country, Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Thursday. Washington broke off talks with Seoul on Tuesday after demanding Seoul raise its annual contribution for US troop costs to $5 billion, over five times what it is currently paying, according to South Korean lawmakers. A brigade is about 3,000-4,000 troops, Chosun Ilbo said. "I understand that the US is preparing to withdraw one brigade in case negotiations with South Korea do not go as well as President Donald Trump wants," a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the newspaper. There are about 28,500 US troops in South Korea.

ISRAEL

Third poll looms after failures to form govt

Israel moved closer to holding a third election in less than a year on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main challenger failed to form a government. Benny Gantz's announcement that he would not meet a midnight deadline followed Netanyahu's own failure to put together a coalition in October. The political deadlock has tightened at a time of mounting security and economic concerns. There now begins a 21-day period in which Israeli lawmakers can nominate any one of the parliament's 120 lawmakers to try to establish a coalition where others have failed.

UNITED KINGDOM

Prince Andrew to step back from royal duties

Following days of turmoil that have damaged the British royal family's reputation, Prince Andrew announced on Wednesday that he will step back from public duties "for the foreseeable future" because of his association with Jeffrey Epstein, a notorious sex offender. The second son of Queen Elizabeth said in a statement that his ties to Epstein had become a "major disruption" to the royal family's charitable work. It was unclear whether the change was a temporary or permanent shift in his role. He said he regretted his ties to the billionaire investor, who took his own life in August while in jail on sex-trafficking charges. Andrew said he "deeply sympathizes" with Epstein's victims, many of whom were underage victims of trafficking.

ITALY

5 dead in fireworks factory explosion

Five people died on Wednesday as a result of two explosions at a fireworks factory in Sicily, firefighters and police said after the incident at the family-run firm. The late afternoon blasts immediately killed two workmen and the 71-year-old wife of the owner of the Costa company in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, in Sicily's Messina region. The owner's son attempted to save her and was one of four people hospitalized with serious injuries, police said. One of the injured later died. The local prosecutor's office opened an inquiry into the disaster.