While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Jan 5

The US House Intelligence Committee will consider on Monday (Feb 5) whether to release the Democratic rebuttal to a Republican memo that alleged bias at the FBI and Justice Department against President Donald Trump, two sources told Reuters.

The four-page Republican memo, made public on Friday (Feb 2), has fueled a battle between Trump and top leaders at the FBI and Justice Department over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The memo accuses the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department of using misleading information when they sought approval from a top secret court to monitor the communications of a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page, on Oct 21, 2016.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) will continue negotiations on forming a government on Monday (Feb 5) because they still have differences on some issues, a senior SPD member said.

The conservatives and SPD had set themselves a Sunday (Feb 4) deadline to agree on renewing the "grand coalition" that has governed since 2013, but disputes over healthcare and labour policy remain.

"We had a very constructive day today and we reached a lot of agreements," said SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil, adding that negotiators had, however, realised they were still far apart on some issues and they wanted to talk about those in detail.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades won a second five-year term on Sunday (Feb 4) as voters gave a thumbs-up to his record in containing an economic meltdown in 2013 and his attempts to reconcile with estranged Turkish Cypriots on the ethnically-split island.

With all votes counted, the conservative had 56 per cent of the vote against 44 per cent for the leftist-backed Stavros Malas.

"A new day dawns tomorrow which requires unity, because that is required to move forward," Anastasiades told cheering crowds in downtown Nicosia. "I will continue to be a president for all Cypriots. Tonight, there are no winners or losers, there is (only) a Cyprus for all of us."

Apple Music is on track to overtake Spotify by number of US subscribers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday (Feb 4), citing people in the music business familiar with figures reported by the two services.

Spotify is currently the largest music streaming service globally, with Apple Music coming in second.

Representatives for both Apple and Spotify could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday.

Harry Kane scored a last-gasp penalty equaliser just minutes after missing another spot-kick in Tottenham's breath-taking 2-2 draw at Liverpool, while Newcastle remain mired in the battle for survival after a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on Sunday (Feb 4).

After falling behind when Mohamed Salah punished a mistake from Eric Dier in the third minute at Anfield, Tottenham hit back to equalise through Kenya midfielder Victor Wanyama's blistering 20-yard drive with 10 minutes left.

Tottenham wasted a chance to take the lead when Kane saw his 85th minute penalty saved by Loris Karius, who had been penalised for bringing down the England striker. Salah looked set to make Kane pay for that mistake in the first minute of stoppage-time as the Egypt winger danced his way through the Tottenham defence to slot in a sublime goal.