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Trump Says His Negative Media Coverage Is 'Illegal'

United States President Donald J Trump looks on to the media during an Executive Order signing which authorizes the new Trump Gold Card, a visa program to be overseen by the Secretary of Commerce 'that will facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the nation' in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 19 September 2025. (EPA)
United States President Donald J Trump looks on to the media during an Executive Order signing which authorizes the new Trump Gold Card, a visa program to be overseen by the Secretary of Commerce 'that will facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the nation' in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 19 September 2025. (EPA)
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Trump Says His Negative Media Coverage Is 'Illegal'

United States President Donald J Trump looks on to the media during an Executive Order signing which authorizes the new Trump Gold Card, a visa program to be overseen by the Secretary of Commerce 'that will facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the nation' in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 19 September 2025. (EPA)
United States President Donald J Trump looks on to the media during an Executive Order signing which authorizes the new Trump Gold Card, a visa program to be overseen by the Secretary of Commerce 'that will facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the nation' in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 19 September 2025. (EPA)

President Donald Trump on Friday bashed US media coverage that he claimed was unduly negative and therefore "illegal," stoking a debate over free speech following the suspension of comedian Jimmy Kimmel's TV show by ABC.

"They'll take a great story and they'll make it bad. See I think it's really illegal, personally," Trump, who has sued multiple major news organizations this year, told reporters gathered in the Oval Office.

The 79-year-old Republican, an avid television watcher, chiefly focused his diatribe on US television networks, reiterating a claim that coverage of him and his administration is "97 percent bad."

He also defended the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, whose threats against broadcasters have sparked a national debate over free speech and caused some unease even among Republicans.

Carr on Wednesday criticized Kimmel's remarks on the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and threatened broadcasters who carry his show with possible sanctions.

Hours later, ABC announced Kimmel's show was suspended indefinitely.

On Friday, Trump called Carr "an incredible American patriot with courage."

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a close Trump ally, meanwhile said he believes it's dangerous for a government to put itself in a position to say what speech it may or may not like.

Commenting on Carr's threat to fine broadcasters or pull their licenses over the content of their shows, Cruz referenced a Martin Scorsese gangster movie.

"I got to say that's right out of 'Goodfellas'," Cruz said. "That's right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, 'Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it.'"

Trump himself faced a setback in his personal anti-media crusade, with a federal judge issuing a scathing ruling and tossing out his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.

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World

Protester Arrested after Climbing Roof of Iran's Embassy in London

Iranians who live in Greece gather to rally outside the Iranian embassy in Athens, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in support of Iran's anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Iranians who live in Greece gather to rally outside the Iranian embassy in Athens, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in support of Iran's anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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Protester Arrested after Climbing Roof of Iran's Embassy in London

Iranians who live in Greece gather to rally outside the Iranian embassy in Athens, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in support of Iran's anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Iranians who live in Greece gather to rally outside the Iranian embassy in Athens, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in support of Iran's anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A protester who climbed onto the roof of Iran's embassy in London and removed a flag was arrested with several others, police said late on Friday, adding multiple officers were injured in the demonstrations, said AFP.

"During the ongoing protest at the Iranian Embassy this evening, a protester illegally accessed private property and climbed across multiple balconies onto the roof of the Embassy and removed a flag," the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.

"Several officers have suffered injuries," the UK capital's police added, saying in the "ongoing disorder" objects had been thrown at officers and "a number of people have been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder".

London police said last week they were deploying additional officers to "prevent any disorder" and protect the Iranian embassy.

On Saturday last week, a protester briefly replaced the embassy's flag with a former flag flown before Iran's revolution in 1979.

Iran has seen its largest demonstrations in years in the past few weeks, challenging the country's theocratic system in protests that have killed thousands but subsided in recent days, according to monitors.

Demonstrations sparked by economic grievances began with a shutdown in the Tehran bazaar on December 28 but turned into a mass movement demanding the removal of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.

World

Thousands Join Anti-Trump 'Hands Off Greenland' Protests in Denmark

Protesters wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a rally under the slogans 'hands off Greenland' and 'Greenland for Greenlanders', in front of City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 17, 2026. (Photo by Emil Helms / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
Protesters wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a rally under the slogans 'hands off Greenland' and 'Greenland for Greenlanders', in front of City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 17, 2026. (Photo by Emil Helms / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
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Thousands Join Anti-Trump 'Hands Off Greenland' Protests in Denmark

Protesters wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a rally under the slogans 'hands off Greenland' and 'Greenland for Greenlanders', in front of City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 17, 2026. (Photo by Emil Helms / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
Protesters wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a rally under the slogans 'hands off Greenland' and 'Greenland for Greenlanders', in front of City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 17, 2026. (Photo by Emil Helms / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)

Thousands of people took to the streets of Denmark's capital on Saturday to protest at US President Donald Trump's push to take over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

The protest followed Trump's warning on Friday that he "may put a tariff" on countries that oppose his plans to take over mineral-rich Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

They also coincided with a visit to Copenhagen by a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress that has made clear the opposition of many Americans to the Trump administration's sabre-rattling.

