Germany's Merkel backs tighter refugee rules amid sex assault protests

As demonstrations erupted in Cologne on Saturday over New Year's Eve sexual assaults and robberies blamed largely on foreigners, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for stricter laws regulating asylum seekers.

Merkel, who has been particularly outspoken in welcoming refugees to Germany, told a two-day meeting of the Christian Democrats in Mainz that tighter restrictions would be "in the interest of citizens, but also in the interests of the great majority of the refugees who are here,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.