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After Failed Trump Rapprochement, France Seeks Reset under Biden

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks on the telephone to congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on November 10, 2020. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks on the telephone to congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on November 10, 2020. (AFP)
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After Failed Trump Rapprochement, France Seeks Reset under Biden

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks on the telephone to congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on November 10, 2020. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks on the telephone to congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on November 10, 2020. (AFP)

After increasingly strained US-France relations under Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed Sunday to work closely together to fight the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.

Their first conversation since Biden’s inauguration aimed at mending frayed ties between the historic allies. Biden “stressed his commitment to bolstering the transatlantic relationship” via NATO and the EU. Macron pledged his “determination to work at the side of the US”

After four years of “America First” under Trump, the new US president and French leader see eye-to-eye on the importance of international cooperation to fight climate change and COVID-19 and in negotiating with Iran.

But Macron’s office said the two men wouldn’t shy away from thorny issues.

France is notably pushing for globally consistent taxes on US tech powerhouses such as Google or Amazon, which led to an ongoing trade dispute with Washington under Trump. And the US and EU are imposing tit-for-tat tariffs over subsidies to plane makers Boeing and France-based Airbus.

Macron stressed the importance of working jointly within the World Health Organization – which Trump abandoned – to help ensure vaccine distribution to poor countries.

According to a White House statement, Biden agreed to work with France on China, the Middle East, Russia and the Sahel region of Africa, where France is leading an international military operation against extremists.

Despite starkly different political views, Macron and Trump developed a surprisingly chummy relationship early on - including a fawning White House reception for the French leader and intimate Eiffel Tower dinner for the two first couples — that later soured amid Trump's increasingly mercurial and protectionist policies.

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World

Trump Says Agreed to Greenland Meeting in Davos

United States President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2026. (EPA)
United States President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2026. (EPA)
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Trump Says Agreed to Greenland Meeting in Davos

United States President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2026. (EPA)
United States President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2026. (EPA)

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had agreed to a meeting of "various parties" at the Davos gathering of global elites about his bid to seize Greenland.

Trump's attempt to buy the Danish autonomous territory has rocked the global order, with the US president stepping up pressure on European leaders over their pushback against his plan to seize the strategic Arctic island.

"I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

"As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back - On that, everyone agrees!"

Trump has insisted that the United States needs Greenland's vast territory, with Russia and China increasing military activities nearby and Arctic ice melting due to climate change.

In a separate post, the US president shared an AI-generated image of himself holding an American flag next to a sign that read "Greenland - US territory est. 2026," flanked by his Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump, who is due in Davos on Wednesday, shared another AI-generated image of world leaders at a meeting at which he presents a map with the American flag covering the United States, Canada, Greenland and Venezuela.

An emboldened Trump has ramped up threats to Greenland after sending US forces to remove Venezuela's leftist president Nicolas Maduro.

He has also vowed to annex Canada and routinely refers to country as the 51st US state.
Trump also wrote on Truth Social that he had a "very good telephone call" on Greenland with NATO chief Mark Rutte.

The US president posted a screenshot he claimed showed a message from Rutte saying he was "committed to finding a way forward on Greenland."

Trump said he did not think European leaders would "push back too much" on his attempt to seize the territory, telling reporters on Monday: "They can't protect it."

World

UN Rights Council to Hold Emergency Session on Iran, Document Shows

FILE - This frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Iranian Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)
FILE - This frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Iranian Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)
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UN Rights Council to Hold Emergency Session on Iran, Document Shows

FILE - This frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Iranian Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)
FILE - This frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Iranian Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)

The UN Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session on Iran on Friday, with proponents aiming to discuss "alarming violence" used against protesters, a document showed on Tuesday.

An Iranian official said authorities have verified at least 5,000 deaths in the protests ‌which are ‌the biggest demonstrations since 2022, ‌prompting ⁠UN rights ‌chief Volker Turk to condemn the violence.

"A special session is needed because of the importance and urgency of the situation, in particular due to credible reports of alarming violence, crackdowns on protesters and violations of international human ⁠rights law across the country," according to a letter written ‌by Iceland's ambassador Einar ‍Gunnarsson on behalf of ‍a group of countries including Germany and ‍Britain, and seen by Reuters.

The special session will happen on Friday, the UN confirmed, adding that 21 countries so far have supported the proposal.

Human Rights Watch has denounced mass unlawful killings and is asking for an existing ⁠UN probe, set up by the council in 2022 after the last wave of protests, to investigate the deaths and be given extra financing to do so.

Iran's diplomatic mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Diplomats said Iran had sent to missions pages of rebuttal against allegations of a crackdown, saying the clashes followed armed ‌attacks on security forces.

World

Iran FM Says Davos Appearance Cancellation Based on ‘Lies’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi adjusts glasses during a press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, December 17, 2025. (Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi adjusts glasses during a press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, December 17, 2025. (Reuters)
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Iran FM Says Davos Appearance Cancellation Based on ‘Lies’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi adjusts glasses during a press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, December 17, 2025. (Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi adjusts glasses during a press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, December 17, 2025. (Reuters)

Iran's foreign minister hit out at the World Economic Forum in Davos for cancelling his appearance over a crackdown on recent protests, saying the decision was based on "lies and political pressure".

Protests in Iran sparked by economic strain in late December exploded into the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years, with the full scale of the violent crackdown yet to emerge due to an internet blackout.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was slated to speak on Tuesday at the annual gathering of global elites in Switzerland, but was disinvited after the WEF said it would not be "right" due to the "loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks".

Araghchi said his appearance was cancelled "on the basis of lies and political pressure from Israel and its US-based proxies and apologists", in an X post late Monday.

He called it a "blatant double standard" to disinvite him while inviting Israel after its war in Gaza, saying it "conveys moral depravity and intellectual bankruptcy".

Iranian officials have said the recent demonstrations were peaceful before descending into "riots" fueled by Iran's arch-foes the United States and Israel in an effort to destabilize the nation.

Araghchi's post on X was accompanied by a video saying the demonstrations were a "terror operation" spurred by Israel's Mossad spy agency.

Rights groups say they have verified at least several thousand protesters killed by Iranian security forces, with some estimates putting the true figure as high as 20,000 dead.

The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, which has verified the deaths of at least 3,428 protesters, said on Monday that "all indications are that this massacre was planned and carried out with full coordination" by the country.