Waving the flags of Denmark and Greenland, the protesters formed a sea of red and white outside Copenhagen city hall, chanting "Kalaallit Nunaat!" -- the vast Arctic island's name in Greenlandic.

Thousands of people had said on social media they would to take part in marches and rallies organized by Greenlandic associations in Copenhagen, and in Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense and the Greenlandic capital Nuuk.

"The aim is to send a clear and unified message of respect for Greenland's democracy and fundamental human rights," Uagut, an association of Greenlanders in Denmark, said on its website.

"Recent events have put Greenland and Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark under pressure," Uagut chairwoman Julie Rademacher said in a statement to AFP, calling for "unity".

"When tensions rise and people go into a state of alarm, we risk creating more problems than solutions for ourselves and for each other. We appeal to Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark to stand together," she said.

Speaking in Copenhagen, where the Congressional delegation met top Danish and Greenlandic politicians and business leaders, US Democratic Senator Chris Coons insisted there was no security threat to Greenland to justify the Trump administration's stance.

He was responding after Trump advisor Stephen Miller claimed on Fox News that Denmark was too small to defend its sovereign Arctic territory.

"There are no pressing security threats to Greenland, but we share real concern about Arctic security going forward, as the climate changes, as the sea ice retreats, as shipping routes change," Coons told the press.

"There are legitimate reasons for us to explore ways to invest better in Arctic security broadly, both in the American Arctic and in our NATO partners and allies," said Coons, who is leading the US delegation.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Denmark -- a NATO ally -- for, in his view, not doing enough to ensure Greenland's security.

The US president has pursued that argument, despite strategically located Greenland -- as part of Denmark -- being covered by NATO's security umbrella.

European NATO members are deploying troops in Greenland for a military exercise designed to show the world, including the United States, that they will "defend (their) sovereignty", French armed forces minister Alice Rufo said this week.

Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have announced they are sending small numbers of military personnel to prepare for future exercises in the Arctic.

The United States has been invited to participate in the exercise, Denmark said on Friday.

World

Taiwan Says Chinese Drone Made 'Provocative' Flight over South China Sea Island

Motorists maneuver at the street in Taipei, Taiwan, 14 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
Motorists maneuver at the street in Taipei, Taiwan, 14 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
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Taiwan Says Chinese Drone Made 'Provocative' Flight over South China Sea Island

Motorists maneuver at the street in Taipei, Taiwan, 14 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
Motorists maneuver at the street in Taipei, Taiwan, 14 January 2025. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

A Chinese reconnaissance drone briefly flew over the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea on Saturday, in what Taiwan's defense ministry called a "provocative and irresponsible" move.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, reports Chinese military activity around it on an almost daily basis, including drones though they very rarely enter Taiwanese airspace.

Taiwan's defense ministry said the Chinese reconnaissance drone was detected around dawn on Saturday approaching the Pratas Islands and ⁠flew in its airspace for eight minutes at an altitude outside the range of anti-aircraft weapons.

"After our side broadcast warnings on international channels, it departed at 0548," Reuters quoted it as saying in a statement.

"Such highly provocative and irresponsible actions by the People's Liberation Army seriously undermine regional peace and stability, violated international ⁠legal norms, and will inevitably be condemned," it added.

Taiwan's armed forces will continue to maintain strict vigilance and monitoring, and will respond in accordance with the routine combat readiness rules, the ministry said. A spokesperson for China's Southern Theater Command said that drones had conducted "normal flight training" in the airspace, in a statement on its official WeChat account.

China also views the Pratas as its own territory.

In 2022, Taiwan's military for the first time shot down an unidentified civilian ⁠drone that entered its airspace near an islet off the Chinese coast controlled by Taiwan.

Lying roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance - more than 400 km (250 miles) - from mainland Taiwan.

The Pratas, an atoll which is also a Taiwanese national park, are only lightly defended by Taiwan's military, but lie at a highly strategic location at the top end of the disputed South China Sea.